The Federal Democratic Republic of Hyphen is a mammoth, cultured nation, renowned for its national health service, complete lack of prisons, and keen interest in outer space. The hard-nosed, cynical, humorless, devout population of 9.58 billion Hyphenians are ruled by a mostly-benevolent dictator, who grants the populace the freedom to live their own lives but watches carefully for anyone to slip up.

The enormous, corrupt, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Law & Order, and Industry. The average income tax rate is 92.8%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Hyphenian economy, worth a remarkable 1,755 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 an enormous, deeply entrenched, highly specialized black market in Information Technology, Arms Manufacturing, Beef-Based Agriculture, and Tourism. 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 an impressive 183,234 dollars, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.6 times as much as the poorest.

The government has begun selling heroin and ecstasy to help fund its projects, bemused citizens are encouraged to sing foreign-language hymns of religions they have never heard of, the mood of raunchy movies is often ruined by the sound of babies crying, and enemy navies sail within bombardment range of major coastal cities with impunity. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Hyphen's national animal is the partridge, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

Hyphen is ranked 23,938^th in the world and 650^th in The North Pacific for Most Developed, scoring 85.85 on the Human Development Index.