The Unholy Black Dominion of Arcterus is a gargantuan, socially progressive nation, ruled by The Prime Executor with a fair hand, and remarkable for its free-roaming dinosaurs, rampant corporate plagiarism, and national health service. The compassionate, hard-working, democratic, cheerful population of 31.648 billion Arcterrans hold their civil and political rights very dear, although the wealthy and those in business tend to be viewed with suspicion.

The enormous, liberal, outspoken government prioritizes Education, with Environment, Healthcare, and Industry also on the agenda, while Law & Order and Spirituality receive no funds. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Installation Heliopolis. The average income tax rate is 95.9%.

The frighteningly efficient Arcterian economy, worth a remarkable 4,942 trillion Sticks 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, highly specialized black market in Information Technology, Book Publishing, and Tourism. 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 156,173 Sticks, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

A bill to outlaw math homework has been submitted, representatives soak in mineral pools at the new capitol building day spa, public footpaths are being slowly eroded by the burgeoning number of ramblers, and populations of two-headed Lazy Stoned Monks have been found around recently-uncovered archaeological sites. 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. Arcterus's national animal is the Lazy Stoned Monk, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

Arcterus is ranked 57^th in the world and 1^st in Yggdrasil for Most Cultured, scoring 1,023 on the Snufflebottom-Wiggendum Pentatonic Scale.