The Concordant Stratum of The Cypher Nine is a titanic, safe nation, ruled by Council Chairman Cypher One with an even hand, and renowned for its ubiquitous missile silos, anti-smoking policies, and prohibition of alcohol. The compassionate, humorless population of 19.964 billion Cypherians are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The large, socially-minded government is primarily concerned with Education, although Environment, Healthcare, and Industry are also considered important, while Spirituality and Defense receive no funds. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Cypher One - Administrative Block. The average income tax rate is 99.8%.

The frighteningly efficient Cypher Ninean economy, worth a remarkable 5,688 trillion Fulcrums a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is highly specialized, is mostly made up of the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Tourism. Average income is an amazing 284,922 Fulcrums, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Light entertainment shows are light on actual entertainment, starving citizens are offered nuclear pasta, Super Barry Brothers is the most popular video game in the nation, and Council Chairman Cypher One's office has a newly installed Max-Man arcade game programmed by a 5th-grader. Crime is totally unknown. The Cypher Nine's national animal is the Voltaic Shark, which frolics freely in the nation's sparkling oceans.

The Cypher Nine is ranked 4,007^th in the world and 25^th in Forest for Highest Average Incomes, with 284,922.64 Standard Monetary Units.