The United Republics of Abskosmos is a massive, safe nation, ruled by Chancellor Walter Schneider with a fair hand, and remarkable for its state-planned economy, smutty television, and devotion to social welfare. The compassionate, democratic population of 1.467 billion Kosmians are free to do what they want with their own bodies, and vote for whomever they like in elections; if they go into business, however, they are regulated to within an inch of their lives.

The large, liberal, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Defense. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Munich. The average income tax rate is 79.5%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Kosmian economy, worth 160 trillion Marks a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is quite specialized, is led by the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Book Publishing, and Arms Manufacturing. Average income is an impressive 109,595 Marks, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Students are wary of colorfully decorated new teachers with names like Professor Pipsqueak, witnesses have to run a gauntlet of mob enforcers to testify at trials, UFO sightings are listed daily in the morning news, and billion-Mark sentient AI killbots roll through the streets dispensing hot dogs and T-shirts. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Abskosmos's national animal is the Golden Eagle, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies.

Abskosmos is ranked 20,507^th in the world and 829^th in The North Pacific for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 276.12 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.