The Republic of Aqualis is a colossal, genial nation, ruled by President Shen with a fair hand, and remarkable for its keen interest in outer space, ubiquitous missile silos, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, democratic population of 3.79 billion Aqualisians love a good election, and the government gives them plenty of them. Universities tend to be full of students debating the merits of various civil and political rights, while businesses are tightly regulated and the wealthy viewed with suspicion.

The large, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Healthcare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Aquen. The average income tax rate is 88.6%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Aqualisian economy, worth 489 trillion Verlian Pounds a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector is dominated by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Tourism, Book Publishing, and Retail. Average income is an impressive 129,194 Verlian Pounds, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Turning the other cheek is accompanied by a polite letter of complaint, conversion therapy coupons are a popular present for coming of age ceremonies, they who do not work shall not eat, and authorities are looking for a stool pigeon to rat out who is stealing food from pigeon toilets. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Aqualis's national animal is the River Dolphin, which frolics freely in the nation's sparkling oceans.

Aqualis is ranked 322,644^th in the world and 6^th in The Verlian Commonwealth for Highest Unexpected Death Rate, scoring 20.23 on the Bus Surprisal Index.