The Empire of Hellghon is a colossal, cultured nation, ruled by Autarch Tendon Cobar with an iron fist, and notable for its public floggings, compulsory military service, and complete absence of social welfare. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical, humorless, devout population of 3.784 billion Hellghasts are kept under strict control by the oppressive government, which measures its success by the nation's GDP and refers to individual citizens as "human resources."

The medium-sized, corrupt, moralistic, well-organized government is primarily concerned with Defense, although Industry, Administration, and Education are also considered important, while International Aid and Social Policy aren't funded at all. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Pyrrhus. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 70.3%.

The frighteningly efficient Hellghonian economy, worth 720 trillion Vektans a year, is mostly comprised of black market activity, especially in Arms Manufacturing and Information Technology. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is an impressive 190,532 Vektans, but there is a large disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 930,412 per year while the poor average 22,434, a ratio of 41.5 to 1.

A rebrand a day keeps the debt collectors away, foreign converts are illuminated by both missionaries and helicopter searchlights, citizens often ask "what has information technology ever done for us?", and the nation's endangered species are no longer endangered. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, despite the fact that it is difficult to make it through a day without breaking one of the country's many laws. Hellghon's national animal is the Steppe Eagle, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to toxic air pollution, and its national religion is Helga.

Hellghon is ranked 257,039^th in the world and 233^rd in Fifth Empire for Most Advanced Law Enforcement, scoring 803.57 on the Orwell Orderliness Index.