The Republic of Knob Island is a colossal, environmentally stunning nation, notable for its keen interest in outer space, public floggings, and compulsory military service. The hard-nosed, cynical, humorless, devout population of 7.113 billion Knob Islandians are ruled with an iron fist by the dictatorship government, which ensures that no-one outside the party gets too rich. In their personal lives, however, citizens are relatively unoppressed; it remains to be seen whether this is because the government genuinely cares about its people, or if it hasn't gotten around to stamping out civil rights yet.

The medium-sized, corrupt government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Industry. The average income tax rate is 39.1%.

The frighteningly efficient Knob Islandian economy, worth 965 trillion Bucks a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is a large, well-organized, broadly diversified black market in Arms Manufacturing, Information Technology, Beef-Based Agriculture, and Woodchip Exports. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is an impressive 135,667 Bucks, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 4.1 times as much as the poorest.

Citizens volunteer for tax audits to avoid the 80-page Practical Assessment Survey Tool On Religions, many marriages go virtually unconsummated, a video of Leader wearing shock-blue face paint and smashing an electric guitar in front of a frenzied crowd is on endless repeat on the nightly news, and people accuse the government of being in bed with Big Safety. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Knob Island's national animal is the Sea Buck, which frolics freely in the nation's sparkling oceans.

Knob Island is ranked 33,069^th in the world and 184^th in The grimy backyard of Bigej for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 205.55 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.