The Galactic Empire of Riptaria is a titanic, orderly nation, ruled by general degaras with an iron fist, and remarkable for its deadly medical pandemics, public floggings, and irreverence towards religion. The hard-nosed, cynical, humorless population of 17.72 billion Riptarians are ruled without fear or favor by a psychotic dictator, who outlaws just about everything and refers to the populace as "my little playthings."

The medium-sized, corrupt, moralistic, well-organized government is effectively ruled by the Department of Defense, although Law & Order is also considered important, while Social Policy and International Aid are ignored. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of riptaria city. The income tax rate is 100%.

The frighteningly efficient Riptarian economy, worth an astonishing 13,328 trillion ripion doller and pound ripions 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 an enormous, deeply entrenched, broadly diversified black market in Arms Manufacturing, Information Technology, and Uranium Mining. 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 a breathtaking 752,179 ripion doller and pound ripions, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.3 times as much as the poorest.

The nation's student exchange programs are something of a one way street, space has been brought down to earth with constellations of cancer cases across Riptaria, migrating birds in the nation's airspace are considered a violation of national sovereignty, and mechanics are often exhausted by their work. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Riptaria's national animal is the slave, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is Atheism.

Riptaria is ranked 1,330^th in the world and 1^st in The United Federations for Fattest Citizens, with 55.05 Obesity Rate.