The Ermine Kingdom of Hunterdon is a mammoth, cultured nation, ruled by King Joseph III with an even hand, and renowned for its zero percent divorce rate, smutty television, and sprawling nuclear power plants. The hard-nosed, hard-working, democratic, humorless, devout population of 8.242 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 48.3%.

The frighteningly efficient Ermine economy, worth a remarkable 1,815 trillion ducats a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Tourism, Retail, and Book Publishing. Average income is an amazing 220,312 ducats, but there is a significant disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 678,170 per year while the poor average 55,291, a ratio of 12.3 to 1.

Male friends are often accompanied by a female relative in order to prove their 'straightness', industry tycoons rarely hide their misdeeds due to the government's habit of bailing them out, not even good behaviour will get transgender inmates any special perks, and old cars must undergo mandatory sensitivity training. 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 315,289^th in the world and 3,957^th in The East Pacific for Highest Unexpected Death Rate, scoring 21.58 on the Bus Surprisal Index.