The Republic of Belle Aqua is a large, environmentally stunning nation, remarkable for its compulsory military service, frequent executions, and irreverence towards religion. The hard-nosed, democratic population of 73 million Belle Aquans are highly moralistic and fiercely conservative, in the sense that they tend to believe most things should be outlawed. People who have good jobs and work quietly at them are lauded; others are viewed with suspicion.

The medium-sized, moralistic government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Welfare. The average income tax rate is 33.1%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The Belle Aquan economy, worth 3.32 trillion euros a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Beef-Based Agriculture industry, with major contributions from Basket Weaving, Furniture Restoration, and Retail. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 45,417 euros, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Skateparks can be found in every city, voting is compulsory, the death penalty has been reintroduced, and the government encourages conflict abroad to increase arms sales. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Belle Aqua's national animal is the lion, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Belle Aqua is ranked 216,280^th in the world and 1,201^st in Europe for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 29.83 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.