The Republic of Ampex is a gargantuan, orderly nation, remarkable for its museums and concert halls, smutty television, and stringent health and safety legislation. The hard-nosed, cynical, humorless, devout population of 10.201 billion Ampexians are ruled without fear or favor by a psychotic dictator, who outlaws just about everything and refers to the populace as "my little playthings."

The medium-sized, corrupt, moralistic government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Industry, and Defense. The average income tax rate is 45.2%.

The frighteningly efficient Ampexian economy, worth a remarkable 1,997 trillion 9003s a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with significant contributions from Information Technology, Uranium Mining, and Book Publishing. Black market activity is rampant. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 195,850 9003s, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 3.1 times as much as the poorest.

Many feel that the government's ban on cars to combat reckless driving was "a tad excessive", serial killers are the country's biggest import, male med students learning female anatomy do so with their eyes tightly closed, and road signs are getting harder to read under layers of knitted woolen cardigans. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Ampex's national animal is the 9003, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Ampex is ranked 8,631^st in the world and 408^th in Home Sweet 9003 for Most Patriotic, with 71.83 flags saluted per person per day.