The Republic of Gateborg is a titanic, safe nation, remarkable for its sprawling nuclear power plants, ban on automobiles, and restrictive gun laws. The compassionate, devout population of 24.114 billion Gateborgians 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 large government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Welfare, and Education. The average income tax rate is 68.8%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The all-consuming Gateborgian economy, worth a remarkable 1,987 trillion kronor a year, is highly specialized and mostly made up of the Book Publishing industry, with significant contributions from Information Technology. Average income is 82,415 kronor, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Rumor has it that Leader has won three lotteries in a row, citizens are bankrupted by injuries to cousins they've never met, the pursuit of wanted criminals ends at the entrance of the pay'n'spray garage as police refuse to enter any private property, and friendly fire incidents usually result in severe burns. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Gateborg's national animal is the tiger, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

Gateborg is ranked 122,316^th in the world and 1,143^rd in the Pacific for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 83.31 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.