The Republic of Illeron is a gargantuan, cultured nation, remarkable for its rum-swilling pirates, keen interest in outer space, and parental licensing program. The compassionate, democratic population of 17.912 billion Illeronians are free to do what they want with their own bodies, and vote for whomever they like in elections; if they go into business, however, they are regulated to within an inch of their lives.

The enormous, liberal, socially-minded, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Education, Healthcare, and Environment. The average income tax rate is 92.4%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Illeronian economy, worth a remarkable 2,202 trillion Illiras 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 mostly made up of the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Tourism and Book Publishing. Average income is an impressive 122,986 Illiras, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

It's considered a civil right to be allowed to neglect and mistreat your own children, the tax department is having withdrawal symptoms, cosmopolitan citizens ask what their countries can do for them, and national park visitors are reporting a rash of poison ivy sightings. Crime is totally unknown. Illeron's national animal is the Tardigrade, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Illeron is ranked 6,416^th in the world and 152^nd in The Communist Bloc for Most Beautiful Environments, with 2,050.51 pounds of wildlife per square mile.