The Republic of I-696 is a massive, socially progressive nation, renowned for its spontaneously combusting cars. The hard-working, democratic population of 3.451 billion I-696ians enjoy some of the most opulent lifestyles in the region, unless they are unemployed or working-class, in which case they are variously starving to death or crippled by easily preventable diseases.

The tiny, pro-business government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Welfare. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 6.6%.

The very strong I-696ian economy, worth 202 trillion cars a year, is driven almost entirely by the private sector, which is fairly diversified and led by the Soda Sales industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Door-to-door Insurance Sales, and Retail. Average income is 58,797 cars, but there is a large disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 278,975 per year while the poor average 7,313, a ratio of 38.1 to 1.

Crime is a serious problem, with the police force struggling against a lack of funding and a high mortality rate. I-696's national animal is the driver, which can occasionally be seen sifting through garbage in the nation's cities.

I-696 is ranked 227,460^th in the world and 1^st in Interstate 696 for Largest Furniture Restoration Industry, scoring -4.47 on the Spitz-Pollish Productivity Index.