The Protectorate of Asteracea is a huge, cultured nation, remarkable for its smutty television and irreverence towards religion. The compassionate population of 717 million Asteraceans enjoy extensive civil rights and enjoy a level of social equality free from the usual accompanying government corruption.

The medium-sized, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Education, Welfare, and Healthcare. The average income tax rate is 27.2%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but underdeveloped Asteracean economy, worth 23.4 trillion francs a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Beef-Based Agriculture, Information Technology, and Retail. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 32,612 francs, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Buses are widely regarded as the safest way to travel, the government is notorious for leaving citizens with almost nothing from their inheritance, visiting dignitaries make excuses to leave functions early and head to the nearest pub, and medical experts advise that those claiming to be medical experts are probably fraudsters. Crime is totally unknown. Asteracea's national animal is the noble worm, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Asteracea is ranked 67,365^th in the world and 3,212^th in Osiris for Most Cultured, scoring 69 on the Snufflebottom-Wiggendum Pentatonic Scale.