The Byzantine Empire of Constantinolia is a massive, orderly nation, ruled by Andronikos VI with an iron fist, and remarkable for its rum-swilling pirates, digital currency, and sprawling nuclear power plants. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical, devout population of 3.53 billion Byzantines are rabid consumers, partly through choice and partly because the government tells them to and dissenters tend to vanish from their homes at night.

The tiny, corrupt, well-organized government prioritizes Spirituality, although Defense, Education, and Industry are also considered important, while Social Policy and Environment aren't funded at all. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Constantinople. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 6.1%.

The frighteningly efficient Byzantine economy, worth 465 trillion hyperpyrons a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with major contributions from Retail, Information Technology, and Woodchip Exports. Black market activity is notable. Average income is an impressive 131,728 hyperpyrons, with the richest citizens earning 7.8 times as much as the poorest.

Money always talks but the taboo subject of death just brings silence, construction of the Really Big Hadron Collider is underway, only "purebloods" are allowed in the nicer parts of town, and the "right of sanctuary" stops police pursuit into temples and churches. Crime, especially youth-related, is relatively low. Constantinolia's national animal is the eagle, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to toxic air pollution, and its national religion is Catholicism.

Constantinolia is ranked 183,524^th in the world and 10,235^th in The North Pacific for Most Eco-Friendly Governments, scoring -18.17 on the Dolphin Recycling Awareness Index.