The Empire of Golden Phoenix is a colossal, orderly nation, notable for its museums and concert halls, otherworldly petting zoo, and sprawling nuclear power plants. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical population of 5.252 billion Golden Phoenixians are kept under strict control by the oppressive government, which measures its success by the nation's GDP and refers to individual citizens as "human resources."

The medium-sized, corrupt, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Education, and Law & Order. The average income tax rate is 69.3%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Golden Phoenixian economy, worth 666 trillion Imperial Flames a year, is led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Tourism, and Book Publishing. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is an impressive 126,873 Imperial Flames, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.9 times as much as the poorest.

The newest shade developed by Golden Phoenix's dye industry has been dubbed 'Agent Orange', selling your granddad's clothes requires an incredible amount of paperwork, it's not mass murder when the government does it, and withdrawal of support for drug addicts is leaving many with cold sweats. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Golden Phoenix's national animal is the Phoenix, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

Golden Phoenix is ranked 13,085^th in the world and 268^th in the Pacific for Lowest Crime Rates, with 96.42 law-abiding acts per hour.