The Most Serene Republic of Matriculate is a massive, efficient nation, ruled by Richard Matheson with an even hand, and notable for its public floggings, irreverence towards religion, and complete absence of social welfare. The hard-nosed, hard-working population of 3.786 billion Matriculateans are either ruled by a sleek, efficient government or a conglomerate of multinational corporations; it's difficult to tell which.

The tiny, corrupt, pro-business government juggles the competing demands of Education, Industry, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Matrixulated. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 6.1%.

The frighteningly efficient Matriculatean economy, worth 445 trillion Simulacrums a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Retail industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Arms Manufacturing, and Beef-Based Agriculture. Average income is an impressive 117,734 Simulacrums, but there is a significant disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 426,522 per year while the poor average 23,169, a ratio of 18.4 to 1.

Last minute own-goals raise the suspicious eyebrows of sporting authorities, Eckie-Ecola has declared that their soda poop is The Real Thing, drug deals return to the streets as legions of undercover officers stalk the dark web, and a new "thought police" branch is being developed. Crime, especially youth-related, is almost non-existent. Matriculate's national animal is the Space Porpoise, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is The Twilight Zone 1960.

Matriculate is ranked 5,536^th in the world and 5^th in Last Flight for Highest Disposable Incomes, with 110,552.94 Standard Monetary Units.