The Empire of Vantier is a colossal, socially progressive nation, ruled by Edward Schwarzenberg with an even hand, and notable for its barren, inhospitable landscape, deadly medical pandemics, and flagrant waste-dumping. The hard-nosed, hard-working, humorless population of 8.757 billion Vants are either ruled by a sleek, efficient government or a conglomerate of multinational corporations; it's difficult to tell which.

The tiny, corrupt, pro-business government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Industry, and Education. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Ampuries. Income tax is unheard of.

The frighteningly efficient Vantierian economy, worth a remarkable 4,003 trillion Gold Dions a year, is driven almost entirely by the private sector, which is broadly diversified and led by the Retail industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Information Technology, and Soda Sales. Average income is an amazing 457,161 Gold Dions, but there is a vast disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 4,260,109 per year while the poor average 4,391, a ratio of 970 to 1.

The country behaves just like a group of independent provinces all stacked up under a trench coat, sneezing pedestrians are grabbed by alley-lurking doctors, economists have been named Invertebrates of the Year, and the country's famous rainforests are being bulldozed by the mining industry. Crime, especially youth-related, is so common that it is unusual to encounter someone following the law, probably because of the absence of a police force. Vantier's national animal is the Killer whale, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is Roman Catholicism.

Vantier is ranked 739^th in the world and 1^st in Liberal Democratic Union for Largest Automobile Manufacturing Sector, scoring 17,015.93 on the Henry Ford Productivity Index.