The Empire of THE Ash is a huge, cultured nation, renowned for its daily referendums, public floggings, and prohibition of alcohol. The devout population of 526 million Ashians are prohibited from doing almost everything except voting, which they do timidly and conservatively.

The large, moralistic government prioritizes Administration, although Law & Order, Education, and Defense are also considered important. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Ashgabat. The average income tax rate is 57.5%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The Ashian economy, worth 34.9 trillion Dirhams 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 slick, highly efficient, broadly diversified black market in Information Technology, Uranium Mining, Tourism, and Furniture Restoration. 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 66,438 Dirhams, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.7 times as much as the poorest.

Childhood friends of Leader are living it large abroad at the taxpayers' expense, newborns are being raised as mindless killing machines, international collectors know that a grease-stain on a work of art probably means it's passed through THE Ash, and a National Academy regulates grammar and usage. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. THE Ash's national animal is the Cat 🐈⬛️, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

THE Ash is ranked 67,663^rd in the world and 3^rd in La Hira for Most Eco-Friendly Governments, scoring 1,514.36 on the Dolphin Recycling Awareness Index.