The Independent Republic of Ikatha is a mammoth, cultured nation, ruled by Kenneth Nqobile with an even hand, and notable for its museums and concert halls, devotion to social welfare, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, devout population of 8.645 billion Zulus are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The enormous, corrupt, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Administration, and Education. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Ulundi. The average income tax rate is 96.9%.

The frighteningly efficient Zulu economy, worth a remarkable 1,450 trillion Izinkomoes a year, is quite specialized and led by the Book Publishing industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Arms Manufacturing, and Tourism. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 167,790 Izinkomoes, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Pre-takeoff checks last longer than the flights themselves, major corporations receive tax breaks for no apparent reason, worried-looking neonatal nurses are being deployed in place of SWAT teams during dangerous drug busts, and the prisoners of Azkatraz have a new emperor. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Ikatha's national animal is the Zulu Sheep, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Animism.

Ikatha is ranked 15,377^th in the world and 161^st in the Rejected Realms for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 351.6 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.