The Colony of International Buffer Zone is a small, environmentally stunning nation, notable for its national health service, irreverence towards religion, and devotion to social welfare. The compassionate, democratic population of 29 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 government juggles the competing demands of Healthcare, Education, and Welfare. The average income tax rate is 54.5%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but underdeveloped International Buffer Zonean economy, worth 1.12 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 38,557 yuan, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Candidates make campaign speeches at the funerals of former rivals, carpet bombing has decimated Brasilistan's landscape and population, the police have been known to wiretap confessional boxes, and sweet-toothed International Buffer Zoneans have been left penniless by the VAT on candy. 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 304,735^th in the world and 118^th in Africa for Largest Insurance Industry, scoring -9.33 on the Risk Expulsion Effectiveness Rating.