The Republic of Awtos is a large, environmentally stunning nation, remarkable for its ban on automobiles, compulsory military service, and punitive income tax rates. The compassionate, democratic population of 62 million Awtosans love a good election, and the government gives them plenty of them. Universities tend to be full of students debating the merits of various civil and political rights, while businesses are tightly regulated and the wealthy viewed with suspicion.

The government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked, socially-minded morass — juggles the competing demands of Welfare, Law & Order, and Education. The average income tax rate is 72.9%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but underdeveloped Awtosan economy, worth 1.71 trillion Afflunces a year, is quite specialized and mostly made up of the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Cheese Exports and Soda Sales. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 27,524 Afflunces, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.3 times as much as the poorest.

Product development labs spend most of their money fighting the government's patent infringement lawsuits, residents of new housing subdivisions complain about the total absence of supermarkets and restaurants, prison reforms have replaced communal luaus with communal loos, and travelers are subject to extensive searches if beet stains are visible on their clothing. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Awtos's national animal is the Chameleon, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Awtos is ranked 43,896^th in the world and 1^st in The Archipelago Haven for Most Beautiful Environments, with 700.75 pounds of wildlife per square mile.