The Colony of Pede Cattus is a massive, socially progressive nation, ruled by Schwarzstern with a fair hand, and notable for its rum-swilling pirates, museums and concert halls, and frequent executions. The hard-nosed, hard-working, democratic, devout population of 1.18 billion Pede Cattusians live in a state of perpetual fear, as a complete breakdown of social order has led to the rise of order through biker gangs.

The relatively small government juggles the competing demands of Spirituality, Industry, and Education. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Catalina. The average income tax rate is 8.8%.

The all-consuming Pede Cattusian economy, worth 115 trillion Katzenminzes a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Retail industry, with significant contributions from Soda Sales, Arms Manufacturing, and Information Technology. Average income is 98,161 Katzenminzes, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 3.3 times as much as the poorest.

A girl's success in life is often linked to her performance in beauty pageants, anti-government web sites are springing up, religious education is a new government priority, and prosecutors routinely call transplant doctors as 'expert witnesses' in burglary cases. Crime, especially youth-related, is almost non-existent. Pede Cattus's national animal is the Katze, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its national religion is Sternenclan.

Pede Cattus is ranked 60,378^th in the world and 1,277^th in the South Pacific for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 124.9 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.