The Democratic People's Republic of Hyphen is a mammoth, environmentally stunning nation, remarkable for its sprawling nuclear power plants, enslaved workforce, and punitive income tax rates. The hard-nosed, cynical, humorless, devout population of 9.368 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 Defense. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Stalingrad. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 90.5%.

The frighteningly efficient Hyphenian economy, worth a remarkable 1,701 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 181,646 pounds, with the richest citizens earning 5.8 times as much as the poorest.

On-duty Air Hyphen flight attendants are usually seen napping in first class, lifelong celibates are surprised to receive government-issue condoms in the post, students select colleges based on wi-fi quality, and kids learn to count without the numbers '0' or '1'. 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 37,420^th in the world and 789^th in The North Pacific for Most Developed, scoring 80.37 on the Human Development Index.