The Ineffable Existential Abyss of Cognosco is a titanic, environmentally stunning nation, ruled by The pessimistic ghost of Schopenhauer with a fair hand, and remarkable for its sprawling nuclear power plants, daily referendums, and devotion to social welfare. The compassionate, democratic, cheerful population of 11.339 billion Cognoscans 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 large, corrupt, socially-minded, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Manentia. The average income tax rate is 99.2%.

The frighteningly efficient Cognoscoan economy, worth a remarkable 3,017 trillion Life Chances a year, is quite specialized and mostly made up of the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Book Publishing, Tourism, and Beef-Based Agriculture. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an amazing 266,102 Life Chances, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Life is somewhat repetitive, construction workers evacuate work sites after finding sharp rocks on the ground, the standard government reply to any query is "there is no spoon", and the nation is so apathetic that Cognoscans can barely find the energy to bring new issues to the government. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Cognosco's national animal is the Cognoscan Eagle, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is High-Spirited Schadenfreude.

Cognosco is ranked 897^th in the world and 1^st in Philosophers for Most Developed, scoring 98.67 on the Human Development Index.