The Commonwealth of Astra Prime is a colossal, orderly nation, ruled by Lance Hornsby with an iron fist, and remarkable for its national health service, smutty television, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, cynical, cheerful population of 6.309 billion Astrans are proud of their wide-ranging civil freedoms, and those who aren't tend to be dragged off the streets by men in dark suits and hustled into cars with tinted windows.

The relatively small, corrupt government juggles the competing demands of Industry, Administration, and Education. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Alexandria. The average income tax rate is 25.9%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Astra Primean economy, worth a remarkable 1,707 trillion gold coins a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Retail industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Book Publishing, and Soda Sales. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is an amazing 270,710 gold coins, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Crowded passenger trains are near-silent save for the soft tap of fingers on touchscreens, tardiness has increased after carpooling was classified as a criminal offense, Astra Prime is increasingly belligerent on the international stage, and midnight pizza breaks are common among the work-from-home population. Crime is totally unknown. Astra Prime's national animal is the sea dragon, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is Talos.

Astra Prime is ranked 110,796^th in the world and 1,356^th in the West Pacific for Largest Gambling Industry, scoring 1,417.23 on the Kelly Criterion Productivity Index.