The Republic of Bank 08 is a massive, cultured nation, remarkable for its complete lack of prisons, fear of technology, and restrictive gun laws. The hard-nosed, cynical, humorless population of 2.011 billion Bank 08ians are kept under strict control by the oppressive government, which measures its success by the nation's GDP and refers to individual citizens as "human resources."

The large, corrupt, moralistic government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Administration, and Defense. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 47.9%.

The very strong Bank 08ian economy, worth 135 trillion Banks a year, is quite specialized and led by the Retail industry, with significant contributions from Basket Weaving, Uranium Mining, and Information Technology. Black market activity is rampant. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 67,526 Banks, with the richest citizens earning 6.5 times as much as the poorest.

Flatulent people are left to die of cancer at the end of hospital waiting lists, people who tease dwarfs are being cut down to size, kindergartners' favourite dance move is the stop-drop-and-roll, and members of ethnic minorities are more often called "boy" or "girl" than by their actual names. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Bank 08's national animal is the Bank, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Bank 08 is ranked 29,659^th in the world and 3^rd in Bank for Largest Insurance Industry, scoring 4,706.29 on the Risk Expulsion Effectiveness Rating.