The Dominion of Aarderecht is a massive, orderly nation, remarkable for its barren, inhospitable landscape, frequent executions, and suspicion of poets. The hard-nosed, cynical, humorless, devout population of 1.492 billion Aarderechtians are ruled without fear or favor by a psychotic dictator, who outlaws just about everything and refers to the populace as "my little playthings."

The large, corrupt, moralistic, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Administration. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 68.3%.

The frighteningly efficient Aarderechtian economy, worth 213 trillion Shards a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is an enormous, deeply entrenched, quite specialized black market in Uranium Mining, Arms Manufacturing, Automobile Manufacturing, and Woodchip Exports. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is an impressive 143,378 Shards, but there is a large disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 545,001 per year while the poor average 26,155, a ratio of 20.8 to 1.

The practice of capital punishment proves divisive, Leader's Dreadnought-class tankbuster limousine is said to have more ammunition than the entire Brancalandian Army, livestock mutilations are on the rise, and in-cite-ment never happens at tea parties. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force. Aarderecht's national animal is the Silhouette, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Aarderecht is ranked 325,464^th in the world and 1,168^th in Concord for Nicest Citizens, with 0.29 average smiles per day.