The Federation of Hikea is a small, orderly nation, notable for its compulsory military service, irreverence towards religion, and hatred of cheese. The cynical population of 29 million Hikeans 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 medium-sized, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Welfare, Education, and Law & Order. The average income tax rate is 26.2%.

The Hikean economy, worth 1.33 trillion Hikean Shillings a year, is quite specialized and dominated by the Trout Farming industry, with significant contributions from Book Publishing, Gambling, and Uranium Mining. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 45,774 Hikean Shillings, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 3.2 times as much as the poorest.

Public incontinence is a growing problem amongst the nation's women, the mining industry is making inroads into environmentally sensitive areas, maintaining economic growth is no laughing matter, and euthanasia is legal. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Hikea's national animal is the swan.

Hikea is ranked 80,614^th in the world and 406^th in the Plains of Perdition for Largest Gambling Industry, scoring 2,872.72 on the Kelly Criterion Productivity Index.