The Republic of Straitland is a small, safe nation, remarkable for its irreverence towards religion, restrictive gun laws, and suspicion of poets. The hard-working, democratic population of 26 million Straitlandians are free to succeed or fail in life on their own merits; the successful tend to enjoy an opulent (but moralistic) lifestyle, while the failures can be seen crowding out most jails.

The relatively small, moralistic, pro-business government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Healthcare. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 8.9%.

The very strong Straitlandian economy, worth 1.53 trillion Straitland dollars a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Gambling industry, with major contributions from Woodchip Exports, Uranium Mining, and Door-to-door Insurance Sales. Average income is 58,830 Straitland dollars, but there is a significant disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 184,259 per year while the poor average 14,400, a ratio of 12.8 to 1.

Military geniuses responsible for brilliant campaigns are drummed out because they have close same-sex friends and an interest in interior design, the military is slashing spending on conventional arms and diverting it to spending on prosthetic arms, a stitch in time could see you serving nine, and dubiously qualified Skandilundian barristers keep referring to laws as 'government guidelines'. Crime, especially youth-related, is relatively low, thanks to a capable police force. Straitland's national animal is the Lion, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Straitland is ranked 18,691^st in the world and 65^th in 10000 Islands for Largest Gambling Industry, scoring 7,317.15 on the Kelly Criterion Productivity Index.