The Empire of Westbeech is a titanic, orderly nation, ruled by Lilie Korban with an iron fist, and remarkable for its deadly medical pandemics, keen interest in outer space, and punitive income tax rates. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical, humorless population of 20.474 billion Westbeechians are kept under strict control by the oppressive government, which measures its success by the nation's GDP and refers to individual citizens as "human resources."

The medium-sized, corrupt, moralistic, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Koriban. The average income tax rate is 77.2%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Westbeechian economy, worth a remarkable 3,951 trillion Beechians a year, is broadly diversified and dominated by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with significant contributions from Retail, Information Technology, and Woodchip Exports. Black market activity is rampant. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is an impressive 193,022 Beechians, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.7 times as much as the poorest.

Employers are never quite sure if graduates' qualifications have any merit or meaning, an enormous health awareness programme is underway, commuter vessels have trouble staying afloat due to increased passengers, and scenic tours are unheard of after most environmental laws were abolished. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Westbeech's national animal is the Slokican, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its national religion is Korbanism.

Westbeech is ranked 55,287^th in the world and 20^th in The Alliance of Dictators for Largest Insurance Industry, scoring 3,543.78 on the Risk Expulsion Effectiveness Rating.