The Grand Duchy of Kharkov is a gargantuan, cultured nation, ruled by Maochao with an even hand, and notable for its infamous sell-swords, unlimited-speed roads, and stringent health and safety legislation. The hard-nosed, cheerful population of 46.746 billion Kharkovites are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The relatively small government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Education, and Law & Order. The average income tax rate is 7.1%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The Kharkovian economy, worth a remarkable 8,731 trillion gold pieces a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Book Publishing, and Uranium Mining. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 186,776 gold pieces, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Government debts are financed through alchemy, the question "please would you...?" is usually laden with passive aggression, a valid legal defense is 'dead men tell no tales', and women complaining about lack of opportunity are told to "man up". Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Kharkov's national animal is the Golden Eagle, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

Kharkov is ranked 2,870^th in the world and 1^st in Future Panthalassa for Safest, scoring 140.56 on the Bubble-Rapp Safety Rating.