The Glorious Empire of Hydronica is a gargantuan, efficient nation, ruled by Emperor Leleaf Hydronica with an even hand, and remarkable for its frequent executions, sprawling nuclear power plants, and irreverence towards religion. The hard-nosed, hard-working, humorless population of 25.21 billion Hydronicans have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The medium-sized, corrupt government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Education. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Hydron. The average income tax rate is 67.8%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Hydronican economy, worth a remarkable 5,481 trillion Drofcoms a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Book Publishing, and Retail. Black market activity is rampant. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is an amazing 217,440 Drofcoms, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Comatose jurors are the defense's favorite, the easiest method of escaping from prison is to take singing lessons, class boundaries start and end with the firmness of local tomatoes, and stocks go up when the internet says so. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Hydronica's national animal is the Komodor Dog, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Hydronica is ranked 4,700^th in the world and 104^th in the Pacific for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 577.4 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.