The Ur-Quan Masters of Hesperonis is a gargantuan, orderly nation, ruled by Lord 353 with an iron fist, and remarkable for its barren, inhospitable landscape, deadly medical pandemics, and complete lack of prisons. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical, cheerful population of 39.875 billion Ur-Quans 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 minute, corrupt, well-organized government, or what there is of one, is effectively ruled by the Department of Defense, with Social Policy and Welfare not funded at all. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Delta Crateris V. Income tax is unheard of.

The frighteningly efficient Hesperonisian economy, worth an astonishing 24,862 trillion Sa-Matras a year, is driven almost entirely by the private sector, which is broadly diversified and led by the Soda Sales industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Retail, and Gambling. Average income is a breathtaking 623,504 Sa-Matras, but there is a large disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 2,805,771 per year while the poor average 85,477, a ratio of 32.8 to 1.

The SWAT team always rings twice, families burn Lord 353's latest official photograph to keep warm, the government regularly reassures citizens that there are no monsters under their beds, and new pilots are regularly reminded that they are more expendable than their planes. Crime, especially youth-related, is so common that it is unusual to encounter someone following the law, perhaps because of the country's complete lack of prisons. Hesperonis's national animal is the Dnyarri, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is Path of Now and Forever.

Hesperonis is ranked 29,425^th in the world and 448^th in Lazarus for Greatest Rich-Poor Divides, with 32.82 Rich To Poor Income Ratio.