The Protectorate of Cat358 is a colossal, socially progressive nation, renowned for its state-planned economy and stringent health and safety legislation. The democratic population of 3.889 billion Cat358ians 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 large, socially-minded, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Welfare, Education, and Healthcare. The average income tax rate is 47.0%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but sluggish Cat358ian economy, worth 84.7 trillion Mice 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 a slick, highly efficient, quite specialized black market in Tourism, Book Publishing, Uranium Mining, and Soda 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 21,787 Mice, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Cat358's national animal is the Cat.

Cat358 is ranked 188,977^th in the world and 9,071^st in Osiris for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 59.58 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.