The Empire of First Council is a titanic, safe nation, remarkable for its burgeoning horse population. The hard-nosed, democratic population of 22.742 billion First Councilians enjoy great social freedoms and frequent elections, where the majority of the populace regularly votes to increase its benefits at the expense of various hapless minorities.

The medium-sized, moralistic, socially-minded, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Healthcare, and Welfare. The average income tax rate is 29.0%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The large but underdeveloped First Councilian economy, worth 539 trillion Euros a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Beef-Based Agriculture industry, with major contributions from Cheese Exports, Door-to-door Insurance Sales, and Woodchip Exports. Black market activity is notable. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 23,728 Euros, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Crime is almost non-existent, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. First Council's national animal is the horse, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

First Council is ranked 152,870^th in the world and 1^st in Herd United for Most Accessible, scoring 261.84 on the Keller-Reeve Index.