The Imperial Vicariate of Arleat is a massive, socially progressive nation, ruled by Philip the Rich with a fair hand, and renowned for its keen interest in outer space, smutty television, and devotion to social welfare. The compassionate, democratic, cheerful population of 1.803 billion Arleats 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 government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Education, and Healthcare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Nancy. The average income tax rate is 93.5%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Arlesian economy, worth 297 trillion Guilders a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is fairly diversified, is led by the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Book Publishing, and Arms Manufacturing. Average income is an impressive 164,863 Guilders, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Teachers are skilled at leaving no evidence of child cruelty, elderly citizens regularly buy posh multimillion-Guilder mansions, the military is slashing spending on conventional arms and diverting it to spending on prosthetic arms, and Arlesian novella fans become unusually flustered when thinking about Philip the Rich. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Arleat's national animal is the lion, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Arleat is ranked 126,894^th in the world and 1,835^th in The East Pacific for Most Extreme, scoring 21.03 on the Paul-Nader Subjective Decentrality Index.