The Ur-Quan Masters of Hesperonis is a gargantuan, cultured nation, ruled by Lord 353 with an iron fist, and renowned for its deadly medical pandemics, public floggings, and complete lack of public education. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical, cheerful population of 44.066 billion Ur-Quans are rabid consumers, partly through choice and partly because the government tells them to and dissenters tend to vanish from their homes at night.

The minute, corrupt, pro-business, well-organized government, or what there is of one, is effectively ruled by the Department of Defense, with Industry also on the agenda, while Social Policy and Welfare are ignored. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Delta Crateris V. Income tax is unheard of.

The frighteningly efficient Hesperonisian economy, worth an astonishing 28,589 trillion Sa-Matras a year, is driven almost entirely by the private sector, which is broadly diversified and led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Retail, Soda Sales, and Gambling. Average income is a breathtaking 648,798 Sa-Matras, but there is a large disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 3,183,713 per year while the poor average 75,675, a ratio of 42.1 to 1.

Military spending is on the increase, children are terrified that the 'flying police monster' will come to take them away in the night, citizens are allowed to rise or fall based on their own merits, and government statisticians explain census inaccuracies by declaring that "Sith happens". Crime, especially youth-related, is so common that it is unusual to encounter someone following the law, probably because of the absence of a police force. Hesperonis's national animal is the Dnyarri, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is Path of Now and Forever.

Hesperonis is ranked 294,311^th in the world and 11,346^th in Lazarus for Nicest Citizens, with 0.04 average smiles per day.