The United Socialist States of Margastan is a large, safe nation, notable for its irreverence towards religion, punitive income tax rates, and devotion to social welfare. The compassionate population of 138 million Margastanians are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The enormous, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Welfare, Education, and Administration. The average income tax rate is 69.4%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but stagnant Margastanian economy, worth 1.76 trillion florins a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is quite specialized, is mostly made up of the Trout Farming industry, with significant contributions from Cheese Exports, Woodchip Exports, and Beef-Based Agriculture. Average income is 12,752 florins, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Rumor has it that Leader has won three lotteries in a row, running away is an essential part of the elite forces' hand-to-hand training, jaw strain is an increasingly common ailment, and cultural heritage is measured in Scoville Heat Units. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Margastan's national animal is the monkey, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Margastan is ranked 229,008^th in the world and 675^th in The Leftist Assembly for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 40.74 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.