The Desert Town of Shelter Valley is a gargantuan, socially progressive nation, ruled by The Desert Rat with an even hand, and notable for its museums and concert halls, smutty television, and restrictive gun laws. The compassionate, cheerful population of 16.28 billion Shelter Valleyians have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The large, corrupt government juggles the competing demands of Education, Environment, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Shelter Valley. The average income tax rate is 98.6%.

The frighteningly efficient Shelter Valleyian economy, worth a remarkable 3,425 trillion dollars a year, is quite specialized and led by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Book Publishing, Tourism, and Retail. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is an amazing 210,436 dollars, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 3.7 times as much as the poorest.

Nature magazines featuring stick insects on their covers are sometimes mistaken for fashion magazines, human tissue is grown in vats as a delicacy as well as for transplants, the "war on terror" doesn't seem to be making Shelter Valleyians any less frightened, and the nation leads desert in per capita stalking. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Shelter Valley's national animal is the big horn sheep, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is The Desert.

Shelter Valley is ranked 11,085^th in the world and 2^nd in desert for Safest, scoring 119.84 on the Bubble-Rapp Safety Rating.