Nation/Asarkia

The Federal Union of Asarkia is a massive, genial nation, ruled by President Vakil with a fair hand, and remarkable for its museums and concert halls, irreverence towards religion, and punitive income tax rates. The compassionate, democratic population of 1.89 billion Asarkians are free to do what they want with their own bodies, and vote for whomever they like in elections; if they go into business, however, they are regulated to within an inch of their lives.

The enormous government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Education, and Welfare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Asarkia City. The average income tax rate is 92.2%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Asarkian economy, worth 203 trillion Asarks a year, is quite specialized and led by the Book Publishing industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Arms Manufacturing, and Beef-Based Agriculture. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is an impressive 107,476 Asarks, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Innocent defendants often plead guilty for fear of receiving a much harsher sentence before jury, organ donation rates are among the lowest in the region, whipping posts and lashes have been transferred to the Historical Museum of Asarkian Embarrassments, and the Smalltopian embassy doubles as an electoral campaign headquarters. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Asarkia's national animal is the Dragon, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to toxic air pollution.