The Allied States of Ulm 43 is a massive, environmentally stunning nation, renowned for its museums and concert halls, keen interest in outer space, and stringent health and safety legislation. The hard-nosed, cynical, humorless, devout population of 1.888 billion Ulm 43ians are ruled with an iron fist by the dictatorship government, which ensures that no-one outside the party gets too rich. In their personal lives, however, citizens are relatively unoppressed; it remains to be seen whether this is because the government genuinely cares about its people, or if it hasn't gotten around to stamping out civil rights yet.

The large, corrupt, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Administration. The average income tax rate is 69.2%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Ulm 43ian economy, worth 218 trillion bitcoins 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 large, well-organized, quite specialized black market in Information Technology, Arms Manufacturing, Tourism, and Beef-Based Agriculture. 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 an impressive 115,919 bitcoins, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.7 times as much as the poorest.

Citizens seem fixated on 105m x 45m rectangles, government officials have to mortgage their homes to make ends meet, the people consider response to rudeness to be an acceptable casus belli, and veteran cops reminisce over their heavy armor days. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Ulm 43's national animal is the kiwi, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

Ulm 43 is ranked 300,456^th in the world and 422^nd in Swabian autonomous region for Nicest Citizens, with 1.06 average smiles per day.