The Republic of Ritake is a massive, genial nation, remarkable for its museums and concert halls, punitive income tax rates, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, democratic population of 1.344 billion Ritakeans hold their civil and political rights very dear, although the wealthy and those in business tend to be viewed with suspicion.

The large, liberal government juggles the competing demands of Education, Healthcare, and Welfare. The average income tax rate is 71.5%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Ritakean economy, worth 164 trillion marks a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Book Publishing industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Tourism, and Basket Weaving. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 122,365 marks, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.1 times as much as the poorest.

Promising seven years of bad luck leads to seven years of community service, films are funded in accordance with the volume of tears shed when reading the screenplay, social media sites prompt users to send birthday greetings to unresponsive nonagenarians, and candidates make campaign speeches at the funerals of former rivals. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Ritake's national animal is the swan, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

Ritake is ranked 269,690^th in the world and 5,669^th in The North Pacific for Largest Gambling Industry, scoring -9.55 on the Kelly Criterion Productivity Index.