A fictional country is a country that is made up for fictional stories, and does not exist in real life. Sodor is a fictional island in the Irish Sea used as the setting for The Railway Series books by the Rev Nineteen Eighty-Four (also titled 1984) by George Orwell (the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair) is a 1949 English Novel Molvanîa is a Fictional country in Eastern Europe glorified in the travel guide Molvanîa a Land Untouched by Modern Dentistry, described as "the In Political geography and International politics, a country is a Political division of a geographical entity Fictional lands appear most commonly as settings or subjects of literature, movies, or video games. Literature is the Art of written works Literally translated the word means "acquaintance with letters" (from Latin littera letter A video game is a Game that involves interaction with a User interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. They may also be used for technical reasons in actual reality for use in the development of specifications, such as the fictional country of Bookland, which is used to allow EAN "country" codes 978 and 979 to be used for ISBN numbers assigned to books, and code 977 to be assigned for use for ISSN numbers on magazines and other periodicals. Bookland is an imaginary place created in the 1980s in order to reserve an EAN Country Code for books regardless of country of origin so that the EAN space can catalog books A European Article Number ( EAN) is a barcoding standard which is a Superset of the original 12-digit Universal Product Code (UPC system An International Standard Serial Number ( ISSN) is a unique eight-digit number used to identify a print or electronic Periodical publication. Magazines, periodicals or serials are Publications generally published on a regular schedule containing a variety of articles, generally Also, the ISO 3166 country code "ZZ" is reserved as a fictional country code, thus no Internet top-level domain will ever end in ". ISO 3166 is a three-part Geographic coding standard for coding the names of countries and Dependent areas and the principal subdivisions The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks ZZ".
Fictional countries appear commonly in stories of early science fiction (or scientific romance). See also History of science fiction Scientific romance is a bygone name for what is now commonly known as Science fiction. Such countries supposedly form part of the normal Earth landscape although not located in a normal atlas. EARTH was a short-lived Japanese vocal trio which released 6 singles and 1 album between 2000 and 2001 An atlas is a collection of Maps typically of Earth or a region of Earth but there are atlases of the other planets (and their satellites in the solar system Later similar tales often took place on fictional planets. Planets in science fiction are fictional Planets that appear in various media especially those of the Science fiction genre as story-settings or depicted locations
Jonathan Swift's protagonist, Lemuel Gulliver, visited various strange places. Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 Gulliver's Travels (1726 amended 1735 officially Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World in Four Parts Edgar Rice Burroughs placed adventures of Tarzan in areas in Africa that, at the time, remained mostly unknown to the West and to the East. Edgar Rice Burroughs ( September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan is a Fictional character, an archetypal Feral child raised in the African jungle by Apes who later returns to civilization only to Isolated islands with strange creatures and/or customs enjoyed great popularity in these authors' times. By the 19th century, When Western explorers had surveyed most of the Earth's surface, this option was lost to Western culture. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar Western culture (sometimes equated with Western Civilization) are terms which are used to refer to Cultures of European origin Thereafter fictional utopian and dystopian societies tended to spring up on other planets or in space, whether in human colonies or in alien societies originating elsewhere. Utopia is a name for an ideal community taken from the title of a book written in 1516 by Sir Thomas More describing a fictional Island in the A dystopia (from the Greek δυσ- and τόπος alternatively cacotopia, kakotopia, cackotopia, or anti-utopia) is the vision of a society A planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU is a celestial body Orbiting a Star or stellar remnant that is Fictional countries can also be used in stories set in a distant future, with other political borders than today.
Superhero and secret agent comics and some thrillers also use fictional countries on Earth as backdrops. A superhero (sometimes rendered super-hero or super hero) is a Fictional character "of unprecedented physical prowess dedicated to acts of derring-do A comic book (often shortened to simply comic and sometimes called a comic paper or comic magazine) is a Magazine or Book of narrative The thriller is a broad Genre of Literature, Film, Gaming and Television. Most of these countries exist only for a single story, a TV-series episode or an issue of a comic book. There are notable exceptions, such as Marvel Comics Latveria and DC Comics Qurac and Bialya. Marvel Comics is an American comic book company owned by Marvel Publishing Inc Latveria is a fictional nation in the Marvel Universe. It is an isolated country ruled by the villainous Doctor Doom, supposedly located in the Banat DC Comics is an American comic book and related media company Qurac is a Fictional country in the DC universe. It is a tiny Middle Eastern country on the Persian Gulf, wedged between Iraq and Kuwait Bialya is a Fictional country appearing in many Comic book series published by DC Comics.
