The Shadowed Shores of Chipoli is a mammoth, cultured nation, ruled by Ilya Romanov with an iron fist, and renowned for its keen interest in outer space, punitive income tax rates, and devotion to social welfare. The compassionate, cynical, devout population of 9.773 billion Chipolians are ruled by a mostly-benevolent dictator, who grants the populace the freedom to live their own lives but watches carefully for anyone to slip up.

The large, corrupt, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Healthcare, and Education. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Chipolia. The average income tax rate is 75.9%.

The frighteningly efficient Chipolian economy, worth 992 trillion Rupans a year, is quite specialized and led by the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Book Publishing, and Furniture Restoration. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 101,550 Rupans, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 3.1 times as much as the poorest.

Garden stores are not allowed to sell water butts, large areas of Chipoli are not accessible by the public, major cities shut down as their local sports team takes to the field every day, and people reciting Shakespeare have become a common sight. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Chipoli's national animal is the Cat, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Christianity.

Chipoli is ranked 8,303^rd in the world and 357^th in The North Pacific for Nicest Citizens, with 34.97 average smiles per day.