The Unholy Black Dominion of Arcterus is a gargantuan, socially progressive nation, ruled by The Prime Executor with a fair hand, and renowned for its national health service, free-roaming dinosaurs, and irreverence towards religion. The compassionate, democratic, cheerful population of 26.769 billion Arcterrans hold their civil and political rights very dear, although the wealthy and those in business tend to be viewed with suspicion.

The large, liberal, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Education, Healthcare, and Environment. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Installation Heliopolis. The average income tax rate is 89.0%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Arcterian economy, worth a remarkable 3,578 trillion Sticks a year, is highly specialized and mostly comprised of black market activity, especially in Book Publishing, Tourism, and Information Technology. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is an impressive 133,672 Sticks, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.8 times as much as the poorest.

There's a mortuary next to every Arcterian restaurant, the police have been reduced to using duct tape instead of handcuffs following further cutbacks, much of Arcterus's computer network is controlled by a rampant artificial intelligence, and grannies get pulled over for knitting pullovers while driving. Crime, especially youth-related, is so common that it is unusual to encounter someone following the law, perhaps because of the country's complete lack of prisons. Arcterus's national animal is the Lazy Stoned Monk, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Arcterus is ranked 593^rd in the world and 3^rd in Yggdrasil for Largest Publishing Industry, scoring 45,666.92 on the Bella Potter Productivity e-Index.