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Purpose
Fictional countries often deliberately resemble or even represent some real-world country or present a utopia or dystopia for commentary. Variants of the country's name sometimes make it clear what country they really have in mind. (Compare semi-fictional countries below. A fictional country is a Country that is made up for fictional stories ) By using a fictional country instead of a real one, authors can exercise greater freedom in creating characters, events, and settings, while at the same time presenting a vaguely familiar locale that readers can recognize. A fictional country leaves the author unburdened by the restraints of a real nation's actual history, politics, and culture, and can thus allow for greater scope in plot construction.
Writers may create an archetypal fictional "Eastern European", "Middle Eastern", "Asian", "African" or "Latin American" country for the purposes of their story. An archetype ( pronounced: /ˈɑːkɪtaɪp/ (Brit or /ˈɑrkɪtaɪp/ (Amer
Such countries often embody stereotypes about their regions. A stereotype (from Greek: stereo + týpos = "solid impression" is a generalized perception of first impressions behaviors presumed by a group For example, inventors of a fictional Eastern European country will typically describe it as a former or current Soviet satellite state, or with a suspense story about a royal family; if pre-20th century, it will likely resemble Ruritania or feature copious vampires and other supernatural phenomena. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Satellite state is a political term that refers to a country which is formally independent but under heavy influence or control by another country The twentieth century of the Common Era began on Ruritania is a Fictional country in Central Europe which forms the setting for three books by Anthony Hope: The Prisoner of Zenda Vampires are mythological or folkloric revenants who subsist by feeding on the blood of the living The term supernatural or supranatural ( Latin: super, supra "above" + natura "nature" pertains to entities events A fictional Middle Eastern state often lies somewhere on the Arabian peninsula, has substantial oil-wealth and problems with radical Islam and will have either a sultan or a mentally-unstable dictator as a ruler. The Arabian Peninsula (in Arabic: شبه الجزيرة العربية šibh al-jazīra al-ʻarabīya or جزيرة العرب jazīrat al-ʻarab) Petroleum ( L petroleum, from Greek πετρέλαιον, lit Sultan (سلطان is an Islamic title with several historical meanings Mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern that occurs in an individual and is thought to cause distress or disability that is not expected as A dictator is an Authoritarian ruler (eg Absolutist or autocratic) who assumes sole and absolute power without hereditary ascension such as an Absolute A fictional Latin American country will typically project images of a banana republic beset by constant revolutions, military dictatorships, and coups d'état. Banana Republic is a chain of mainly United States based clothing stores founded by Mel and Patricia Ziegler in 1978 as a travel-themed A revolution (from the Latin revolutio, "a turnaround" is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively A military dictatorship is a Form of government wherein the political power resides with the Military; it is similar but not identical to a Stratocracy, A fictional African state will suffer from poverty, civil war and disease.
Modern writers usually do not try to pass off their stories as facts. However, in the early 18th century George Psalmanazar passed himself off as a prince from the island of Formosa (present-day Taiwan) and wrote a fictional description about it to convince his sponsors. The 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar, in accordance with the Anno Domini / Common Era numbering system George Psalmanazar (1679?- May 3 1763) claimed to be the first Formosan to visit Europe. Taiwan ( Taiwanese: Tâi-oân/Tāi-oân (historically 大灣/台員/大員/台圓/大圓/台窩灣 is an Island in East Asia.
Some larcenous entrepreneurs have also invented fictional countries solely for the purpose of defrauding people. An entrepreneur is a person who has possession over a company enterprise, or Venture, and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome In the broadest sense a fraud is a Deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual In the 1820s, Gregor MacGregor sold land in the invented country of Poyais. Events and trends Nationalistic independence helped reshape the world during this decade Greece gains independence from the Ottoman Empire For the Scottish cricketer who played for England see Gregor MacGregor (cricketer For the Australian politician with a similar name see Gregor In modern times, the Dominion of Melchizedek and the Kingdom of EnenKio have been accused of this. Origin and Status The DoM was created in 1986 by Evan David Pedley and his son Mark Logan Pedley Kingdom of EnenKio, or "EnenKio" for short is a small separatist group of Marshall Islander heritage who lay claim to the United States ' Many varied financial scams can play out under the aegis of a fictional country, including selling passports and travel documents, and setting up fictional banks and companies with the seeming imprimatur of full government backing.
