The Colony of International Buffer Zone is a mid-sized, safe nation, notable for its compulsory military service, keen interest in outer space, and punitive income tax rates. The compassionate, democratic population of 86 million International Buffer Zoneans love a good election, and the government gives them plenty of them. Universities tend to be full of students debating the merits of various civil and political rights, while businesses are tightly regulated and the wealthy viewed with suspicion.

The large, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Healthcare, Welfare, and Education. The average income tax rate is 58.0%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but underdeveloped International Buffer Zonean economy, worth 3.30 trillion yuan a year, is quite specialized and led by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Beef-Based Agriculture, Book Publishing, and Furniture Restoration. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 38,326 yuan, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Children's TV shows are having a gay old time, giggling teens are asked to put their mouths on rubber dolls, biotech companies are fined if their jumbled genetic sequences look too familiar, and nude art is becoming wildly popular. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. International Buffer Zone's national animal is the orphan, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

International Buffer Zone is ranked 198,621^st in the world and 74^th in Africa for Largest Cheese Export Sector, scoring 901.91 on the Mozzarella Productivity Index.