The District of Aestery is a gargantuan, safe nation, ruled by Liard with a fair hand, and remarkable for its barren, inhospitable landscape and irreverence towards religion. The hard-nosed, hard-working, democratic population of 47.355 billion Storymen enjoy a sensible mix of personal and economic freedoms, while the political process is open and the people's right to vote held sacrosanct.

The tiny, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Education, Law & Order, and Welfare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of District City. The average income tax rate is 9.4%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The strong Aesteryian economy, worth a remarkable 2,701 trillion aurums a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Automobile Manufacturing industry, with major contributions from Pizza Delivery, Information Technology, and Woodchip Exports. Average income is 57,039 aurums, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.7 times as much as the poorest.

Liard has just been declared ruler of Aestery in an international press conference, the fire protection service is wholly government-funded, no cul-de-sac or trailer park is complete without a gambling parlor, and the only issue that Liard has is that there aren't enough issues (Aestery has found 3 easter eggs). Crime, especially youth-related, is almost non-existent, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Aestery's national animal is the bovina, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Aestery is ranked 115,571^st in the world and 1^st in Aestery for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 86.85 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.