The Commonwealth of Auraea is a massive, efficient nation, notable for its barren, inhospitable landscape, keen interest in outer space, and irreverence towards religion. The hard-nosed, hard-working, democratic population of 1.023 billion Auraeans enjoy a sensible mix of personal and economic freedoms, while the political process is open and the people's right to vote held sacrosanct.

The relatively small government juggles the competing demands of Welfare, Education, and Defense. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 10.3%.

The very strong Auraean economy, worth 76.9 trillion soliduses a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Door-to-door Insurance Sales, Arms Manufacturing, and Pizza Delivery. Average income is 75,143 soliduses, but there is a significant disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 254,750 per year while the poor average 16,366, a ratio of 15.6 to 1.

The sanitised and dull music festivals of Auraea are famed for their reasonable volume levels, trying to toast marshmallows in an electric fireplace just isn't the same, auctioneers practice saying "lightly used tank" with a straight face, and the government spends billions to retrieve millions worth of asteroid gold. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown. Auraea's national animal is the equatorial capybara, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Auraea is ranked 204,083^rd in the world and 6^th in Lyceni for Highest Food Quality, scoring 13.06 on the Meeshlin-Starr Index.