The Federation of Tank Republicans is a colossal, environmentally stunning nation, ruled by Tanker bururate with a fair hand, and renowned for its museums and concert halls, soft-spoken computers, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, democratic population of 5.674 billion Tank Republisians love a good election, and the government gives them plenty of them. Universities tend to be full of students debating the merits of various civil and political rights, while businesses are tightly regulated and the wealthy viewed with suspicion.

The medium-sized, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Tanknition city. The average income tax rate is 88.2%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Tank Republisian economy, worth 903 trillion Tanker dollars a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is fairly diversified, is led by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Tourism, Book Publishing, and Arms Manufacturing. Average income is an impressive 159,188 Tanker dollars, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Foreign 'investors' have been taking a great interest in the new secret shuttle, construction of the Really Big Hadron Collider is underway, the Ministry of Health has reported a sharp increase in the incidence of delayed menopause, and the government is continually probing the galaxy in search of alien life. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Tank Republicans's national animal is the Tank, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Tankhism.

Tank Republicans is ranked 13,501^st in the world and 45^th in The Union of Democratic States for Most Beautiful Environments, with 1,318.11 pounds of wildlife per square mile.