Editing Fictional country

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{{For|unrecognised countries that do not claim to be fictional|Micronation|}}
[[File:Map-of-Oz.jpg|thumb|right|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 [[Fiction|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 [[myth|myths]], [[literature]], [[film]], or [[Video game|video games]]. 

==Purposes==
[[File:1984's Geopolitics.png|thumb|right|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 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 [[planets in science fiction|fictional planets]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}}

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 [[utopia]]n and [[dystopia]]n societies tended to be conceived on other [[planet]]s 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|date=May 2020}}

Fictional countries are also invented for the purpose of military training scenarios,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.navynews.co.uk/articles/2001/0107/0001072701.asp|title=Navy News - News Desk - News - HMS Edinburgh works out in the Pacific|publisher=www.navynews.co.uk|access-date=December 14, 2008|archive-date=June 11, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611055425/http://www.navynews.co.uk/articles/2001/0107/0001072701.asp|url-status=live}}</ref> e.g. the group of islands around [[Hawaii]] were assigned the names Blueland and Orangeland in the international maritime exercise, [[RIMPAC 98]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/rimpac.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160104203220/http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/rimpac.htm |archive-date=January 4, 2016 |access-date=December 14, 2008 |publisher=www.globalsecurity.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0WDQ/is_/ai_53001543|title=RIMPAC simulates conflict between divided countries - Asian Political News|publisher=findarticles.com|access-date=December 14, 2008 | date=August 3, 1998}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref>

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|date=December 2008}}

==Legendary countries==
Countries from stories, myths, legends, that some believe to exist, or to have existed at some point:
 
* [[Atlantis]]
* [[Aztlán]]
* [[El Dorado]]
* [[Lemuria (continent)|Lemuria]] (continent) 
* [[Lyonesse]]
* [[Mu (lost continent)|Mu]] (continent)   
* [[Shangri-La]] or [[Shambhala]]

==See also==
* [[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 company|Fictional companies]]
** [[:Category: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 (disambiguation)|Proposed country]], includes several lists of proposed countries
* [[Worldbuilding]]

==Books==
* 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 ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commonscat-inline|Fictional countries}}

{{Fictional countries}}
{{Fiction writing}}
{{Fiction navbox}}

[[Category:Fictional countries| ]]
[[Category:Science fiction genres]]
[[Category:Alternate history]]