The Federation of Centas is a massive, efficient nation, ruled by Allan C Harrington with an even hand, and notable for its sprawling nuclear power plants, keen interest in outer space, and prohibition of alcohol. The hard-nosed, humorless population of 2.002 billion Centasians are prohibited from doing almost everything except voting, which they do timidly and conservatively.

The relatively small, corrupt, moralistic government juggles the competing demands of Industry, Education, and Law & Order. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Centasi. The average income tax rate is 43.0%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Centasian economy, worth 366 trillion Centasian Cents 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 a large, well-organized, broadly diversified black market in Information Technology, Arms Manufacturing, Uranium Mining, and Retail. 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 182,993 Centasian Cents, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.7 times as much as the poorest.

Unpackaged foodstuffs rot on store shelves, exports are stamped with "made by the invisible hand you commies", record numbers of Centasians find themselves enrolled in the nationwide bootstrap pulling initiative, and hidden bedroom-cams are installed to catch mothers doing their kids' homework. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Centas's national animal is the Crow, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to toxic air pollution.

Centas is ranked 269,363^rd in the world and 823^rd in The Frontier Sea for Largest Trout Fishing Sector, scoring -7.16 on the Nemo Depletion Efficiency Index.