From the introduction:
The year is 2017 a.t.b. and the Holy Britannian Empire has become the world’s dominant military superpower that rules over one-third of the world through brutal conquest and campaigns led around the world by the 98th Emperor’s sons and daughters. These conquered countries are labeled “Areas” by Britannia, and their citizens relabeled as nothing more than a Number. Code Geass is the story of Lelouch Lamperouge, otherwise known as the Eleventh Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire Lelouch vi Britannia, who sets out with a goal to make the world a gentler place for his blinded and wheelchair-bound sister Nunnally by creating his crusade against the major obstacle to that path, Britannia and subsequently his father and tyrant Emperor Charles zi Britannia.