The Federation of Illrigger is a huge, socially progressive nation, remarkable for its keen interest in outer space, irreverence towards religion, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate population of 218 million Illriggerians are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The large, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Education, Welfare, and Healthcare. The average income tax rate is 61.9%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but sluggish Illriggerian economy, worth 5.94 trillion gold pieces a year, is led by the Uranium Mining industry, with major contributions from Woodchip Exports, Book Publishing, and Information Technology. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 27,256 gold pieces, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Anti-riot police are dispatched whenever two elderly ladies gather to complain that prices have increased, no one believes anything until it has been strenuously tested and peer-reviewed, lovesick people are told 'it's not them, it's you', and corrupt paupers spend taxpayer gold pieces on liquor and tobacco. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Illrigger's national animal is the cobra, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Illrigger is ranked 75,018^th in the world and 64^th in A Taco Paradise for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 103.37 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.