The Emirate of ASHZAKAN is a huge, environmentally stunning nation, remarkable for its compulsory military service, ubiquitous missile silos, and stringent health and safety legislation. The hard-nosed, democratic population of 712 million ASHZes enjoy a sensible mix of personal and economic freedoms, while the political process is open and the people's right to vote held sacrosanct.

The large government juggles the competing demands of Education, Defense, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of ELMUSCAT. The average income tax rate is 39.2%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but inefficient ASHZAKANian economy, worth 19.3 trillion RIDAS a year, is quite specialized and led by the Pizza Delivery industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Cheese Exports, and Uranium Mining. Black market activity is frequent. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 27,121 RIDAS, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.5 times as much as the poorest.

Jennifer Government is a bestseller, the ruling party has a devil of a time keeping order in the ranks, Brancaland has gifted over nine thousand putrid moose carcasses to ASHZAKAN as a reminder of their "special relationship", and tourists often cite 'hiding money in an off-shore banking account' as their main reason to visit the nation. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. ASHZAKAN's national animal is the horse, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

ASHZAKAN is ranked 251,237^th in the world and 9,505^th in Osiris for Highest Disposable Incomes, with 16,489.87 Standard Monetary Units.