The Federal Republic of Phthalo is a huge, cultured nation, notable for its pith helmet sales, avowedly heterosexual populace, and national health service. The hard-nosed, devout population of 538 million Phthalians are prohibited from doing almost everything except voting, which they do timidly and conservatively.

The medium-sized, moralistic government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Cotz. The average income tax rate is 44.9%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The all-consuming Phthalian economy, worth 47.7 trillion Leibsmarks a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Book Publishing, and Automobile Manufacturing. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 88,604 Leibsmarks, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Young people avoid opening doors for the elderly with impunity, the government is cutting back on the number of political prisoners executed each year, attempts to inform people about their unclaimed property are often mistaken for telephone scams, and the military will start wars with other nations on a lark. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Phthalo's national animal is the White-Shouldered Eagle, which can occasionally be seen dodging aircraft in the nation's cities.

Phthalo is ranked 35,030^th in the world and 13^th in Der Leibwache for Most Cultured, scoring 77 on the Snufflebottom-Wiggendum Pentatonic Scale.