The Republic of Jules Gounon is a fledgling, pleasant nation, renowned for its barren, inhospitable landscape, irreverence towards religion, and suspicion of poets. The hard-working population of 6 million Jules Gounonians 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 medium-sized government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Healthcare. The average income tax rate is 24.6%.

The Jules Gounonian economy, worth 236 billion guilders a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Pizza Delivery industry, with major contributions from Furniture Restoration, Uranium Mining, and Cheese Exports. Average income is 39,354 guilders, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 3.6 times as much as the poorest.

Scientists regularly clone human beings for research purposes, over a third of the seats in sports stadiums have been removed to make room for female-only commodes, the country's famous rainforests are being bulldozed by the mining industry, and every new building project has to undergo a five-year environmental impact study before it can go ahead. Crime, especially youth-related, is relatively low, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Jules Gounon's national animal is the turtle, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to heavy metals seepage into national waterways.

Jules Gounon is ranked 288,029^th in the world and 10^th in Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring -34.64 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.