The Commonwealth of Opyra is a colossal, cultured nation, ruled by President Michael with a fair hand, and renowned for its pith helmet sales, punitive income tax rates, and devotion to social welfare. The compassionate, hard-working, democratic population of 7.725 billion Opyrians have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The medium-sized government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Opyria. The average income tax rate is 60.6%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Opyrian economy, worth a remarkable 1,029 trillion Crowns a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Book Publishing, Tourism, and Automobile Manufacturing. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is an impressive 133,304 Crowns, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.9 times as much as the poorest.

Modelling agencies send their clients to work in nursing homes, Maxtopian tourists make expensive pilgrimages to Opyria to enjoy their national art, economists have been named Invertebrates of the Year, and the armed forces are locked in an expensive and bloody war abroad to stamp out possible terrorists. Crime is totally unknown. Opyra's national animal is the Eagle, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies, and its national religion is State Atheism.

Opyra is ranked 31,088^th in the world and 605^th in The East Pacific for Most Advanced Public Education, scoring 6,237.6 on the Edu-tellignce® Test Score.