The State of Cornelius Vanderbilt is a gargantuan, efficient nation, renowned for its complete lack of public education, complete absence of social welfare, and spontaneously combusting cars. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical population of 22.221 billion Builders are ruled with an iron fist by the corrupt, dictatorship government, which oppresses anyone who isn't on the board of a Fortune 500 company. Large corporations tend to be above the law, and use their financial clout to gain ever-increasing government benefits at the expense of the poor and unemployed.

The minute, moralistic, pro-business, well-organized government, or what there is of one, is dominated by the Department of Law & Order, although Industry and Defense are also considered important, while Welfare and Spirituality are ignored. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Capital Heights. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 6.0%.

The powerhouse Cornelius Vanderbiltian economy, worth a remarkable 1,108 trillion betales a year, is driven almost entirely by the private sector, which is broadly diversified and led by the Beef-Based Agriculture industry, with major contributions from Uranium Mining, Book Publishing, and Trout Farming. Average income is 49,895 betales, but there is a large disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 218,169 per year while the poor average 7,198, a ratio of 30.3 to 1.

Employers may fire workers without giving any reason, the right to free speech is being drastically curtailed, citizens are enjoying a recent large cut in taxes, and Cornelius Vanderbilt has designated Capital Heights as its capital city. Crime is a problem, possibly because it is difficult to make it through a day without breaking one of the country's many regulations. Cornelius Vanderbilt's national animal is the deer, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Cornelius Vanderbilt is ranked 47,310^th in the world and 1^st in Apia for Most Cheerful Citizens, with 51.48 Percentage Of Water Glasses Perceived Half-Full.