The Empire of Bathera is a titanic, efficient nation, ruled by Grand Baron Elam Ol'ced IX with an even hand, and notable for its museums and concert halls, keen interest in outer space, and stringent health and safety legislation. The hard-nosed, humorless, devout population of 20.234 billion Batherans are prohibited from doing almost everything except voting, which they do timidly and conservatively.

The relatively small, corrupt, moralistic government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Education, and Law & Order. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Bathera City. The average income tax rate is 28.5%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Batheran economy, worth a remarkable 4,634 trillion Baht a year, is quite specialized and mostly made up of the Arms Manufacturing industry, with significant contributions from Tourism, Information Technology, and Book Publishing. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an amazing 229,062 Baht, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.6 times as much as the poorest.

Citizens live in superstitious fear of the mysterious glowing clouds that float over Bathera, betting pennies on games of Go Fish is considered deviant, police officers often conceal their identities to safeguard against public complaints, and nothing is beneath the government after it has extracted all the oil. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Bathera's national animal is the Bat, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies, and its national religion is Techno-Puritanism.

Bathera is ranked 969^th in the world and 10^th in Europe for Largest Manufacturing Sector, scoring 107,041.37 on the Gooback-Jerbs Productivity Index.