The Democratic Republic of Astolfochea is a small, orderly nation, remarkable for its vat-grown people, compulsory military service, and sprawling nuclear power plants. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical population of 32 million Astolfocheans 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 Law & Order, Defense, and Education. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 23.5%.

The strong Astolfochean economy, worth 1.67 trillion Credit chips a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Woodchip Exports industry, with major contributions from Door-to-door Insurance Sales, Arms Manufacturing, and Basket Weaving. Average income is 52,221 Credit chips, but there is a significant disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 152,226 per year while the poor average 14,159, a ratio of 10.8 to 1.

Taxi drivers seem less xenophobic these days, trying to toast marshmallows in an electric fireplace just isn't the same, no animal is considered endangered if there's another that looks kind of like it, and movement-triggered sensors mean that for every door that closes another one opens. Crime, especially youth-related, is almost non-existent, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Astolfochea's national animal is the Femboy, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Astolfochea is ranked 97,422^nd in the world and 1,988^th in the South Pacific for Most Advanced Public Education, scoring 2,071.36 on the Edu-tellignce® Test Score.