Fictional country

For unrecognised countries that do not claim to be fictional, see Micronation.

Map of the Land of Oz, the fictional country in the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

A fictional country is a country that is made up for fictional stories, and does not exist in real life, or one that people believe in without proof. Fictional lands appear most commonly as settings or subjects of myths, literature, film, or video games.

## Purposes

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Fictitious countries from the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four

Fictional countries often deliberately resemble or even represent some real-world country or present a utopia or dystopia for commentary. 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 and be exempt from criticism for vilifying or distorting good image of an actual nation, political party, or people. The fictional Tomania (a parody of Nazi Germany named after Ptomaine) serves as a setting for Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator.

Fictional countries appear commonly in stories of early science fiction (or scientific romance). Such countries supposedly form part of the normal Earth landscape, although not located in a normal atlas. Later similar tales often took place on fictional planets.[citation needed]

In Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, the protagonist, Lemuel Gulliver, visits various invented lands. Edgar Rice Burroughs placed the adventures of Tarzan in areas in Africa that, at the time, remained mostly unknown to the West and to the East. Isolated islands with strange creatures and/or customs enjoyed great popularity in these authors' times. By the 19th century, after Western explorers had surveyed most of the Earth's surface, fictional utopian and dystopian societies tended to be conceived on other planets in outer space, whether in human colonies or in alien societies. Fictional countries can also be used in stories set in a distant future, with other political borders than today.[citation needed]

Fictional countries are also invented for the purpose of military training scenarios,[1] e.g. the group of islands around Hawaii were assigned the names Blueland and Orangeland in the international maritime exercise, RIMPAC 98.[2][3]

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 European Article Number "country" codes 978 and 979 to be used for ISBNs assigned to books, and code 977 to be assigned for use for ISSN numbers on magazines and other periodicals.[citation needed]

## Legendary countries

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Countries from stories, myths, legends, that some believe to exist, or to have existed at some point:

* Atlantis
* Aztlán
* El Dorado
* Lemuria (continent)
* Lyonesse
* Mu (continent)
* Shangri-La or Shambhala

## See also

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* List of fictional countries
* List of fictional African countries
* List of fictional American countries
* List of fictional Asian countries
* List of fictional European countries
* Fictional city
* Fictional companies
* List of fictional companies
* Fictional geography
* Jennifer Government: NationStates
* List of fictional planets
* List of fictional universes
* List of lost lands
* Proposed country, includes several lists of proposed countries
* Worldbuilding

## Books

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* Alberto Manguel & Gianni Guadalupi: The Dictionary of Imaginary Places. ISBN 0-15-626054-9
* Brian Stableford: The Dictionary of Science Fiction Places. Simon & Schuster, 1999. ISBN 978-0684849584

## References

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1. ^ "Navy News - News Desk - News - HMS Edinburgh works out in the Pacific". www.navynews.co.uk. Archived from the original on June 11, 2011. Retrieved December 14, 2008.
2. ^ "Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC)". www.globalsecurity.org. Archived from the original on January 4, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2008.
3. ^ "RIMPAC simulates conflict between divided countries - Asian Political News". findarticles.com. August 3, 1998. Retrieved December 14, 2008. [dead link]

## External links

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Media related to Fictional countries at Wikimedia Commons

* v
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* e

Fictional countries

* General list
* List by region

Africa|

* Azania
* Babar's Kingdom
* Bangalla
* Genosha
* Khokarsa
* Opar
* Wakanda

Americas|

* Brobdingnag
* Jesusland
* San Escobar
* San Sombrèro
* Val Verde

Asia|

* Glubbdubdrib
* Lilliput and Blefuscu
* Luggnagg
* Madripoor
* Phaic Tăn
* San Serriffe
* Shangri-La
* Skull Island

Europe|

* Baltish
* Borduria
* Grand Fenwick
* Graustark
* Freedonia
* Latveria
* Listenbourg
* Lower Slobbovia
* Molvanîa
* Poictesme
* Pottsylvania
* Ruritania
* Slaka
* Sodor
* Soviet Unterzoegersdorf
* Syldavia
* Veyshnoria

