The Cantankerous Curmudgeon of Belschaft is a gargantuan, socially progressive nation, ruled by James Lambert with a fair hand, and remarkable for its daily referendums, smutty television, and anti-smoking policies. The hard-nosed, hard-working, democratic, humorless population of 26.554 billion Belschaftians hold their civil and political rights very dear, although the wealthy and those in business tend to be viewed with suspicion.

The tiny, corrupt, liberal, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Education, Healthcare, and Law & Order. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of New London. The average income tax rate is 2.3%.

The frighteningly efficient Belschaftian economy, worth a remarkable 6,233 trillion Federal Pounds a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Book Publishing, Uranium Mining, and Automobile Manufacturing. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an amazing 234,733 Federal Pounds, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 4.4 times as much as the poorest.

Public intoxication has decreased ever since fraternities were banned, citizens recently voted in favour of declaring bubblewrap an 'abomination of nature', vaccinations are mandatory, and movie references are legally admissible in court. Crime is totally unknown. Belschaft's national animal is the Evil Unicorn, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Belschaft is ranked 31,874^th in the world and 1,310^th in the South Pacific for Largest Basket Weaving Sector, scoring 4,695.68 on the Hickory Productivity Index.