The Steel Islands of Ark is a mammoth, orderly nation, ruled by Supreme Matriarch with an iron fist, and renowned for its parental licensing program, compulsory military service, and ubiquitous missile silos. The hard-nosed, cynical, humorless, devout population of 5.059 billion Arkans are kept under strict control by the oppressive government, which measures its success by the nation's GDP and refers to individual citizens as "human resources."

The large, corrupt, moralistic, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Deck 17. The average income tax rate is 43.2%.

The strong Arkan economy, worth 390 trillion Paradystopi Chunks a year, is quite specialized and mostly made up of the Arms Manufacturing industry, with significant contributions from Woodchip Exports, Uranium Mining, and Pizza Delivery. Black market activity is rampant. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 77,151 Paradystopi Chunks, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 3.1 times as much as the poorest.

Residents of new housing subdivisions complain about the total absence of supermarkets and restaurants, televangelists often claim they can cure your Lupus if you donate enough money, government statistics suggest 115% of the population love Supreme Matriarch, and bruised children are made to thank their bullies for the valuable life lessons. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force. Ark's national animal is the Giant Anaconda, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its national religion is praying for calm seas.

Ark is ranked 318,781^st in the world and 6^th in Paradystopi Affiliated States for Most Compassionate Citizens, scoring 13.64 on the Kitten Softness Rating.