The Concordant Stratum of The Cypher Nine is a gargantuan, safe nation, ruled by Council Chairman Cypher One with a fair hand, and notable for its smutty television, state-planned economy, and devotion to social welfare. The compassionate, democratic, humorless population of 12.064 billion Cypherians 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 large, socially-minded government is primarily concerned with Education, with Healthcare, Environment, and Industry also on the agenda, while Defense and Spirituality receive no funds. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Cypher One - Administrative Block. The average income tax rate is 99.1%.

The frighteningly efficient Cypher Ninean economy, worth a remarkable 3,136 trillion Fulcrums a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is highly specialized, is mostly made up of the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Tourism. Average income is an amazing 260,029 Fulcrums, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Citizens know never to accept cookies from strangers, much of The Cypher Nine's computer network is controlled by a rampant artificial intelligence, scientists regularly clone human beings for research purposes, and there is a growing belief that consciousness is a simulated illusion within a computer-generated reality. Crime is totally unknown. The Cypher Nine's national animal is the Voltaic Shark, which frolics freely in the nation's sparkling oceans.

The Cypher Nine is ranked 279,966^th in the world and 272^nd in Forest for Greatest Rich-Poor Divides, with 1.28 Rich To Poor Income Ratio.