The Divine Island Kingdom of Aschente is a gargantuan, orderly nation, ruled by God King Asche with an iron fist, and renowned for its public floggings, sprawling nuclear power plants, and stringent health and safety legislation. The hard-nosed, cynical population of 16.575 billion Aschenteans are ruled by a mostly-benevolent dictator, who grants the populace the freedom to live their own lives but watches carefully for anyone to slip up.

The medium-sized, corrupt, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Education, and Healthcare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Aschente Prime. The average income tax rate is 67.7%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Aschentean economy, worth a remarkable 2,241 trillion Gem Chips a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is broadly diversified, is led by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Book Publishing, and Tourism. Average income is an impressive 135,246 Gem Chips, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The government only invests in infrastructure after a natural disaster, the ABI Channel Tunnel project is plagued by delays, school uniforms are compulsory, and the comic book series 'God King Asche and the Villainous Corporate Cronies' is a best-seller. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Aschente's national animal is the Dragon, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to toxic air pollution, and its national religion is Order of The Divine Seven.

Aschente is ranked 38,018^th in the world and 288^th in 10000 Islands for Most Subsidized Industry, scoring 4,871.65 on the Gilded Widget Scale.