The Federal Republic of Ripsylvania is a massive, efficient nation, ruled by Prime Minister Gustavus with a fair hand, and notable for its smutty television, state-planned economy, and compulsory military service. The compassionate, hard-working, democratic population of 1.915 billion Ripsylvanians hold their civil and political rights very dear, although the wealthy and those in business tend to be viewed with suspicion.

The enormous, liberal government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Healthcare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Breitenfeld. The average income tax rate is 82.8%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The all-consuming Ripsylvanian economy, worth 200 trillion scritches a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is quite specialized, is led by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Trout Farming, Tourism, and Arms Manufacturing. Average income is an impressive 104,914 scritches, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

School football matches are usually five-a-side, patriotic citizens simply tend to applaud rather than sing the nation's praises, the government only announces the deaths of its members when it's convenient, and a determined opposition debates the relative benefits of Arial and Times New Roman for days on end. Crime is totally unknown. Ripsylvania's national animal is the Wooly Scragglemuffin, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Ripsylvania is ranked 222,711^th in the world and 8,361^st in The East Pacific for Largest Insurance Industry, scoring -10.39 on the Risk Expulsion Effectiveness Rating.