Fictional countries have also been created for polling purposes. An opinion poll is a survey of Public opinion from a particular sample. When polled in April of 2004, 10% of British people believed that the fictional country of Luvania would soon join the European Union. See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in [1] In a similar event, two thirds of Hungarians polled in March of 2007 demanded that absolutely no asylum be granted to immigrants from the fictional country of Piresa. Hungary (Magyarország 'mɔɟɔrorsaːg) officially in English the Republic of Hungary ( Magyar Köztársaság, literally Magyar (Hungarian Republic [2]
Questionable cases
Countries from stories, myths, legends, that some people have believed to actually exist.
- Atlantis
- Aztlán
- El Dorado
- Lemuria
- Mu (continent)
- Ophir
- Shangri-La or Shambhala
- Xanadu
- Zembla (See Pale Fire)
- Zanj
Books
- Alberto Manguel & Gianni Guadalupi: The Dictionary of Imaginary Places, ISBN 0-15-626054-9
- Brian Stableford: The Dictionary of Science Fiction Places
See also
- List of fictional countries
- Fictional city
- Fictional geography
- Constructed world
- Imaginary country
- Jennifer Government: NationStates
- List of fictional counties
- List of fictional companies
- List of fictional planets
- List of fictional universes
- List of fictional U.S. states
- Proposed country
References
- ^ Haines, Lester (2004-04-29). Atlantis (in Greek,, "island of Atlas " is the name of a Legendary Island, first mentioned in Plato 's dialogues Aztlán ( from Nahuatl Aztlān) is the Legendary ancestral home of the Nahua peoples, one of the main cultural groups in Mesoamerica El Dorado ( Spanish for "the golden one") is a Legend that began with the story of a South American tribal chief who covered himself Lemuria (lɨˈmjʊəriə is the name of a hypothetical " lost land " variously located in the Indian and Pacific Oceans Mu, as the name of a sunken Pacific Ocean Continent, was first used by James Churchward in his 1926 book "The Lost Continent of Mu Motherland Ophir ( is a port or region mentioned in the Bible, famous for its wealth Shangri-La is a fictional place described in the 1933 Novel Lost Horizon by British author James In Tibetan Buddhist tradition Shambhala (also spelled Shambala or Shamballa; Tibetan bde byung, pron Xanadu, also Zanadu, Shangdu, or Shang-tu ( was the Summer capital of Kublai Khan 's Pale Fire (1962 is a Novel by Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is presented as a poem titled "Pale Fire" by John Shade, a fictional author Zanj ( Arabic and Persian زنج "Land of the Blacks" was a name used by medieval Arab geographers to refer to both a certain portion of the The Dictionary of Imaginary Places (1980 1987 1999 is a book written by Alberto Manguel and Gianni Guadalupi. List of fictional countries is a list of fictional countries from published works of fiction (books films television series etc Fictional locations are places that exist only in Fiction and not in reality Fictional geography is the use of maps text and imagery to create lands and territories to accompany works of fiction An imaginary country or fantasy country is often important in Mail art, as it issues its own Artistamps It can sometimes be difficult to distinguish Jennifer Government NationStates is a multiplayer nation simulation Browser game. Fictional counties are created by an author for character placement and story background This is a list of notable Fictional companies. Entries in this list must have received significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject Planets in science fiction are fictional Planets that appear in various media especially those of the Science fiction genre as story-settings or depicted locations This is a list of Fictional universes, organized by Genre and by sub-genre This is a list of fictional US states found in various works Fictional states are not as common as fictional cities counties or countries often a work will invent a fictional The term " proposed country " or " aspirant nation " refers to countries or States that have been or still are considered (by scholars "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Events 1429 - Joan of Arc arrives to relieve the Siege of Orleans. Brits welcome Luvania to EU. The Register.
- ^ Haines, Lester (2007-03-21). Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 630 - Byzantine emperor Heraclius restores the True Cross to Jerusalem. Hungarians demand ejection of Piresan immigrants. The Register.
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