The Third Coalition of Stroke is a colossal, efficient nation, ruled by Leja with an even hand, and notable for its keen interest in outer space, punitive income tax rates, and stringent health and safety legislation. The hard-nosed population of 7.057 billion Strokians 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 large government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Law & Order, and Healthcare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Lakista. The average income tax rate is 66.3%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The thriving Strokan economy, worth 539 trillion Lanvars a year, is led by the Retail industry, with significant contributions from Automobile Manufacturing, Information Technology, and Trout Farming. Black market activity is frequent. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 76,519 Lanvars, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.2 times as much as the poorest.

You can bet your bottom dollar that gambling will cost you an arm and a leg, the 'sing-a-long with Leja' album is a popular souvenir, a good deed is rewarded with a thank you note attached to a deportation order, and prominent cultural symbols are featured on the backs of cereal boxes. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Stroke's national animal is the Tiger, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Kaned.

Stroke is ranked 218,156^th in the world and 1^st in Athas for Highest Disposable Incomes, with 25,787.11 Standard Monetary Units.