The Empire of Histarctica is a massive, cultured nation, ruled by Emperor Conrad II with an iron fist, and remarkable for its museums and concert halls, frequent executions, and zero percent divorce rate. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical, devout population of 1.998 billion Histarcticans 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, Education, and Healthcare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Entioch. The average income tax rate is 35.0%.

The powerhouse Histarctican economy, worth 200 trillion Imperial Kroner a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Book Publishing, and Information Technology. Black market activity is frequent. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 100,231 Imperial Kroner, with the richest citizens earning 5.1 times as much as the poorest.

The clergy of Church of Light remains a single-sex institution, agreeing to appear on TV is often the best way to access social care, thrift shops are closing their doors, and medical experts advise that those claiming to be medical experts are probably fraudsters. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Histarctica's national animal is the wolf, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Church of Light.

Histarctica is ranked 251,099^th in the world and 12^th in Imperial Sanctuary for Largest Gambling Industry, scoring -6.63 on the Kelly Criterion Productivity Index.