The Kingdom of Asteran is a gargantuan, genial nation, ruled by Prime Minister Siiri Vaska with an iron fist, and remarkable for its museums and concert halls, keen interest in outer space, and sprawling nuclear power plants. The compassionate, cynical population of 31.297 billion Asteris are ruled with an iron fist by the socialist government, which grants its people the freedom to do whatever they like so long as it doesn't involve getting richer than anybody else or challenging the government.

The enormous, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Education, Healthcare, and Social Policy. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Kirano. The average income tax rate is 91.9%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The all-consuming Asteri economy, worth a remarkable 3,925 trillion pounds a year, is led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Tourism, Basket Weaving, and Cheese Exports. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 125,439 pounds, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Kirano University is said to be the modern-day Tower of Babel, doctors who mutter "Oh my God" often lose their medical license, hundreds of subterranean tunnels are being built as part of "Project Morlock", and hidden bedroom-cams are installed to catch mothers doing their kids' homework. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Asteran's national animal is the lion, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is the Church of Asteran.

Asteran is ranked 2,430^th in the world and 105^th in Balder for Most Extensive Public Healthcare, scoring 12,662.48 on the Theresa-Nightingale Rating.