The Federal Republic of Katuris is a massive, environmentally stunning nation, ruled by Alfold Medtera with a fair hand, and notable for its keen interest in outer space, sprawling nuclear power plants, and free-roaming dinosaurs. The compassionate, democratic, devout population of 1.737 billion Katurisians 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 government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Welfare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Kariburg. The average income tax rate is 90.5%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Katurisian economy, worth 209 trillion katuriis 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 led by the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Book Publishing, and Trout Farming. Average income is an impressive 120,840 katuriis, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Roadside walls are being built and mother nature is paying for it, the bonfire of the old paper records can be seen for miles around Kariburg, nine out of ten citizens of Katuris answered 'nuclear safety inspector' when asked their occupation, and crowds of flag-burning protesters tend to accidentally become crowds of burning protesters. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Katuris's national animal is the crab, which frolics freely in the nation's sparkling oceans, and its national religion is Katurisian Violetism.

Katuris is ranked 18,105^th in the world and 282^nd in Europe for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 296.39 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.