The More Purrfect Union of Elucubria is a mammoth, genial nation, ruled by FD Lovejoy with a fair hand, and notable for its anti-smoking policies, ban on automobiles, and avant-garde cinema. The compassionate, democratic, cheerful population of 5.356 billion Elucubrians 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, socially-minded, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Environment. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Ank-Aujaj. The average income tax rate is 98.6%.

The frighteningly efficient Elucubrian economy, worth 925 trillion auns 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 Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Book Publishing and Tourism. Average income is an impressive 172,832 auns, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

High-income earners pay a 100% tax rate, the nation has nearly as many history museums as Elucubrians, people seem disproportionately distraught when told a museum has a phones-off policy, and foreign casinos have trouble paying fans who bet on the triumph of the Ank-Aujaj Remarque's Mynas against long odds. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Elucubria's national animal is the Remarque's myna, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Elucubria is ranked 11,920^th in the world and 43^rd in Refugia for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 393.98 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.