The Protectoral Zone of Autonomous Trans-Antarctica is a colossal, orderly nation, ruled by High Senate with an iron fist, and remarkable for its ubiquitous missile silos, complete lack of prisons, and vat-grown people. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical, humorless population of 7.256 billion Antarcticans are ruled by a mostly-benevolent dictator, who grants the populace the freedom to live their own lives but watches carefully for anyone to slip up.

The medium-sized, corrupt, well-organized government is primarily concerned with Education, with Industry, Administration, and Defense also on the agenda, while Spirituality and International Aid are ignored. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Basisstadt. The average income tax rate is 96.5%.

The frighteningly efficient Antarctican economy, worth a remarkable 3,189 trillion IDCS 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 an enormous, deeply entrenched, broadly diversified black market in Information Technology, Uranium Mining, Woodchip Exports, and Retail. 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 an amazing 439,602 IDCS, with the richest citizens earning 6.9 times as much as the poorest.

State dairy cow's milk is a shear-thickening fluid that can stop small-caliber bullets, East Lebatuckese astronauts' favorite game during downtime on the Multinational Space Station is 'I Spy', the government is accused of being heartless by those considered brainless, and the Snapgram channel "Embarrassing Baby High Senate Pics" has made High Senate's mom a celebrity. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown. Autonomous Trans-Antarctica's national animal is the Orca, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to heavy metals seepage into national waterways, and its national religion is Atheism.

Autonomous Trans-Antarctica is ranked 141,173^rd in the world and 2,581^st in The North Pacific for Largest Trout Fishing Sector, scoring 1,722.52 on the Nemo Depletion Efficiency Index.