The Unexplained Phenomenon of Hurdergaryp is a titanic, socially progressive nation, ruled by Staatshoofd with an even hand, and notable for its museums and concert halls, keen interest in outer space, and punitive income tax rates. The compassionate, democratic population of 22.309 billion Hurdergarypians are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The medium-sized government juggles the competing demands of Education, Environment, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Kjeld. The average income tax rate is 71.9%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Hurdergarypian economy, worth a remarkable 3,055 trillion florijns a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is fairly diversified, is led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Tourism, Book Publishing, and Beef-Based Agriculture. Average income is an impressive 136,948 florijns, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

When electric cars arrived nobody heard them coming, the nation's generous tax credits have brought all the film studios to the yard, on-duty Air Hurdergaryp flight attendants are usually seen napping in first class, and Staatshoofd is too busy listening to praise to get any work done. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown. Hurdergaryp's national animal is the koningspoedel, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

Hurdergaryp is ranked 11,858^th in the world and 86^th in Forest for Smartest Citizens, with 88.47 quips per hour.