The Community of Casterbrious is a very large, environmentally stunning nation, notable for its keen interest in outer space, hatred of cheese, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, democratic population of 241 million Casterbrions 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.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent, socially-minded, outspoken government stops and the rest of society begins, but it juggles the competing demands of Healthcare, Welfare, and Education. The average income tax rate is 85.6%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but sluggish Casterbrion economy, worth 6.57 trillion Pandaks a year, is driven almost entirely by government activity, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector is mostly made up of the Information Technology industry. State-owned companies are the norm. Average income is 27,260 Pandaks, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The military frequently holds bake sales to raise funds, producers insist that movie stars wear crash helmets in every scene, the voyages of obsolete star-trekking satellites on deliberate escape orbits are only just beginning, and courtrooms can be a little sketchy. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Casterbrious's national animal is the Tafelshrew, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Casterbrious is ranked 325,918^th in the world and 201^st in Refugia for Highest Disposable Incomes, with 3,925.45 Standard Monetary Units.