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Fictional Province
(aka: Fictional Shire)

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Fictional Province (trope)
The most awesome state nickname ever!

This is when Where the Hell Is Springfield? actually has an answer, and that answer is pretty nonsensical even by fiction's usual standards. It's easier to suspend disbelief for made up cities and countries, since there tend to be a lot of those and only the most hard-core geography nerds would have all existing cities or countries memorized. However, American children for instance are taught early on to know all 50 US states (and their capitals), so setting a story in a "state" called New Troy or Calisota can require a lot more co-operation from the audience, as well as leading to Fridge Logic about whether flags in this world have more than 50 stars— and if they don't, what else is different about the states in that world.

These considerations have still not stopped writers as noteworthy as Sinclair Lewis, James Michener, and Thomas Wolfe from creating fictional U.S. states. If the story is interesting enough, and the setting is internally consistent, readers will overlook such details. A fictional state is also less likely to jar the reader than a fictional character elected to, say, the governorship of a real state when the reader can easily look up who the real governor was at the time. It helps that the U.S. has 50 states (and over three thousand counties and county-equivalents), so that readers can easily accept one more; a fictional Australian state might encounter greater resistance.

Of course, this isn't necessarily restricted to US States, as it can apply to the states, provinces, and other subdivisions of other countries as well.

Fictional counties and parishes also count as examples of this trope. The province may still sometimes be a No Communities Were Harmed version of an existing province.

Compare to:

  • Barsetshire, a specific type of fictional location that often exists within a fictional state or county
  • Expanded States of America, which simply adds new, but not necessarily fictional, states to the existing ones. Example
  • Fictional Country, which — as the name says — is about a fictional country.


Examples

    open/close all folders 

    Anime and Manga 
  • The Marginal Service reveals that one of the main characters hails from East Dakota, which has existed for at least twenty or more years given that this is his home state.
  • Police in a Pod is set in the fictional Okajima Prefecture of Japan. The live-action drama averts this, taking place in Saitama Prefecture instead.

    Comic Books 
  • Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! takes place in the United Species of America (Earth-C's United States). The nation's geography consists of various animal-pun-themed cities and states; among the states the series mentions:
    • Taxes, nicknamed the "Lone Stork State." Home of several cities, including "San Antoadio" and "Hogston."
    • Califurnia, where much of the series is set, as the Zoo Crew's headquarters are in southern Califurnia. Home of various cities, including "Los Antelopes", "Sandy Eggo", and state capital "Stagcramento".
    • Kornsas, a state in the Midwest. Bordering the state is Kornsas City.
  • When DC Comics doesn't want to bother pinpointing a real location, Gotham City is located in the state of Gotham and Metropolis is located in New Troy.
  • The Disney Mouse and Duck Comics take place in the fictional state of Calisota (a portmanteau of California and Minnesota), which according to maps is located in what is really the coastal part of upstate California. This supposedly contains both Duckburg and Mouseton. Curiously, Calisota doesn’t seem much like Minnesota. Early stories before "Calisota" became well-established also used "Califrisco" and "Calidornia".
  • Knight and Squire live in the English county of Wordenshire. (Some early stories suggested the town of Wordenshire, but that isn't what "shire" means; later stories establish the town is called Great Worden.)

    Fan Works 
  • The Motion Practice series is set in the fictional Suffolk County, somewhere in the Midwest. The state containing Suffolk County is not named in the stories, but according to Word of God is a fictional state carved out of parts of south-eastern Nebraska and north-eastern Kansas.

    Film — Animated 
  • The Cars franchise has Carburetor County, a fictional county in Eastern Arizona.
  • In the Goofy short Californy er Bust!, most states of the US that are shown have funny, possibly red-neck-inspired names: Californy, Nebrasky, Florady, Pensavaney, Wash., Organ, Idyho, Nevady. The only exception is Utah. Also the short acknowledges that Florady sucks, by moving the caravan of cowboy settlers immediately to Pensavaney as soon as it touches that dreadful state.

