The People's Republic of Pugden is a fledgling, socially progressive nation, renowned for its state-planned economy, compulsory military service, and punitive income tax rates. The compassionate, democratic population of 6 million Pugdenians are free to do what they want with their own bodies, and vote for whomever they like in elections; if they go into business, however, they are regulated to within an inch of their lives.

The large, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Education, Defense, and Welfare. The average income tax rate is 67.7%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The basket case Pugdenian economy, worth 44.5 billion Puggins a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is quite specialized, is mostly made up of the Trout Farming industry, with significant contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Information Technology, and Door-to-door Insurance Sales. Average income is 7,408 Puggins , and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Government-sponsored WiFi allows farmers to rant about city folks in real time, high-income earners pay a 100% tax rate, cars are banned, and military spending is on the increase. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Pugden's national animal is the Pug , which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Pugden is ranked 210,680^th in the world and 66^th in The Hole To Hide In for Most Eco-Friendly Governments, scoring 275.36 on the Dolphin Recycling Awareness Index.