The United Socialist States of Gurgole is a colossal, safe nation, renowned for its state-planned economy, anti-smoking policies, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, democratic, cheerful population of 6.903 billion Gurgoleans 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, outspoken government juggles the competing demands of Education, Administration, and Welfare. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Turglement. The average income tax rate is 89.9%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The powerhouse Gurgolean economy, worth 693 trillion Sneems a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is highly specialized, is led by the Information Technology industry, with major contributions from Trout Farming and Tourism. Average income is an impressive 100,485 Sneems, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Dogs are encouraged to confront the psychodynamic roots of their desire to be "good boys", the volume of paperwork used to complete a single environmental assessment defeats the purpose, large sections of Gurgole have been named national reserves to protect the native tribes living there, and people are bored of easy crossword puzzles. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Gurgole's national animal is the Groundhog, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Gurgole is ranked 287,760^th in the world and 5,035^th in The East Pacific for Most Corrupt Governments, with 0.45 kickbacks per hour.