The Snow country was a small and peaceful country constantly experiencing winter. It went through a period of hardtimes until the weather control generator was activated, allowing the country to finally experience Spring. The country had been on economic hard times for several years. Daimyou Kazahana Sousetsu was said to have nearly bankrupted the country putting money into the heating generator machinery. Later when his brother Dotou came to power, the country expended even more funds in weaponry development. After the removal of Daimyo Kazahana Dotou, his niece Kazahana Koyuki rose to power and the country began to flourish once again. The usage of the generator appears to have warmed the valleys of the country, allowing them to experience warmer climates. The surrounding mountains still retain snow however.Hidden Snow was a fledgling village. With Daimyo Kazahana Dotou's desire for power, he began to hire ninja to come under the Hidden Snow banner. When Team 7 was sent to the Snow Country to protect the woman revealed to be Kazahana Koyuki, they succeeded in overthrowing Dotou and assuring Koyuki's rise to country head. Because of Koyuki's good ties with Konoha, it is unknown if she will feel the need to maintain a shinobi village.
The Kazahana family has retained leadership of the Snow Country for the past 10+ years. Approximately 9 years before the start of the series, Kazahana Dotou removed his brother Sousetsu from power. He then gathered shinobi in the hopes he could gain enough power to challenge the Five Great Shinobi Countries. As such he served as both the country head, and the "village" head. When he was removed from power, Sousetsu's daughter Koyuki attained the feudal lord throne.
