Phantom settlement

Settlement on a map that does not exist

"Paper towns" redirects here. For other uses, see Paper Towns (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with ghost town or abandoned village.

Phantom settlements, or paper towns, are settlements that appear on maps but do not actually exist. They are either accidents or copyright traps. Notable examples include Argleton in Lancashire, UK and Beatosu and Goblu, US.[1]

Phantom settlements often result from copyright traps, also known as mountweazels, which is when a false entry is placed in literature to catch illegal copiers.[2] Agloe, New York, was invented on a 1930s map as a copyright trap. In 1950, a general store was built there and named Agloe General Store, as that was the name seen on the map. Thus, the phantom settlement became a real one.[3]

There are also misnamed settlements, such as the villages of Mawdesky and Dummy 1325 in Lancashire on Google Maps.[4]

There is a satirical conspiracy theory that the German city of Bielefeld is a phantom settlement, despite its population of over 300,000.[5] Another example is Leiria, Portugal, (pop. 128,640),[6] which even gave rise to a song "Leiria não existe".[7]

## See also

[edit]

* Paper Towns, a novel where phantom settlements become plot points
* The 2015 film of the same name, based on the novel
* Paper township
* Phantom island
* Fictitious entry

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Punt, Steve (18 September 2010). "BBC Radio 4 - Punt PI, Series 3, Episode 1". BBC. Archived from the original on 26 November 2022. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
2. ^ "mountweazel". Emma Wilkin. 26 February 2020. Archived from the original on 15 June 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
3. ^ Krulwich, Robert (18 March 2014). "An Imaginary Town Becomes Real, Then Not. True Story". NPR. Archived from the original on 8 May 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
4. ^ "See the new villages of Mawdesky and Dummy 1325 on Google Maps". Southport Visiter. 20 November 2009. Archived from the original on 4 August 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
5. ^ Connolly, Kate (5 September 2019). "German city offers €1m for proof it doesn't exist". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
6. ^ Nenhum (23 January 2024). "Leiria não existe". Região de Leiria (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 6 October 2024.
7. ^ INÊS APENAS (21 November 2023). INÊS APENAS - LEIRIA NÃO EXISTE. Retrieved 6 October 2024 - via YouTube.

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