The Borderlands of Derez is a huge, orderly nation, renowned for its infamous sell-swords, compulsory military service, and punitive income tax rates. The hard-nosed, cynical population of 224 million Derezians 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 large, well-organized government prioritizes Defense, with Law & Order, Administration, and Industry also on the agenda, while Spirituality isn't funded at all. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 58.9%.

The strong Derezian economy, worth 14.1 trillion Stripes 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 a slick, highly efficient, quite specialized black market in Trout Farming, Arms Manufacturing, Beef-Based Agriculture, and Book Publishing. 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 63,079 Stripes, with the richest citizens earning 6.3 times as much as the poorest.

Soldiers stream their classified military operations live for millions of fans, the military is recruiting war criminals to join its weapons research teams, builders across Derez are blocked up with orders for new public loos, and it is illegal to distribute Girl Guide Cookies without an advanced food hygiene diploma. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Derez's national animal is the Chimera, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Derez is ranked 93,544^th in the world and 6^th in Badlands Frontier for Most Advanced Public Education, scoring 2,186.39 on the Edu-tellignce® Test Score.