The People's Republic of Astgrance is a very large, environmentally stunning nation, remarkable for its state-planned economy, smutty television, and daily referendums. The compassionate, democratic population of 138 million Astgranceans love a good election, and the government gives them plenty of them. Universities tend to be full of students debating the merits of various civil and political rights, while businesses are tightly regulated and the wealthy viewed with suspicion.

The large, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Healthcare, and Law & Order. The average income tax rate is 58.4%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but stagnant Astgrancean economy, worth 2.39 trillion pesos a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is a slick, highly efficient, quite specialized black market in Tourism, Door-to-door Insurance Sales, Automobile Manufacturing, and Pizza Delivery. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is 17,303 pesos, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

At least 1% of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs budget goes to Leader's wardrobe, officials pull all-nighters to check immigrants for potential links to terrorists, jabbing a baby's bottle at officials gets parents waved straight through immigration, and passionate nomination battles are often as intense as general elections. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Astgrance's national animal is the kiwi, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Astgrance is ranked 235,176^th in the world and 1,305^th in The Communist Bloc for Most Advanced Public Education, scoring 688.87 on the Edu-tellignce® Test Score.