The Republic of Saganea is a titanic, safe nation, ruled by Carl Sagan with a fair hand, and renowned for its anti-smoking policies, public floggings, and state-planned economy. The compassionate, democratic population of 20.892 billion Saganeans 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 government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked, socially-minded, outspoken morass — juggles the competing demands of Education, Welfare, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Cygnus A. The average income tax rate is 73.9%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The Saganean economy, worth 930 trillion ∆vs 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 Tourism industry, with significant contributions from Cheese Exports, Book Publishing, and Trout Farming. Average income is 44,548 ∆vs, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Snap elections are called over every minor impasse, inter-species marriages are ignored by the government, election results are often delayed for weeks to count the expat votes, and children gain their first sex education from reading the dictionary. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Saganea's national animal is the Tribble, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Saganea is ranked 51,123^rd in the world and 1^st in The Pale Blue Region for Most Cultured, scoring 71 on the Snufflebottom-Wiggendum Pentatonic Scale.