The Colony of ZB27 is a huge, orderly nation, renowned for its ban on automobiles, irreverence towards religion, and suspicion of poets. The hard-nosed, cynical population of 448 million ZB27ians 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 large, moralistic, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Education. The average income tax rate is 44.7%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The ZB27ian economy, worth 24.6 trillion pounds a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Uranium Mining industry, with major contributions from Beef-Based Agriculture, Information Technology, and Door-to-door Insurance Sales. Black market activity is notable. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 54,862 pounds, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.4 times as much as the poorest.

The judicial branch is strongly influenced by major corporations, death row inmates cower in fear at the phrase "one-year anniversary", third world countries are rich in "I Love ZB27 City" t-shirts, and ambitious "businessmen" use their children to sell and advertise their products. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. ZB27's national animal is the sea turtle, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

ZB27 is ranked 125,113^th in the world and 24^th in United Regions of Valeria for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 75.19 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.