The Ermine Kingdom of Hunterdon is a mammoth, cultured nation, ruled by King Joseph III with an even hand, and renowned for its museums and concert halls, anti-smoking policies, and sprawling nuclear power plants. The hard-nosed, hard-working, democratic, humorless, devout population of 8.172 billion Hunterdonians have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The relatively small, corrupt government juggles the competing demands of Education, Industry, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Hunterdon. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 48.6%.

The frighteningly efficient Ermine economy, worth a remarkable 1,800 trillion ducats a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Tourism, Retail, and Book Publishing. Average income is an amazing 220,348 ducats, but there is a significant disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 668,034 per year while the poor average 56,518, a ratio of 11.8 to 1.

The wealthiest parts of the country receive the most government spending, truck drivers turn their engines off and coast whenever they're going downhill, the Smalltopian embassy doubles as an electoral campaign headquarters, and brave curators do battle with disorganised government libraries. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Hunterdon's national animal is the ermine, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is Roman Catholicism.

Hunterdon is ranked 328,087^th in the world and 4,146^th in The East Pacific for Largest Welfare Programs, scoring -13.78 on the Safety Net Mesh Density Rating.