The Empire of Ross Ice Shelf is a large, socially progressive nation, renowned for its burgeoning seal population. The compassionate, hard-working, democratic population of 139 million Rossians enjoy a sensible mix of personal and economic freedoms, while the political process is open and the people's right to vote held sacrosanct.

The tiny government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Welfare. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 7.3%.

The strong Ross Ice Shelfian economy, worth 9.90 trillion Amundsens a year, is driven almost entirely by the private sector, which is broadly diversified and led by the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Trout Farming, Book Publishing, and Woodchip Exports. Average income is 71,204 Amundsens, with the richest citizens earning 7.4 times as much as the poorest.

All major public areas are watched by police surveillance cameras, the latest Harry Potter book is a bestseller, citizens are enjoying a recent large cut in taxes, and Ross Ice Shelfian watches are often the only thing to survive a disaster intact. Crime is well under control. Ross Ice Shelf's national animal is the seal, which frolics freely in the nation's sparkling oceans.

Ross Ice Shelf is ranked 93,760^th in the world and 3^rd in Western Antartica for Most Cultured, scoring 67 on the Snufflebottom-Wiggendum Pentatonic Scale.