The City-State of Rho Ophiuchi is a colossal, socially progressive nation, ruled by Corporations with an even hand, and remarkable for its free-roaming dinosaurs, infamous sell-swords, and sprawling nuclear power plants. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cheerful population of 6.387 billion Rho Ophiuchians enjoy some of the most opulent lifestyles in the region, unless they are unemployed or working-class, in which case they are variously starving to death or crippled by easily preventable diseases.

The tiny, corrupt, liberal, pro-business government is primarily concerned with Industry, although Defense, Education, and Healthcare are also considered important, while Environment and Law & Order are ignored. Income tax is unheard of.

The frighteningly efficient Rho Ophiuchian economy, worth a remarkable 2,875 trillion Kilograms of Iron a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Retail industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Arms Manufacturing, and Book Publishing. Average income is an amazing 450,228 Kilograms of Iron, but there is a vast disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 3,224,871 per year while the poor average 20,458, a ratio of 157 to 1.

The nation's new flagship trading company deals exclusively in things no one wants, fake revenge can be served either cold or hot, populations of two-headed Rotifers have been found around recently-uncovered archaeological sites, and several citizens have complained about scientists abducting their pets for experimentation. Crime, especially youth-related, is so common that it is unusual to encounter someone following the law, probably because of the absence of a police force. Rho Ophiuchi's national animal is the Rotifer, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is Christianity.

Rho Ophiuchi is ranked 295,912^th in the world and 4,410^th in the Pacific for Lowest Crime Rates, with 2.06 law-abiding acts per hour.