The Supremely Democratic States of Hirota is a gargantuan, cultured nation, ruled by Kan Pae Down with a fair hand, and remarkable for its public floggings, smutty television, and complete absence of social welfare. The hard-nosed, hard-working, democratic population of 40.394 billion Hirotans hold their civil and political rights very dear, although the wealthy and those in business tend to be viewed with suspicion.

The minute government, or what there is of one, juggles the competing demands of Defense, Healthcare, and Education. The average income tax rate is 1.1%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Hirotan economy, worth a remarkable 7,423 trillion coins a year, is led by the Uranium Mining industry, with significant contributions from Book Publishing, Information Technology, and Retail. Black market activity is notable. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 183,777 coins, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The tightness of border controls in Hirota leave a little to be desired, bins outnumber trees in city parks, medical experts advise that those claiming to be medical experts are probably fraudsters, and octogenarian swimsuit models insist that they've still got it. Crime, especially youth-related, is all-pervasive, probably because of the absence of a police force. Hirota's national animal is the forest owl, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

Hirota is ranked 2,816^th in the world and 21^st in Europe for Largest Timber Woodchipping Industry, scoring 11,881.21 on the Tasmanian Pulp Environmental Export Index.