The Republic of Diagonal Default is a massive, safe nation, notable for its suspicion of poets. The hard-nosed population of 1.988 billion Diagonal Defaultians have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The medium-sized government juggles the competing demands of Education, Law & Order, and Defense. The average income tax rate is 30.5%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but inefficient Diagonal Defaultian economy, worth 74.5 trillion Defaults a year, is quite specialized and led by the Beef-Based Agriculture industry, with major contributions from Book Publishing, Basket Weaving, and Uranium Mining. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 37,491 Defaults, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.6 times as much as the poorest.

Sniffer dogs are trained to follow clouds of fruity-smelling vapor, the dictionary is a common first book for children, clergy who start talking about politics are forced to take a holy vow of silence, and it can be a real jungle in a modern courtroom. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Diagonal Default's national animal is the Default, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

Diagonal Default is ranked 295,798^th in the world and 1^st in HIDIVE for Largest Gambling Industry, scoring -11.03 on the Kelly Criterion Productivity Index.