The Republic of AURDANIUM is a tiny, socially progressive nation, remarkable for its barren, inhospitable landscape, compulsory military service, and spontaneously combusting cars. The hard-working population of 14 million AURDANIUMians enjoy some of the most opulent lifestyles in the region, unless they are unemployed or working-class, in which case they are variously starving to death or crippled by easily preventable diseases.

The tiny, pro-business government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Education. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 7.6%.

The strong AURDANIUMian economy, worth 650 billion RESES a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Uranium Mining industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Information Technology, and Furniture Restoration. Average income is 46,461 RESES, but there is a vast disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 299,448 per year while the poor average 2,912, a ratio of 102 to 1.

The tenet of free speech is held dear, decaying farm hamlets have twice the representation of major urban areas, the latest Harry Potter book is a bestseller, and scientists regularly clone human beings for research purposes. Crime is a serious problem. AURDANIUM's national animal is the dolphin, which can occasionally be seen avoiding garbage in the nation's murky oceans.

AURDANIUM is ranked 69,251^st in the world and 9^th in The Hole To Hide In for Highest Unexpected Death Rate, scoring 48.34 on the Bus Surprisal Index.