The Colony of Eraste is a gargantuan, environmentally stunning nation, ruled by Leader with a fair hand, and remarkable for its compulsory military service, absence of drug laws, and punitive income tax rates. The democratic population of 16.744 billion Erasteans 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 enormous, socially-minded, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Welfare, Law & Order, and Education. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Deadman's Locker. The average income tax rate is 58.2%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The large but inefficient Erastean economy, worth 541 trillion congoes a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is quite specialized, is led by the Retail industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Uranium Mining, and Door-to-door Insurance Sales. Average income is 32,318 congoes, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Those found guilty of illicit affairs are jailed, 'The Anti-Government Hour' is a popular programme on many of Eraste's radio stations, dog breeding has been banned in accordance with recent animal experimentation laws, and the government's official stance on religion is that it is so very silly. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Eraste's national animal is the Gorilla, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Eraste is ranked 273,017^th in the world and 10,198^th in Osiris for Most Corrupt Governments, with 0.69 kickbacks per hour.