The Grand Duchy of Forearza is a huge, cultured nation, renowned for its deadly medical pandemics, keen interest in outer space, and pith helmet sales. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical, humorless population of 784 million Forearzans are rabid consumers, partly through choice and partly because the government tells them to and dissenters tend to vanish from their homes at night.

The tiny, corrupt, pro-business, well-organized government prioritizes Defense, with Industry also on the agenda, while Welfare and Social Policy aren't funded at all. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Blackstone. The average income tax rate is 6.8%.

The frighteningly efficient Forearzan economy, worth 112 trillion Ducats a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with significant contributions from Retail, Gambling, and Information Technology. Black market activity is frequent. Average income is an impressive 143,632 Ducats, with the richest citizens earning 5.4 times as much as the poorest.

At the edge of the final frontier space's biggest missile platform is about to unfold, foreign governments are looking into weaponizing the infamous Forearzan bee, fiscal policy hawks decry the sizable "panem et circenses" fund added to the public budget, and Forearzans are free from pain - but the side effects include loss of individual thought and freedom. Crime is all-pervasive, with the police force struggling against a lack of funding and a high mortality rate. Forearza's national animal is the leopard, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

Forearza is ranked 20,004^th in the world and 492^nd in the South Pacific for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 280.11 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.