The Confederacy of Cathanes is a colossal, cultured nation, ruled by President Elena Akouskos with an iron fist, and remarkable for its public floggings, triple-decker prams, and state-planned economy. The compassionate, cynical, devout population of 6.179 billion cathaneans are ruled by a mostly-benevolent dictator, who grants the populace the freedom to live their own lives but watches carefully for anyone to slip up.

The large, corrupt government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Education, and Law & Order. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Cantilene. The average income tax rate is 90.4%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient cathanean economy, worth 798 trillion Coras a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector is led by the Trout Farming industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Arms Manufacturing, and Tourism. Average income is an impressive 129,290 Coras, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The holiday spirit must not be taken to the max, weather forecasts are accurate but nobody has the bandwidth to view them, Cantilene University is said to be the modern-day Tower of Babel, and the "Underwear of Women in Power" issue of The Cantilene Times is sold out. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Cathanes's national animal is the Royal Eagle, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies, and its national religion is Ilithism.

Cathanes is ranked 14,496^th in the world and 2^nd in Elepian Union for Most Patriotic, with 60.31 flags saluted per person per day.