The Republic of Ulm 398 is a massive, environmentally stunning nation, renowned for its disturbing lack of elderly people, parental licensing program, and compulsory gun ownership. The hard-nosed, devout population of 1.635 billion Ulm 398ians are prohibited from doing almost everything except voting, which they do timidly and conservatively.

The medium-sized, corrupt government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Administration, and Law & Order. The average income tax rate is 47.9%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The all-consuming Ulm 398ian economy, worth 171 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 Arms Manufacturing, Information Technology, Tourism, 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 104,614 Ducats, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.9 times as much as the poorest.

Over a third of the seats in sports stadiums have been removed to make room for female-only commodes, pregnant hitchhikers with signs requesting rides to "competent care" are a common sight on Ulm 398ian roads, basic multiplication is all you need to know to have a child, and the government snoops on private internet connections. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Ulm 398's national animal is the Bear, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Ulm 398 is ranked 246,459^th in the world and 446^th in Swabian autonomous region for Largest Cheese Export Sector, scoring -2.19 on the Mozzarella Productivity Index.