The Federal Republic of Ripsylvania is a massive, socially progressive nation, ruled by Prime Minister Gustavus with a fair hand, and remarkable for its museums and concert halls, smutty television, and keen interest in outer space. The compassionate, democratic population of 2.36 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 88.0%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The all-consuming Ripsylvanian economy, worth 265 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 highly specialized, is dominated by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Trout Farming, Tourism, and Arms Manufacturing. Average income is an impressive 112,540 scritches, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Bike rage is all the rage, truncheon-mounted cameras record the beating of criminals in dynamic HD detail, traumatised refugees have a full bedpan shoved into their hands along with their immigration papers, and saying "don't do anything that Prime Minister Gustavus wouldn't do" doesn't exclude a great deal. 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 10,937^th in the world and 324^th in The East Pacific for Most Beautiful Environments, with 1,538.19 Pounds Of Wildlife Per Square Mile.