The Hyperian Protectorate of Empirical Science is a gargantuan, orderly nation, ruled by Tau with an iron fist, and remarkable for its museums and concert halls, frequent executions, and punitive income tax rates. The compassionate, cynical population of 21.71 billion Empirical Scientists are ruled with an iron fist by the dictatorship government, which ensures that no-one outside the party gets too rich. In their personal lives, however, citizens are relatively unoppressed; it remains to be seen whether this is because the government genuinely cares about its people, or if it hasn't gotten around to stamping out civil rights yet.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent government stops and the rest of society begins, but it juggles the competing demands of Healthcare, Education, and Environment. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Scarlatti. The average income tax rate is 94.1%.

The very strong Empirical economy, worth a remarkable 1,685 trillion Credits a year, is driven almost entirely by government activity. The industrial sector is solely comprised of the Book Publishing industry. Average income is 77,637 Credits, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Birth rates have hit an all-time low, Tau has just been declared ruler of Empirical Science in an international press conference, Secular Atheism has been named as Empirical Science's national religion, and citizens living in underground cities have developed a healthy green glow. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Empirical Science's national animal is the Flying Crab, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is Secular Atheism.

Empirical Science is ranked 6,971^st in the world and 2^nd in New Hyperion for Most Beautiful Environments, with 1,955.72 pounds of wildlife per square mile.