The Colony of Ario Plateau is a colossal, efficient nation, notable for its pith helmet sales, punitive income tax rates, and stringent health and safety legislation. The hard-nosed, humorless, devout population of 5.598 billion Ario Plateauans are highly moralistic and fiercely conservative, in the sense that they tend to believe most things should be outlawed. People who have good jobs and work quietly at them are lauded; others are viewed with suspicion.

The large, corrupt government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Administration, and Education. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 70.5%.

The frighteningly efficient Ario Plateauan economy, worth 740 trillion credits a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is a large, well-organized black market in Arms Manufacturing, Retail, Information Technology, and Book Publishing. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is an impressive 132,289 credits, with the richest citizens earning 7.0 times as much as the poorest.

Voting is voluntary, a recent political debate came to a quick close once the ruling party decreed it was "just plain silly", the navy is hoping to hear the enemy shout "you sank my battleship!", and political commentators say that Leader's fruitcake plans are about to go pear-shaped. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Ario Plateau's national animal is the fenrir, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Ario Plateau is ranked 210,247^th in the world and 33^rd in Geimugyoukai for Highest Foreign Aid Spending, scoring -4.47 on the Clooney Contribution Index.