The Empire of Echel is a large, safe nation, notable for its barren, inhospitable landscape, anti-smoking policies, and keen interest in outer space. The hard-working population of 142 million Echelians have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The medium-sized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Industry. The average income tax rate is 37.7%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The Echelian economy, worth 7.19 trillion Unit's a year, is led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with major contributions from Uranium Mining, Information Technology, and Door-to-door Insurance Sales. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 50,648 Unit's, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.8 times as much as the poorest.

Echel is notorious for its citizens' infidelity, games of cops and robbers typically end in at least one fatal shooting, pausing for applause during a speech is seen as a form of censorship, and small businesses are gobbled up almost daily by corporate giants. Crime, especially youth-related, is almost non-existent, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Echel's national animal is the Mechanical Skyrender moth, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Echel is ranked 30,425^th in the world and 1,632^nd in Lazarus for Largest Insurance Industry, scoring 4,635.28 on the Risk Expulsion Effectiveness Rating.