The Big Brain of Astrid Queen of Clockworks is a mammoth, safe nation, ruled by Astrid Weisberg Talleyrand with a fair hand, and notable for its museums and concert halls, punitive income tax rates, and devotion to social welfare. The compassionate, hard-working, democratic, cheerful, devout population of 9.747 billion Astrid Queen of Clockworksians hold their civil and political rights very dear, although the wealthy and those in business tend to be viewed with suspicion.

The medium-sized, liberal, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Education, Industry, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Gothica. The average income tax rate is 91.9%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Astrid Queen of Clockworksian economy, worth a remarkable 2,307 trillion yen a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is broadly diversified, is led by the Tourism industry, with significant contributions from Information Technology, Book Publishing, and Beef-Based Agriculture. Average income is an amazing 236,775 yen, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Prison visits increase substantially during election years, advertisements for jobs in the sciences run in fashion magazines, fraternities are notorious for drunken hooliganism, and euthanasia is illegal. Crime is totally unknown. Astrid Queen of Clockworks's national animal is the raven, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies, and its national religion is Violetism.

Astrid Queen of Clockworks is ranked 6,994^th in the world and 1^st in Gothic Fiction for Most Eco-Friendly Governments, scoring 6,953.95 on the Dolphin Recycling Awareness Index.