The Republic of Ishika is a mammoth, cultured nation, renowned for its keen interest in outer space, smutty television, and irreverence towards religion. The compassionate, democratic population of 9.861 billion Ishikans enjoy extensive civil rights and enjoy a level of social equality free from the usual accompanying government corruption.

The large, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Environment. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Subaquarium. The average income tax rate is 76.7%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Ishikan economy, worth a remarkable 1,233 trillion Guppies a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is quite specialized, is led by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Book Publishing, Tourism, and Basket Weaving. Average income is an impressive 125,093 Guppies, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Virtual assistants are seen with increasing suspicion every time they get an upgrade, graffiti is done with immaculate multi-layer shading, astronauts take one small step for Ishika and one giant step backward from confrontation, and Bigtopian interference in domestic elections is always democratically sanctioned. Crime is totally unknown. Ishika's national animal is the blob fish, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

Ishika is ranked 277,487^th in the world and 2,266^th in the West Pacific for Largest Insurance Industry, scoring -7.56 on the Risk Expulsion Effectiveness Rating.