The Republic of Ulm 258 is a massive, efficient nation, remarkable for its ubiquitous missile silos, suspicion of poets, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, humorless, devout population of 1.494 billion Ulm 258ians are prohibited from doing almost everything except voting, which they do timidly and conservatively.

The medium-sized, corrupt government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Industry. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 50.0%.

The frighteningly efficient Ulm 258ian economy, worth 152 trillion Ducats a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is a slick, highly efficient black market in Tourism, Arms Manufacturing, Information Technology, and Furniture Restoration. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is an impressive 102,181 Ducats, but there is a significant disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 367,524 per year while the poor average 20,334, a ratio of 18.1 to 1.

Excessive wheelchair ramps on government buildings have been compared to theme park attractions, the might of the entire Ulm 258ian Navy is focused on fifty bemused spear-throwing islanders, surveillance cameras are banned, and candidates for public office painstakingly research their family trees to ensure their eligibility. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Ulm 258's national animal is the Bear, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Ulm 258 is ranked 286,266^th in the world and 322^nd in Swabian autonomous region for Largest Insurance Industry, scoring -7.94 on the Risk Expulsion Effectiveness Rating.