The Republic of Appalachya 78 is a massive, efficient nation, notable for its compulsory military service, complete absence of social welfare, and spontaneously combusting cars. The hard-nosed, hard-working population of 1.048 billion Appalachya 78ians are either ruled by a sleek, efficient government or a conglomerate of multinational corporations; it's difficult to tell which.

The tiny, pro-business government prioritizes Defense, with Law & Order also on the agenda, while Spirituality and International Aid receive no funds. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 5.8%.

The very strong Appalachya 78ian economy, worth 71.5 trillion Dollars a year, is driven almost entirely by the private sector, which is broadly diversified and led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with major contributions from Retail, Information Technology, and Basket Weaving. Average income is 68,243 Dollars, but there is a large disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 256,486 per year while the poor average 12,675, a ratio of 20.2 to 1.

Military spending recently hit a new high, the alarmingly racist TV show 'Bigtopians Say the Darndest Things' is a hit, surveillance cameras are banned, and the people consider response to rudeness to be an acceptable casus belli. Crime is a problem, with the police force struggling against a lack of funding and a high mortality rate. Appalachya 78's national animal is the Eagle, which can occasionally be seen dodging aircraft in the nation's cities.

Appalachya 78 is ranked 105,196^th in the world and 1^st in Die Schwarze Sonne for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 93.01 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.