Oceania|

* Patusan

* WikiCommons
* Category

* v
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Narrative

Character|

* Antagonist
* Archenemy
* Character arc
* Character flaw
* Characterization
* Confidant
* Deuteragonist
* False protagonist
* Focal character
* Foil
* Gothic double
* Hamartia
* Hero
* Anti
* Byronic
* Tragic
* Narrator
* Protagonist
* Stock character
* Straight man
* Supporting character
* Title character
* Tritagonist
* Villain

Plot|

* Ab ovo
* Action
* Backstory
* Origin story
* Chekhov's gun
* Cliché
* Cliffhanger
* Conflict
* Deus ex machina
* Dialogue
* Dramatic structure
* Eucatastrophe
* Foreshadowing
* Flashback
* Flashforward
* Frame story
* In medias res
* Kishōtenketsu
* MacGuffin
* Pace
* Plot device
* Plot twist
* Poetic justice
* Red herring
* Reveal
* Self-insertion
* Shaggy dog story
* Stereotype
* Story arc
* Story within a story
* Subplot
* Suspense
* Trope

Setting|

* Alternate history
* Backstory
* Crossover
* Dreamworld
* Dystopia
* Fictional location
* city
* country
* universe
* parallel
* Utopia
* Worldbuilding

Theme|

* Irony
* Leitmotif
* Metaphor
* Moral
* Moral development
* Motif
* Deal with the Devil
* Conflict between good and evil
* Self-fulfilling prophecy
* Time travel

Style|

* Allegory
* Bathos
* Comic relief
* Diction
* Figure of speech
* Imagery
* Mode
* Mood
* Narration
* Narrative techniques
* Hook
* Show, don't tell
* Stylistic device
* Suspension of disbelief
* Symbolism
* Tone

Structure|

* Act
* Act structure
* Three-act structure
* Freytag's Pyramid
* Exposition/Protasis
* Rising action/Epitasis
* Climax/Peripeteia
* Falling action/Catastasis
* Denouement/Catastrophe
* Linear narrative
* Nonlinear narrative
* films
* television series
* Premise
* Types of fiction with multiple endings

Form|

* Drama
* Fabliau
* Flash fiction
* Folklore
* Fable
* Fairy tale
* Legend
* Myth
* Tall tale
* Gamebook
* Narrative art
* Narrative poetry
* Epic poetry
* Novel
* Novella
* Parable
* Short story
* Vignette

Genre
(List)|

* Fiction
* Action fiction
* Adventure
* Comic
* Crime
* Docu
* Epistolary
* Ergodic
* Erotic
* Historical
* Western
* Mystery
* Nautical
* Paranoid
* Philosophical
* Picaresque
* Political
* Pop culture
* Psychological
* Religious
* Rogue
* Romance
* Chivalric
* Prose
* Saga
* Satire
* Speculative fiction
* Fantasy
* Gothic
* Southern
* Horror
* Magic realism
* Science
* Hard
* Utopian and dystopian
* Underwater
* Superhero
* Theological
* Thriller
* Urban
* Nonfiction
* Autobiography
* Biography
* Novel
* Creative

Narration|

* Diegesis
* First-person
* Second-person
* Third-person
* Third-person omniscient narrative
* Subjectivity
* Unreliable narrator
* Multiple narrators
* Stream of consciousness
* Stream of unconsciousness

Tense|

* Past
* Present
* Future

Related|

* Dominant narrative
* Fiction writing
* Continuity
* Canon
* Reboot
* Retcon
* Parallel novel
* Prequel / Sequel
* Genre
* List
* Literary science
* Literary theory
* Narrative identity
* Narrative paradigm
* Narrative therapy
* Narratology
* Metafiction
* Political narrative
* Rhetoric
* Glossary
* Screenwriting
* Series of works
* Storytelling
* Tellability
* Verisimilitude

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Fictional locations

Buildings|

* Bars and pubs
* Castles
* Prisons
* Railway stations

Cities and towns|

* Settlements
* in animation
* in comics
* in film
* in literature
* in television

Countries, counties, and states|

* Countries
* African
* Asian
* European
* Oceanian
* Pan-American
* by region
* Islands
* Mythological places

Planets, worlds, and universes|

* Fantasy worlds
* Planets
* Universes
* film and television
* animation and comics
* literature
* science fiction

Related|

* Continuity
* Fantasy map
* Lists of fictional locations
* Shared universe
* Worldbuilding

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