The Holy Empire of Thonon is a massive, environmentally stunning nation, ruled by Julius Caesar with an even hand, and renowned for its museums and concert halls, keen interest in outer space, and ubiquitous missile silos. The hard-nosed, devout population of 2.972 billion Thononians are prohibited from doing almost everything except voting, which they do timidly and conservatively.

The large, corrupt, moralistic, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Publier. The average income tax rate is 85.9%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Thononian economy, worth 467 trillion Euros a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is broadly diversified, is led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with significant contributions from Tourism, Book Publishing, and Beef-Based Agriculture. Average income is an impressive 157,205 Euros, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.3 times as much as the poorest.

The citizenship exam requires years of study to actually pass, athletes are renowned for being the best at maths, blind students are at a disadvantage now that test papers printed in braille have been discontinued, and officials pull all-nighters to check immigrants for potential links to terrorists. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Thonon's national animal is the Lion, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is Swimming.

Thonon is ranked 169,588^th in the world and 6,647^th in Balder for Largest Gambling Industry, scoring 149.44 on the Kelly Criterion Productivity Index.