The Most Serene Republic of Ishtimbine is a colossal, environmentally stunning nation, renowned for its anti-smoking policies, rampant corporate plagiarism, and ban on automobiles. The compassionate, humorless, devout population of 6.99 billion Ishtimbenians are prohibited from doing almost everything except voting, which they do timidly and conservatively.

The enormous, moralistic, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Education, Environment, and Law & Order. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Ishtimbine City. The average income tax rate is 97.5%.

The very strong Ishtimbinean economy, worth 770 trillion Exchange Standards a year, is driven almost entirely by government activity, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector is mostly comprised of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, although the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is an impressive 110,171 Exchange Standards, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Officials pull all-nighters to check immigrants for potential links to terrorists, acupuncture is routinely prescribed for intravenous drug addicts, the nation has an international reputation for compassion, and sports fans complain that cricket tests now last an unbearable ten days. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Ishtimbine's national animal is the Sitting Bird, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies, and its national religion is the Abrahamic Faiths.

Ishtimbine is ranked 18,412^th in the world and 956^th in The North Pacific for Smartest Citizens, with 65.78 quips per hour.