The Eternal Misfortune of Thalasse is a gargantuan, cultured nation, ruled by Leader with a fair hand, and notable for its museums and concert halls, national health service, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, democratic, cheerful, devout population of 20.968 billion Thalasseans love a good election, and the government gives them plenty of them. Universities tend to be full of students debating the merits of various civil and political rights, while businesses are tightly regulated and the wealthy viewed with suspicion.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent, socially-minded, outspoken government stops and the rest of society begins, but it juggles the competing demands of Education, Environment, and Welfare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Thalasse City. The income tax rate is 100%.

The frighteningly efficient Thalassean economy, worth a remarkable 7,296 trillion Flowers a year, is driven almost entirely by government activity, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is extremely specialized, is mostly made up of the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Book Publishing. State-owned companies are the norm. Average income is an amazing 347,964 Flowers, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The realistic depiction of tentacles is on the core syllabus of most art schools, the space program has been scrapped in order to focus on more terrestrial pursuits, fixing attendance at women's matches is a matter of "when they go low, we go high... funding", and bargain-hunting is considered unpatriotic. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Thalasse's national animal is the Radioactive Butterfly, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies, and its national religion is Peace.

Thalasse is ranked 316,219^th in the world and 37^th in Pencil Sharpeners Puppet Storage for Largest Furniture Restoration Industry, scoring -37.66 on the Spitz-Pollish Productivity Index.