Hetalia Axis Powers (ヘタリア Axis Powers, Hetalia Axis Powers?) is a manga and anime series by Hidekaz Himaruya placed in a World War-era setting in which the countries are represented by anthropomorphic characters. Hetalia (ヘタリア, Hetalia?) is a made-up word combining hetare (へタレ, hetare?) – Japanese for useless – and Italia (イタリア, Italia?). This is to make light of Italy's apparent cowardice during World War II.
So far, over 40 countries have been personified as human characters. In Hetalia, these characters are known as the Nations, and are normally referred to by their country's name. The heights of some of the characters are taken from an American survey of average heights in their respective countries. More Information?