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The Flanaess is home to Oerth's "enlightened [[human|humanity]]," and much of the flavor of the Greyhawk setting arises from the interplay of the various "sub-races" of humanity — [http://www.canonfire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Baklunish Baklunish], [http://www.canonfire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Flan Flannae], [http://www.canonfire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Oeridian Oeridians], [http://www.canonfire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Olman Olman], [http://www.canonfire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Rhennee Rhennee], [http://www.canonfire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Suloise Suloise], and [http://www.canonfire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Touv Touv] in particular — as they have criss-crossed the Flanaess over the last millennium.<ref name="lgg2000"/> The setting's fans have debated the exact nature of these sub-races (and their real world analogues, if any) over the years, but key distinguishing features include antagonism between the Bakluni and Suloise (and the ancient war that nearly annihilated them both), the relative primitiveness of the indigenous Flan, and the Oerdians' military conquest of much of the Flanaess.
Various races also populate the Flanaess, sometimes acting as allies to humanity in the same vein as [[Wikipedia:J. R. R. Tolkien|J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s [[Wikipedia:Middle-earth|Middle-earth]]. [[Elf|Elves]] and [[Dwarf|dwarves]] of different sorts even have powerful strongholds and nations, with [[gnome]]s and [[halfling]]s living in smaller pockets near friendly (and more powerful) neighbors. Even where these races are politically advanced, such as in [http://www.canonfire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Celene_%28realm%29 [Celene]] or the [http://www.canonfire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Ulek_States [Ulek States]], isolationist policies often limit their power to the regions they inhabit. Wicked [[drow|drow elves]] often plot mischief against the free world, with other nefarious creatures such as [[orc]]s, [[ogre]]s, [[giant]]s, and [[dragon]]s acting as all-purpose enemies. When viewed as a whole, however, the Flanaess appears anthropocentric (or more specifically, humanocentric) despite the presence of so many fantastic species.
===Political powers===
At the center of this game world, the [http://www.canonfire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Free_City_of_Greyhawk [Free City of Greyhawk]] is a [[Wikipedia:City-state|free city]] of the Flanaess, originally under the domination of the [http://www.canonfire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Great_Kingdom [Great Kingdom|Great Kingdom of Aerdy]]. The [http://www.canonfire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Circle_of_Eight Circle of Eight], a select group of wizards headquartered in Greyhawk, monitor events across the Flanaess, intervening when the balance of power is threatened by extremes of good or evil. Several evil factions still prevail across the sub-continent, including the undead remnants of Aerdy, the wicked demi-god [http://www.canonfire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Iuz Iuz] (who rules his expanding territory, the [http://www.canonfire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Empire_of_Iuz [Empire of Iuz]]), and the mysterious [http://www.canonfire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Scarlet_Brotherhood Scarlet Brotherhood]. The orcs and other humanoids of the [http://www.canonfire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Pomarj Orcish Empire of the Pomarj], led by chieftain [http://www.canonfire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Turrosh_Mak Turrosh Mak], threaten the [http://www.canonfire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Wild_Coast [Wild Coast]] and the [http://www.canonfire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Ulek_States [Ulek statesStates]]. Among the factions opposing these forces of evil are the major kingdoms of [http://www.canonfire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Nyrond [Nyrond]], [http://www.canonfire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Furyondy [Furyondy]] and [http://www.canonfire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Keoland Keoland] as well as numerous smaller states, organisations and individuals.
===Major personages===
