The Democratic People's Republic of Hyphen is a mammoth, efficient nation, remarkable for its fear of technology, pith helmet sales, and sprawling nuclear power plants. The hard-nosed, cynical, humorless, devout population of 9.429 billion Hyphenians are ruled without fear or favor by a psychotic dictator, who outlaws just about everything and refers to the populace as "my little playthings."

The enormous, corrupt, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Law & Order, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Stalingrad. The average income tax rate is 91.2%.

The frighteningly efficient Hyphenian economy, worth a remarkable 1,715 trillion pounds 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, quite specialized black market in Arms Manufacturing, Information Technology, 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 181,890 pounds, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 4.9 times as much as the poorest.

Demolition derbies mostly consist of bicycles crashing into each other, some are born loving old plays and some have old plays thrust upon them, colonies are told they'll get their sovereignty back when they finish supper, and it is not politically correct to suspect that a serially convicted burglar might steal again. 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 eagle, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

Hyphen is ranked 323,814^th in the world and 4,577^th in The North Pacific for Largest Insurance Industry, scoring -13.18 on the Risk Expulsion Effectiveness Rating.