    Film — Live-Action 
USA
  • The Back to the Future series is set in the town of Hill Valley, located in the fictional Hill County, California.
  • Batman films take place in the fictional Gotham City, of course.
    • The Dark Knight Trilogy: Gotham City is in the also fictional state of Gotham, located on the East Coast of the United States. Flags seen throughout the trilogy show the state was founded in 1620. The Dark Knight Rises briefly shows a Congressman from the state, and in the third act officers from the Gotham State Police are also seen.
    • Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice clarifies that within the DC Extended Universe, Metropolis is Federal District similar to Washington, D.C, which borders Delaware and is separated from Gotham City, New Jersey by the Delaware Bay. It is referred to on paperwork as "Metropolis, D.M."
  • Beau Is Afraid takes place in the fictional state of Corrina. The state abbreviation is "CR".
  • Blood Out is set in St. Patrick Parish, Louisiana.
  • Demonic takes place in La Forte Parish in rural Louisiana.
  • Dragged Across Concrete is set in the fictional state of Bulwark, as well as the also fictitious city of Bulwark (implied to be the state capital). Background signage in convenience stores refers to the "Bulwark State Lottery", and license plates read "The Grand Harvest State".
  • Fear Is The Key takes place in the fictional Assumption Parish, Louisiana.
  • Green Lantern: The license plate on Hal's car reads "Coast City", the fictional city where the comics are set. However, since US cities don't get their own license plates, this means the movie is actually set in the state of Coast City.
  • Homefront is set in the fictional Labranche Parish.
  • Jessabelle takes place in Feliciana Parish, a generic fictional version of West Feliciana Parish.
  • Killer Klowns from Outer Space is set in coastal town of Crescent Cove, which is located in the fictional state of Marlborough.
  • Live and Let Die partially takes place in the fictional Pontrain Parish, policed by Sheriff J.W. Pepper. The name Pontrain is likely derived from Lake Ponchartrain.
  • The Long Shadow features St. Roch Parish. Its capital is Port Minou.
  • Moon Of The Wolf takes place in South Bayou Parish, Louisiana. The county seat is the town of Marsh Island.
  • Resident Evil: Apocalypse places Raccoon City in the fictional Midwestern state of Arklay, presumably named after the also fictitious mountain range the city is located next to. License plates read "The Foothill State".
  • Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, despite being a Continuity Reboot of the previous franchise, also places Raccoon City in the fictional state of Arklay.
  • Road House 2 takes place in the coastal Tyree Parish.
  • Swamp Shark takes place in Cypress Lake Parish, likely named after the lake in LaFayette.
  • Venom (2005) is set in Cypress Parish, also likely a reference to Cypress Lake, Louisiana.

