The Free Land of Aithein is a tiny, socially progressive nation, notable for its ubiquitous missile silos, state-planned economy, and absence of drug laws. The hard-nosed, democratic population of 8 million Aitheinians are free to do what they want with their own bodies, and vote for whomever they like in elections; if they go into business, however, they are regulated to within an inch of their lives.

The large, liberal, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Welfare, Education, and Defense. The average income tax rate is 53.8%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The developing Aitheinian economy, worth 237 billion Asts a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is a slick, highly efficient, quite specialized black market in Automobile Manufacturing, Furniture Restoration, Gambling, and Retail. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is 29,659 Asts, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The new airport at Mr. Giles' farm is panicking his sheep, it is a common belief that a sport isn't sport if there are no decapitations, dog owners proudly declare that their pups can predict when the mailman will arrive, and jaw strain is an increasingly common ailment. Crime is totally unknown. Aithein's national animal is the White Tiger, which can occasionally be seen sifting through garbage in the nation's cities.

Aithein is ranked 260,090^th in the world and 1,416^th in Pacifism for Largest Insurance Industry, scoring -6.4 on the Risk Expulsion Effectiveness Rating.