The Republic of Appalachya 98 is a massive, socially progressive nation, remarkable for its barren, inhospitable landscape, irreverence towards religion, and complete absence of social welfare. The hard-nosed, hard-working, democratic population of 1.035 billion Appalachya 98ians 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, prioritizes Defense, with Law & Order and Healthcare also on the agenda, while Spirituality and International Aid are ignored. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 5.3%.

The very strong Appalachya 98ian economy, worth 66.1 trillion Stolen Lightsabers a year, is driven almost entirely by the private sector, which is broadly diversified and led by the Gambling industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Furniture Restoration, and Information Technology. Average income is 63,824 Stolen Lightsabers, but there is a significant disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 225,917 per year while the poor average 13,018, a ratio of 17.4 to 1.

Crime is a problem, with the police force struggling against a lack of funding and a high mortality rate. Appalachya 98's national animal is the Eagle, which can occasionally be seen dodging aircraft in the nation's cities.

Appalachya 98 is ranked 128,513^th in the world and 1^st in 7w7 for Largest Manufacturing Sector, scoring 9,492.98 on the Gooback-Jerbs Productivity Index.