The Zephyrs of Zerph is a colossal, safe nation, ruled by Crow Wononine with an even hand, and renowned for its frequent executions, vat-grown people, and state-planned economy. The hard-nosed, democratic population of 4.671 billion Zerphii are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The medium-sized, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Education, Defense, and Administration. The average income tax rate is 43.2%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The large but underdeveloped Zerphii economy, worth 181 trillion zecks 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, broadly diversified black market in Information Technology, Uranium Mining, Book Publishing, and Beef-Based Agriculture. 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 38,803 zecks, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.4 times as much as the poorest.

There is a growing belief that consciousness is a simulated illusion within a computer-generated reality, you gots to be part of the Party to get in to the party, windows in Zerph City don't have much of a view, and citizens wouldn't recognise Crow Wononine if they passed one another on the street. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown. Zerph's national animal is the crow, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to toxic air pollution.

Zerph is ranked 125,393^rd in the world and 220^th in Starlight for Most Corrupt Governments, with 7.66 kickbacks per hour.