The Ræpublic of Aephony is a mammoth, efficient nation, remarkable for its rum-swilling pirates, ritual sacrifices, and keen interest in outer space. The hard-nosed, hard-working, devout population of 7.464 billion Aes are either ruled by a sleek, efficient government or a conglomerate of multinational corporations; it's difficult to tell which.

The medium-sized, corrupt government juggles the competing demands of Industry, Education, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Aesolyte's. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 44.6%.

The frighteningly efficient Ae economy, worth a remarkable 1,306 trillion Aes a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Retail, Arms Manufacturing, and Woodchip Exports. Black market activity is rampant. Average income is an impressive 175,089 Aes, but there is an enormous disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 1,090,642 per year while the poor average 12,021, a ratio of 90.7 to 1.

Obstetricians are not allowed to publish ultrasound pictures of fetuses in medical journals, internet sites are legally unable to stop their users from posting pornography, cricket farmers use magnifying glasses to fit every member of their herd with tiny tracking tags, and they unpaved paradise and tore up a parking lot (ooh, bop bop bop). Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Aephony's national animal is the Leech, which frolics freely in the nation's sparkling oceans.

Aephony is ranked 49,324^th in the world and 143^rd in Refugia for Most Eco-Friendly Governments, scoring 1,976.82 on the Dolphin Recycling Awareness Index.