The People's Republic of Aspach is a mid-sized, safe nation, notable for its state-planned economy, irreverence towards religion, and punitive income tax rates. The compassionate population of 50 million Aspachians enjoy extensive civil rights and enjoy a level of social equality free from the usual accompanying government corruption.

The enormous, liberal, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Welfare. The average income tax rate is 72.5%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The basket case Aspachian economy, worth 606 billion Aspes a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is quite specialized, is led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Book Publishing, Trout Farming, and Arms Manufacturing. Average income is 12,126 Aspes, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Referenda can be called for any law at the request of at least one third of the voting population, state media features lively debates such as whether pineapple on pizza is an acceptable topping, the long arm of the law possesses a rather slow hand, and Eau de Trashcan has become a wildly popular perfume. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Aspach's national animal is the Martin, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Aspach is ranked 105,177^th in the world and 921^st in Europe for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 93.27 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.