The Federation of Matinal is a large, cultured nation, remarkable for its frequent executions, compulsory military service, and irreverence towards religion. The compassionate, hard-working population of 76 million Matinalians are highly moralistic and fiercely conservative, in the sense that they tend to believe most things should be outlawed. People who have good jobs and work quietly at them are lauded; others are viewed with suspicion.

The medium-sized, moralistic government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Education. The average income tax rate is 33.5%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The strong Matinalian economy, worth 4.36 trillion Euros a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Basket Weaving industry, with significant contributions from Trout Farming, Woodchip Exports, and Tourism. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 57,387 Euros, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.4 times as much as the poorest.

The nation's infamous boot camp is more brutal than most battlefields, students who do not recite the national anthem each morning have to drop and give their teacher 50, Leader's told that love often manifests itself through homicidal four-lettered litanies, and the nation is famous for bravely sending wave after wave of its soldiers until the enemy runs out of bullets. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Matinal's national animal is the Grizzly Bear.

Matinal is ranked 17,275^th in the world and 1^st in The Northern Combined Forces for Largest Trout Fishing Sector, scoring 6,381.57 on the Nemo Depletion Efficiency Index.