The Grand Duchy of Hypernothia is a mid-sized, safe nation, notable for its museums and concert halls, prohibition of alcohol, and state-planned economy. The compassionate, devout population of 92 million Hypernothians are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The enormous, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Welfare, and Education. The average income tax rate is 70.4%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but inefficient Hypernothian economy, worth 4.56 trillion australs a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is quite specialized, is led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Tourism, Basket Weaving, and Cheese Exports. Average income is 49,534 australs, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

A faint smell of body odour can be detected at several miles' distance from the National Science Park, polygraphs are relegated to the dungeon exhibit in castle museums, religion makes people horny, and power stations shutting down at night has made bedtime reading tricky. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Hypernothia's national animal is the azure jay, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies.

Hypernothia is ranked 122,358^th in the world and 99^th in The Order of the Grey Wardens for Most Developed, scoring 58.06 on the Human Development Index.