The Confederated Empire of Sovereign California is a gargantuan, cultured nation, ruled by Empress Fiora Devnostraeva with a fair hand, and remarkable for its barren, inhospitable landscape, otherworldly petting zoo, and unlimited-speed roads. The hard-nosed, hard-working, democratic, humorless population of 48.193 billion Californians hold their civil and political rights very dear, although the wealthy and those in business tend to be viewed with suspicion.

The relatively small, corrupt, liberal, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Industry, Education, and Healthcare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Los Angeles ― Los Angeles NCD. The average income tax rate is 40.5%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Californian economy, worth an astonishing 16,514 trillion Sovereigns a year, is led by the Book Publishing industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Gambling, and Information Technology. Black market activity is rampant. Average income is an amazing 342,669 Sovereigns, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.5 times as much as the poorest.

Constituents prefer a carrot and boomstick approach to dealing with politicians, atheism is seen as a prerequisite for political power, nobody likes bad boys any more, and cassocked priests and choirboys believe that what happens behind closed doors stays behind closed doors. Crime, especially youth-related, is pervasive, with the police force struggling against a lack of funding and a high mortality rate. Sovereign California's national animal is the Phoenix, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to toxic air pollution, and its national religion is Devnostraevism.

Sovereign California is ranked 329,222^nd in the world and 16^th in Terra Prime for Most Compassionate Citizens, scoring 10.05 on the Kitten Softness Rating.