The Collective Joke of Ithania is a gargantuan, cultured nation, remarkable for its smutty television, national health service, and restrictive gun laws. The hard-nosed, democratic population of 12.294 billion Ithanians 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, liberal government juggles the competing demands of Education, Healthcare, and Industry. The average income tax rate is 76.0%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Ithanian economy, worth a remarkable 1,234 trillion Irrelevants 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 major contributions from Book Publishing and Automobile Manufacturing. Average income is an impressive 100,379 Irrelevants, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Internet searches for the inventor of the three-wheeled steam-powered Ithanian weed picker are way up, a primitive society is being eroded as its youth flock to the modern world, things are looking up for patients accidentally prescribed erectile dysfunction medication, and parents dread their examinations more than their children. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Ithania's national animal is the Phoenix, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies.

Ithania is ranked 20,142^nd in the world and 314^th in Europe for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 279.09 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.