The Republic of Freude is a mid-sized, safe nation, notable for its state-planned economy, punitive income tax rates, and devotion to social welfare. The compassionate, democratic population of 98 million Freudeans love a good election, and the government gives them plenty of them. Universities tend to be full of students debating the merits of various civil and political rights, while businesses are tightly regulated and the wealthy viewed with suspicion.

The enormous, socially-minded, outspoken government prioritizes Welfare, although Education, Healthcare, and Law & Order are also considered important, while Defense isn't funded at all. The average income tax rate is 71.9%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The imploded Freudean economy, worth 658 billion Courjitziens a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector is led by the Cheese Exports industry, with major contributions from Book Publishing, Woodchip Exports, and Trout Farming. Average income is 6,717 Courjitziens, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Tourists outnumber citizens two to one, evenings at university debating societies often end with everyone acknowledging both sides may well be right, in musicals everybody's a little bit racist, and children in school playgrounds can be heard chanting the hymns of the Order of Violet. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Freude's national animal is the cat, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Freude is ranked 217,688^th in the world and 198^th in Refugia for Highest Drug Use, scoring 69.74 on the Pineapple Fondness Rating.