The Chemical Compound of Cobalt Chloride is a gargantuan, cultured nation, ruled by Santa Claus with an even hand, and remarkable for its sprawling nuclear power plants, frequent executions, and punitive income tax rates. The hard-nosed, hard-working, devout population of 16.928 billion British have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The large, corrupt government juggles the competing demands of Education, Defense, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of London-by-the-Bye. The average income tax rate is 74.8%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient British economy, worth a remarkable 1,724 trillion Pound Sterlings a year, is quite specialized and led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Tourism, Arms Manufacturing, and Woodchip Exports. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 101,893 Pound Sterlings, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.1 times as much as the poorest.

The nation's only university is the School of Hard Knocks, political commentators say that Santa Claus's fruitcake plans are about to go pear-shaped, military strategists are questioning the wisdom of subsidizing the economies of sworn enemies, and when flight control tells pilots to alter course the usual reply is "No, YOU move!". Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Cobalt Chloride's national animal is the lion, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Atheism.

Cobalt Chloride is ranked 30,053^rd in the world and 2^nd in The New Horizon for Most Subsidized Industry, scoring 5,687.27 on the Gilded Widget Scale.