The Watchfires of SWU-1 is a gargantuan, environmentally stunning nation, renowned for its enforced nudity, compulsory gun ownership, and stringent health and safety legislation. The hard-nosed, hard-working population of 28.368 billion SWU-1ians are highly moralistic and fiercely conservative, in the sense that they tend to believe most things should be outlawed. People who have good jobs and work quietly at them are lauded; others are viewed with suspicion.

The medium-sized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Administration. The average income tax rate is 34.4%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The strong SWU-1ian economy, worth a remarkable 1,157 trillion $$s a year, is quite specialized and dominated by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with significant contributions from Beef-Based Agriculture, Information Technology, and Retail. Black market activity is notable. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 40,793 $$s, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.6 times as much as the poorest.

Citizens must have a license to operate a computer, Leader has no checks and balances after the upper house was abolished, young soldiers are shocked to discover there are no 'safe spaces' on a battlefield, and incompetent former soldiers have been re-employed as incompetent cleaners and kitchen staff. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. SWU-1's national animal is the Death's-head hawkmoth, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies.

SWU-1 is ranked 115,236^th in the world and 1^st in Socialist Workers Union for Most Developed, scoring 58.97 on the Human Development Index.