The land of Subsolar Sands is a continent directly underneath the Sun.
The Sun's downdrafts blast the landmass with immense winds and heat, only a few nooks on the edges shielded by mountains stand a chance to sustain plants. Despite the inhospitality, people live here, and the Sun Empire is situated here, even though this map doesn't show that.
The Sun Empire is by every definition a failed state. The 4 major habitable areas, each have a very unique culture that makes unification hard, and they very often wage wars over the resource rich desert betwixt them. The central government swaps between the four to keep balance and peace but is keeps failing miserably. A recent war had caused a strong rift that nearly ended the Sun Empire.