The Holy Empire of The God-Distan is a huge, efficient nation, renowned for its barren, inhospitable landscape, compulsory military service, and pith helmet sales. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical, devout population of 309 million Imperial citizens are kept under strict control by the oppressive government, which measures its success by the nation's GDP and refers to individual citizens as "human resources."

The medium-sized, corrupt, moralistic, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Emperor's Fist. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 48.6%.

The all-consuming loyalist economy, worth 26.0 trillion imperial credits a year, is dominated by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with significant contributions from Gambling, Door-to-door Insurance Sales, and Uranium Mining. Black market activity is frequent. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 84,276 imperial credits, but there is a significant disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 262,237 per year while the poor average 20,824, a ratio of 12.6 to 1.

NationStates is now a popular brand of laxatives despite Max Barry's protests, door-to-door salesmen are frequently beaten up by 'vigilantes', both illness and poverty are seen as signs of low moral worth, and applications to enter seminaries spike right before the obligatory fasts. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force. The God-Distan's national animal is the emperor penguin, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to heavy metals seepage into national waterways.

The God-Distan is ranked 194,808^th in the world and 3^rd in Defense League of Militant Convents for Largest Furniture Restoration Industry, scoring 619.26 on the Spitz-Pollish Productivity Index.