The Republic of Simonel is a mammoth, safe nation, notable for its avant-garde cinema, frequent executions, and stringent health and safety legislation. The democratic, devout population of 7.397 billion Simonelians love a good election, and the government gives them plenty of them. Universities tend to be full of students debating the merits of various civil and political rights, while businesses are tightly regulated and the wealthy viewed with suspicion.

The enormous, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Law & Order, and Defense. The average income tax rate is 56.4%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The large but inefficient Simonelian economy, worth 200 trillion dollars a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is a slick, highly efficient, highly specialized black market in Trout Farming, Uranium Mining, Arms Manufacturing, and Woodchip Exports. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is 27,001 dollars, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Rag-wearing teachers are often mistaken for homeless people, the government's suicide hotline now redirects callers to local tax lawyers, people who tease dwarfs are being cut down to size, and some electoral districts are without a representative as they are stuck with perpetual revotes. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Simonel's national animal is the turtle, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to heavy metals seepage into national waterways.

Simonel is ranked 165,600^th in the world and 1^st in Magenta for Nicest Citizens, with 12 average smiles per day.