The Federal Republic of New Caterse is a colossal, efficient nation, ruled by Mx Camille Gustav with an even hand, and remarkable for its state-planned economy, daily referendums, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, democratic population of 8.832 billion Caterseans enjoy extensive civil rights and enjoy a level of social equality free from the usual accompanying government corruption.

The enormous, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Education, Healthcare, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of New Port. The average income tax rate is 92.3%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The all-consuming Catersean economy, worth 899 trillion guilders a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is highly specialized, is mostly made up of the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Book Publishing and Tourism. Average income is an impressive 101,837 guilders, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Crime is on the rise as DNA sampling has been all but outlawed, any body part that can be cut off a person is no longer considered to be their property, dog breeding has been banned in accordance with recent animal experimentation laws, and there's never enough space in space. Crime is totally unknown. New Caterse's national animal is the cat, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

New Caterse is ranked 8,956^th in the world and 158^th in the West Pacific for Most Beautiful Environments, with 1,701.95 pounds of wildlife per square mile.