The Anomaly Research Zone of Progressa Island is a mammoth, safe nation, ruled by Trofim Lysenko with an iron fist, and notable for its sprawling nuclear power plants, avowedly heterosexual populace, and ubiquitous missile silos. The hard-nosed, cynical, humorless population of 9.723 billion inhabitants of the Island of Progress are ruled without fear or favor by a psychotic dictator, who outlaws just about everything and refers to the populace as "my little playthings."

The large, corrupt, moralistic, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Education. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Magnitoshakhtinsk. The average income tax rate is 95.1%.

The frighteningly efficient Progressa Islandian economy, worth a remarkable 2,166 trillion Shastis a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is an enormous, deeply entrenched black market in Arms Manufacturing, Information Technology, Uranium Mining, and Door-to-door Insurance Sales. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is an amazing 222,813 Shastis, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

First-time jaywalkers are also last-time jaywalkers, the government guarantees extra-soft tissues to fire-snorting elephants, the most notorious criminals are given the Consequences of Your Actions Award, and aid workers deliver life-saving supplies with a devious gleam in their eyes. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Progressa Island's national animal is the Owl, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to toxic air pollution, and its national religion is The Cult of Personality of Lysenko.

Progressa Island is ranked 313,392^nd in the world and 4,706^th in The North Pacific for Highest Drug Use, scoring 0.43 on the Pineapple Fondness Rating.