The Furrepublic of Shikaru is a colossal, genial nation, ruled by Harey Leopold with a fair hand, and renowned for its ubiquitous missile silos, irreverence towards religion, and devotion to social welfare. The compassionate, democratic population of 6.51 billion Furshi 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 Healthcare, Education, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Fursan. The average income tax rate is 90.5%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Furshi economy, worth 772 trillion Furns a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector is led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Tourism, Book Publishing, and Woodchip Exports. Average income is an impressive 118,709 Furns, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Immigrants who carry knives on them are presumed to be chefs, the voyages of obsolete star-trekking satellites on deliberate escape orbits are only just beginning, boys who take just one date to the high school prom are called 'losers', and a little pushing and pulling is needed for big ships to pass. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Shikaru's national animal is the Stolid Animalia, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Anthronism.

Shikaru is ranked 135,243^rd in the world and 3,069^th in The North Pacific for Largest Insurance Industry, scoring 1,087.6 on the Risk Expulsion Effectiveness Rating.