The Mighty Number of Forty-Two is a mammoth, socially progressive nation, ruled by Slartibartfast with a fair hand, and remarkable for its teetotalling pirates, multi-spousal wedding ceremonies, and soft-spoken computers. The compassionate, hard-working, democratic population of 8.507 billion Forty-Seconds enjoy a sensible mix of personal and economic freedoms, while the political process is open and the people's right to vote held sacrosanct.

The medium-sized, corrupt, outspoken government prioritizes Education, although Industry, Administration, and Defense are also considered important, while Spirituality isn't funded at all. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Magrathea. The average income tax rate is 58.2%.

The frighteningly efficient Forty-Twoan economy, worth a remarkable 1,592 trillion Altairian Dollars a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is a large, well-organized, broadly diversified black market in Information Technology, Arms Manufacturing, and Book Publishing. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is an impressive 187,203 Altairian Dollars, with the richest citizens earning 5.0 times as much as the poorest.

Organ donation rates are among the lowest in the region, the new iVote app allows representatives to vote on legislation by launching ill-tempered birds and matching candies, the fate of the world literally rests on Slartibartfast's fingers, and Forty-Two isn't what it used to be. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown. Forty-Two's national animal is the dolphin, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to heavy metals seepage into national waterways, and its national religion is Faith of Zarquon.

Forty-Two is ranked 99,457^th in the world and 10^th in Regionless for Largest Gambling Industry, scoring 1,926.6 on the Kelly Criterion Productivity Index.