The Ermine Kingdom of Hunterdon is a mammoth, cultured nation, ruled by King Joseph III with an even hand, and remarkable for its rum-swilling pirates, anti-smoking policies, and digital currency. The hard-nosed, hard-working, humorless, devout population of 7.83 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 49.2%.

The frighteningly efficient Ermine economy, worth a remarkable 1,701 trillion ducats a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Retail, and Book Publishing. Average income is an amazing 217,346 ducats, but there is a significant disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 776,183 per year while the poor average 43,733, a ratio of 17.7 to 1.

Arbitrary election rules are considered sacrosanct, political visitors are forced to stop ten paces from King Joseph III's throne, finders keepers is the law of the land, and popular political cartoonists are thrown in jail for inciting dissent. 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 4,867^th in the world and 107^th in The East Pacific for Most Cultured, scoring 160 on the Snufflebottom-Wiggendum Pentatonic Scale.