Nation/Aarhustan

The Kingdom of Aarhustan is a colossal, efficient nation, ruled by Prime Minister Rikard Stoltenberg with a fair hand, and remarkable for its barren, inhospitable landscape, smutty television, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, democratic, cheerful population of 5.054 billion Aarhustanians enjoy a sensible mix of personal and economic freedoms, while the political process is open and the people's right to vote held sacrosanct.

The medium-sized government juggles the competing demands of Education, Welfare, and Healthcare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Bærnsvœrg. The average income tax rate is 86.8%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Aarhustanian economy, worth 951 trillion Krønes a year, is fairly diversified and dominated by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Book Publishing and Uranium Mining. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is an impressive 188,168 Krønes, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.9 times as much as the poorest.

'To Regulate And Beyond' is the unofficial motto of the Aarhustanian Space Agency, young girls and senior citizens alike can be spotted wearing colourful short shorts, annual Formula One races bring the capital to a screeching halt, and teenage male videogamers often suffer repetitive strain wrist injuries. Crime is totally unknown. Aarhustan's national animal is the Animas, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.