The Inlustris of Rigels Light is a titanic, genial nation, ruled by Andromeda with an even hand, and notable for its pith helmet sales, smutty television, and devotion to social welfare. The compassionate, hard-working population of 21.565 billion Rigelians have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and look forward to their next free and open election, to be held on an as-yet unannounced date.

The enormous government prioritizes Education, with Healthcare, Environment, and Administration also on the agenda. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Alnilam. The average income tax rate is 95.4%.

The frighteningly efficient Rigelian economy, worth a remarkable 2,834 trillion Pounds a year, is quite specialized and led by the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Information Technology and Book Publishing. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is an impressive 131,445 Pounds, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Estate agents justify funky smells by revealing how often the previous owners showered, the government is spending millions on alternative clean-burning fuels, flowering peace lilies are the best defence against Rigels Light's military, and a new religious movement claims that people's souls are stored in phosphorus. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Rigels Light's national animal is the Snow Leopard, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Rigels Light is ranked 11,234^th in the world and 535^th in Osiris for Smartest Citizens, with 90.65 quips per hour.