The District of Cato Atoll is a gargantuan, efficient nation, ruled by Liard with a fair hand, and notable for its frequent executions, public floggings, and complete absence of social welfare. The hard-nosed, hard-working, democratic population of 48.3 billion Cato Atollians are effectively ruled by a group of massive corporations, who run for political office and provide their well-off citizens with world-class goods and services. Their poorer citizens, however, are mostly starving to death while being urged to go out and get real jobs. The populace has reasonably extensive civil rights, although these are mostly aimed at allowing them to buy whatever they like.

The minute, pro-business government, or what there is of one, is primarily concerned with Industry, although Law & Order, Defense, and Education are also considered important, while Welfare and Social Policy aren't funded at all. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of District City. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 5.3%.

The all-consuming Cato Atollian economy, worth a remarkable 3,921 trillion aurums a year, is driven almost entirely by the private sector, which is broadly diversified and led by the Automobile Manufacturing industry, with major contributions from Book Publishing, Uranium Mining, and Information Technology. Average income is 81,185 aurums, but there is a large disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 318,737 per year while the poor average 14,055, a ratio of 22.7 to 1.

Liard has just been declared ruler of Cato Atoll in an international press conference, political gridlock ensues as even the most innocuous legislation is vetoed by the Supreme Court for potential civil rights violations, airplane passengers who purchase "basic economy" tickets are often assigned seats in the lavatory, and the only issue that Liard has is that there aren't enough issues (Cato Atoll has found 3 easter eggs). Crime is a problem, with the police force struggling against a lack of funding and a high mortality rate. Cato Atoll's national animal is the bovina, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Cato Atoll is ranked 294,537^th in the world and 1^st in Cato Atoll for Most Eco-Friendly Governments, scoring -5.48 on the Dolphin Recycling Awareness Index.