The Grand Republic of Aason is a mammoth, cultured nation, ruled by President Spiderwither Patches with a fair hand, and renowned for its sprawling nuclear power plants, ban on automobiles, and devotion to social welfare. The compassionate, democratic, cheerful population of 6.491 billion Aasonians hold their civil and political rights very dear, although the wealthy and those in business tend to be viewed with suspicion.

The large, liberal government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Healthcare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Arachnid City. The average income tax rate is 93.9%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Aasonian economy, worth a remarkable 1,080 trillion Aason dollars a year, is quite specialized and led by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Tourism, Book Publishing, and Retail. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is an impressive 166,434 Aason dollars, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Civil engineers are undermining sinkholes, the government subsidizes those who produce the worst results, government-sponsored WiFi allows farmers to rant about city folks in real time, and cultural heritage is measured in Scoville Heat Units. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Aason's national animal is the Cosmophasis umbratica, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Secularism.

Aason is ranked 1,812^th in the world and 5^th in Carcassonne for Nicest Citizens, with 72.86 average smiles per day.