The Democratic Republic of Ricore is a titanic, environmentally stunning nation, ruled by Norbert Michelange with a fair hand, and renowned for its keen interest in outer space, daily referendums, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, democratic, devout population of 12.243 billion Breakfasts enjoy a sensible mix of personal and economic freedoms, while the political process is open and the people's right to vote held sacrosanct.

The medium-sized, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Education, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Rififi Lumière. The average income tax rate is 50.5%.

The all-consuming Ricoréan economy, worth a remarkable 1,187 trillion biscottes a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Retail, Book Publishing, and Basket Weaving. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 96,965 biscottes, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 3.8 times as much as the poorest.

Political gridlock ensues as even the most innocuous legislation is vetoed by the Supreme Court for potential civil rights violations, religious households enthusiastically use whips in private, evenings at university debating societies often end with everyone acknowledging both sides may well be right, and late night adverts for breast milk co-ops regularly win pornography industry awards. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Ricore's national animal is the marsupilami, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Bilingualism.

Ricore is ranked 15,771^st in the world and 3^rd in Lewisham for Most Cultured, scoring 95 on the Snufflebottom-Wiggendum Pentatonic Scale.