The Fiefdom of Gertrude is a mammoth, orderly nation, remarkable for its state-planned economy, enforced nudity, and restrictive gun laws. The hard-nosed, cynical, devout population of 8.142 billion Gertrudeans 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 government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked, corrupt, moralistic, socially-minded, well-organized morass — juggles the competing demands of Defense, Welfare, and Law & Order. The average income tax rate is 82.5%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but stagnant Gertrudean economy, worth 37.9 trillion cookies a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is extremely specialized, is mostly made up of the Arms Manufacturing industry, with significant contributions from Basket Weaving. Average income is 4,651 cookies, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Fifteen-year-olds cannot walk younger siblings to school without a professional Childcare and Education Certificate, the nation is Neocortex's leading manufacturer of intricately-patterned sweaters, veteran cops reminisce over their heavy armor days, and Leader claims tax rises are the result of 'curses'. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Gertrude's national animal is the weasel, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Gertrude is ranked 323,911^th in the world and 154^th in Neocortex for Most Developed, scoring 44.1 on the Human Development Index.