The Adamant Apocrypha of Araklus is a huge, environmentally stunning nation, renowned for its keen interest in outer space, irreverence towards religion, and stringent health and safety legislation. The democratic population of 946 million Spiders 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 medium-sized, socially-minded, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Welfare, Administration, and Defense. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Ponziview. The average income tax rate is 33.9%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but sluggish Spider economy, worth 24.3 trillion silks a year, is led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Beef-Based Agriculture, and Furniture Restoration. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 25,638 silks, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Bug burgers are extra crunchy, advertisements for jobs in the sciences run in fashion magazines, Ponziview has restaurants serving every meat from aardvark to zebra, and elementary school students are required to master Bach's Chaconne in D before graduation. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown. Araklus's national animal is the bribe, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Araklus is ranked 87,445^th in the world and 463^rd in the Outback for Most Cultured, scoring 67 on the Snufflebottom-Wiggendum Pentatonic Scale.