The New Shimmer of Palaemon is a gargantuan, safe nation, notable for its keen interest in outer space, restrictive gun laws, and devotion to social welfare. The compassionate population of 32.78 billion Palaemonians 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 large government juggles the competing demands of Education, Industry, and Welfare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Pompeii. The average income tax rate is 85.7%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Palaemonian economy, worth a remarkable 4,448 trillion palaes a year, is led by the Tourism industry, with significant contributions from Information Technology, Book Publishing, and Furniture Restoration. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 135,695 palaes, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Getting an abortion takes less hassle than writing a letter, the national colors help to make everyone look slimmer, intellectual snobbery has the cognoscenti sneering at anyone who doesn't have an opinion on the semiological drift of Umberto Eco's works, and park rangers perform full-body searches on suspected fungus smugglers. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Palaemon's national animal is the angora cat, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is philosophical debate.

Palaemon is ranked 4,125^th in the world and 2^nd in Freshness for Highest Foreign Aid Spending, scoring 2,688.91 on the Clooney Contribution Index.