The Commonwealth of Bentus is a gargantuan, cultured nation, ruled by President Hayes with an iron fist, and remarkable for its parental licensing program, compulsory military service, and public floggings. The hard-nosed, cynical, humorless population of 22.509 billion Bentusis are ruled by a mostly-benevolent dictator, who grants the populace the freedom to live their own lives but watches carefully for anyone to slip up.

The tiny, corrupt, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Industry, Defense, and Law & Order. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Bentus City. The average income tax rate is 4.9%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Bentusian economy, worth a remarkable 4,020 trillion Credits a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Woodchip Exports, and Uranium Mining. Black market activity is extensive. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 178,599 Credits, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.6 times as much as the poorest.

Allergy-sufferers must wear gas masks before venturing outdoors, guide dogs for the blind have been seen using government websites, exam halls are littered with used needles and empty pill bottles, and begun the Clone Wars have. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown. Bentus's national animal is the Trilobite, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

Bentus is ranked 36,040^th in the world and 15^th in The Local Cluster for Lowest Crime Rates, with 79.46 law-abiding acts per hour.