The Empire of Island of catland is a huge, efficient nation, renowned for its keen interest in outer space, compulsory military service, and rampant corporate plagiarism. The compassionate, hard-working population of 727 million catlandians have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The medium-sized government juggles the competing demands of Healthcare, Education, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of catland city. The average income tax rate is 58.2%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The all-consuming catlandian economy, worth 72.7 trillion cows a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Tourism, Basket Weaving, and Book Publishing. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 99,931 cows, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.7 times as much as the poorest.

Court verdicts are predictable to within a hundredth of a percentage point, manufacturers of biodegradable plastics have to wait for months to show evidence of organic decomposition, anti-riot police are dispatched whenever two elderly ladies gather to complain that prices have increased, and IOC-SPAN viewership drops as MPs act their age. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Island of catland's national animal is the cat, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Island of catland is ranked 240,571^st in the world and 473^rd in 10000 Islands for Most Primitive, scoring -126.55 on the Scary Big Number Scale.