The Oppressed Peoples of Scortch is a gargantuan, safe nation, ruled by Leader with an iron fist, and notable for its deadly medical pandemics, frequent executions, and public floggings. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical, humorless population of 35.676 billion Scortchians are ruled with an iron fist by the corrupt, dictatorship government, which oppresses anyone who isn't on the board of a Fortune 500 company. Large corporations tend to be above the law, and use their financial clout to gain ever-increasing government benefits at the expense of the poor and unemployed.

The tiny, corrupt, moralistic, pro-business, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Scortch City. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 2.7%.

The frighteningly efficient Scortchian economy, worth an astonishing 10,167 trillion Chupies a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with major contributions from Uranium Mining, Information Technology, and Automobile Manufacturing. Average income is an amazing 285,002 Chupies, but there is a vast disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 2,651,512 per year while the poor average 2,792, a ratio of 949 to 1.

Billions of Chupys are being blown on orbital weapons development, motorists' locations are constantly tracked by intelligence and law enforcement agencies, citizens are regularly arrested in queues for 'loitering', and curtailed social programs have left many citizens bereft of any safety net. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force. Scortch's national animal is the Chupacabra, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its national religion is a major religion.

Scortch is ranked 3,633^rd in the world and 199^th in Lazarus for Lowest Crime Rates, with 124.71 law-abiding acts per hour.