The Empire of The Asteroid Belt is a huge, efficient nation, remarkable for its state-planned economy, frequent executions, and prohibition of alcohol. The hard-nosed, democratic population of 857 million Asteroid Beltians enjoy a sensible mix of personal and economic freedoms, while the political process is open and the people's right to vote held sacrosanct.

The tiny, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Industry, and Healthcare. The average income tax rate is 9.1%.

The powerhouse Asteroid Beltian economy, worth 79.5 trillion Pebbles a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is a slick, highly efficient, broadly diversified black market in Arms Manufacturing, Tourism, Woodchip Exports, and Cheese Exports. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is 92,762 Pebbles, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 3.9 times as much as the poorest.

Snap elections are called over every minor impasse, organ donation rates are among the lowest in the region, a child's only Trickster Night scare is the sight of their parents dancing, and it's harder to qualify for IVF than for a good university. Crime is a serious problem, perhaps because of the country's complete lack of prisons. The Asteroid Belt's national animal is the Cool Rock, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

The Asteroid Belt is ranked 293,280^th in the world and 161^st in Federation of Martian Colonies for Most Cultured, scoring 60 on the Snufflebottom-Wiggendum Pentatonic Scale.