The Holy Empire of Old Syrashia is a small, genial nation, remarkable for its compulsory military service. The compassionate, hard-working, cynical, devout population of 26 million Old Syrashians 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 medium-sized, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Spirituality, Law & Order, and Welfare. The average income tax rate is 34.6%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The Old Syrashian economy, worth 1.26 trillion Holy Credits a year, is quite specialized and dominated by the Trout Farming industry, with significant contributions from Tourism, Basket Weaving, and Book Publishing. Average income is 48,353 Holy Credits, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The government has put a kid glove on the invisible hand of the free market, park rangers struggle to deal with a rash of stolen pic-a-nic baskets, lottery winners spend most of their money on security, and dubiously qualified Skandilundian barristers keep referring to laws as 'government guidelines'. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Old Syrashia's national animal is the Stork.

Old Syrashia is ranked 64,471^st in the world and 5^th in Syrashia for Most Cheerful Citizens, with 51.48 Percentage Of Water Glasses Perceived Half-Full.