The Republic of Ascentida is a colossal, cultured nation, ruled by Christian Matthew Davis with an even hand, and renowned for its museums and concert halls, complete lack of prisons, and aversion to nipples. The hard-nosed, hard-working, devout population of 3.572 billion Ascendians have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The medium-sized, corrupt government juggles the competing demands of Industry, Administration, and Education. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Andersonia. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 42.0%.

The frighteningly efficient Ascentidan economy, worth 552 trillion onars a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with significant contributions from Retail, Information Technology, and Book Publishing. Average income is an impressive 154,673 onars, but there is a significant disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 454,508 per year while the poor average 41,468, a ratio of 11.0 to 1.

Model railroad hobbyists have taken to muscling model shipbuilders off their "turf", wars of expansion are described as "peacekeeping operations", citizens live in superstitious fear of the mysterious glowing clouds that float over Ascentida, and earthquake sirens are a leading cause of hearing loss. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Ascentida's national animal is the Ascendian brown bear, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its national religion is Christianity.

Ascentida is ranked 115,590^th in the world and 2,018^th in The North Pacific for Highest Average Tax Rates, with 41.97 Effective Tax Rate.