The Country of Direnne is a massive, orderly nation, ruled by Nicholas Z with an iron fist, and notable for its museums and concert halls, public floggings, and punitive income tax rates. The compassionate, cynical population of 1.304 billion Dirennians 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, moralistic, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Law & Order, and Education. The average income tax rate is 82.1%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The all-consuming Dirennian economy, worth 130 trillion Dirennian Yats a year, is led by the Tourism industry, with significant contributions from Beef-Based Agriculture, Furniture Restoration, and Woodchip Exports. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 99,828 Dirennian Yats, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Builders spend more time negotiating "tasteful architecture" than on actual construction, chess defeat has made Nicholas Z the laughingstock of dictators and grandmasters alike, executions are marked by quiet dignity and maybe a final round or two of whist, and people accuse the government of being in bed with Big Safety. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Direnne's national animal is the Black sparrow, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies, and its national religion is Platicianism.

Direnne is ranked 153,201^st in the world and 398^th in Horizon for Largest Automobile Manufacturing Sector, scoring 1,086.06 on the Henry Ford Productivity Index.