The Empire of Vertuza is a massive, environmentally stunning nation, ruled by JeongJam with an iron fist, and remarkable for its anti-smoking policies, punitive income tax rates, and stringent health and safety legislation. The hard-nosed, cynical, humorless population of 3.612 billion Jungers 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, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Administration, and Education. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Xcyv. The average income tax rate is 86.8%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Vertuzan economy, worth 648 trillion Jungs a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Tourism, Arms Manufacturing, and Book Publishing. Black market activity is frequent. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 179,444 Jungs, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.8 times as much as the poorest.

Autumn landscape paintings feature men stripping leaves from bare branches with a vacuum, airport users are more worried about radiation than terrorism, credit scores fluctuate wildly with every change of government, and all tariffs have been abolished. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Vertuza's national animal is the falcon, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies.

Vertuza is ranked 247,824^th in the world and 5,141^st in The North Pacific for Largest Gambling Industry, scoring -6.13 on the Kelly Criterion Productivity Index.