Other Countries

    Literature 
  • The Averoigne stories of Clark Ashton Smith are set in the titular fictitious province of France, which is said to be somewhere in the southern part in the Massif Central, a hinterland that sprawls across Central and Southern France. First settled by an equally fictitious Gallic tribe called the Averones, it was later conquered by the Romans, but became a bastion for Evil Sorcerers, Black Magic, and pagan monsters, who survived in its deep woods and pre-Christian ruins. Notable historical events include a Bishop being demonically possessed, another Bishop actually being an Evil Sorcerer, and an Evil Sorcerer creating a kaiju-sized golem out of corpses and going on the rampage with it.
  • Barsetshire is a fictional English county created by Anthony Trollope as a setting for The Chronicles of Barsetshire.
  • The version of Jenny Everywhere in The Crew of the Copper-Colored Cupids was eventually shown to originate from the city of New Flaversham in the American state of Wintlevania (named for Jenny's creator, Steven Wintle).
  • The Felse Investigates series by Ellis Peters is set in Midshire, a fictional county in the West Midlands of England.
  • Many of the works of Sinclair Lewis are set in the fictional state of Winnemac, which, according to Elmer Gantry, "lies between Pittsburgh and Chicago." He did it after setting Main Street in a No Communities Were Harmed parody of his childhood hometown of Sauk Centre, Minnesota, a portrayal that his former neighbors immediately recognized and found so offensive that he created an entire fictional Everytown, America state so that nobody would think he was basing his stories on their hometown in particular.
  • These Words Are True and Faithful is set in the fictional state of New Wiltshire, which is based on various Mid-Atlantic states.
  • In The Two Georges by Harry Turtledove and Richard Dreyfuss, the American Revolution is avoided and a peaceful settlement is reached creating the North American Union. At the time of the story set in an ATL 1995, the Union has expanded to occupy OTL US and Canada. The resulting provinces have different names and geographic boundaries to OTL States and Provinces as described here.
  • Much of the action, such as it is, in Pale Fire occurs around two fictional towns in two fictional states: the college town of New Wye, Appalachia, and the high-country retreat of Cedarn, Utana. Of course, the Unreliable Narrator cannot be trusted to tell the truth even about these places.
  • Many stories by William Faulkner are set in his fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, based on the real Lafayette County in northern Mississippi where Faulkner lived.
  • Changing Places is partly set in "Euphoria, that small but populous state on the Western seaboard of America, situated between Northern and Southern California".

    Live-Action TV 
Municipalities & Counties
  • The Andy Griffith Show takes place in Mayberry County, notably home to the towns of Mayberry and Mount Pilot. The area is based on the real-life Surry County, North Carolina where Griffith grew up, including real locations Mount Airy and Pilot Mountain.
  • The Dukes of Hazzard takes place in fictional Hazzard County, Georgia. There are also numerous other fictional Georgia based counties and towns featured throughout the series, such as Chickasaw County, Choctaw County, Hatchape County, Sweetwater County, Finchburg County, Riverton County, Osage County, and the towns of Springville and Roseville.
  • Hee Haw was an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with the fictional rural "Kornfield Kounty" as a backdrop.
  • For a British example, Midsomer Murders is set in the fictional Midsomer County.
  • Reacher Season 1 features the fictional towns of Margrave and Alton, located in the also fictitious Warburton County, Georgia. Season 3 also features the fictional towns of Abbott and Havenhurst, Maine and the town of Linton, Virginia.
  • Stranger Things takes place in Hawkins, which is in the fictional Roane County, Indiana.
  • Veronica Mars is set in the fictional unincorporated town of Neptune in Southern California. Neptune itself is located in the fictional Balboa County, which appears to have been carved out of parts of the Orange and San Diego counties.
  • Walker, Texas Ranger features several fictional Texas counties, such as Mournful County, Adelaide County and Branmer County, as well as the Louisiana based Bayou Parish.
  • Murder, She Wrote has episodes set in various fictitious counties across the country, such as Roper County (VA), Riverton County (SC), Colton County (WV), Chaco County (NM), Wenton County (VT), San Dimas County (TX), Finch County (ME), Huckabee County (NV), Dry Wells County (CA), Bearpaw County (MT), Eden County (OR) and Westridge County (ID).
  • Supernatural contains a large number of fictional counties (often standing in for real life ones due to copyright issues), such as: Bleuclair Parish (LA), Conway County (KS), Grangeville County (ID), Hibbing County (MN), Larsen County (MN), Madsen County (ID), Jericho County (CA), Livingston County (MT), Mantioc County (WI), Texhoma County (TX), Bloom County (KS), Bristol County (RI), Guthrie County (OK) and Calumet County (IA).
  • Knight Rider has episodes set in numerous fictional locations throughout the country, such as Fleur Du Lac Parish (LA), Alpine Crest County, White Rock County, Sinclair County (CA), Cactus County (AZ) and Holbrook County (NM).
  • Swamp Thing (2019) is set in Montrivelle Parish, Louisiana. The parish seat is the town of Marais.
  • The Fall Guy features numerous fictional counties throughout the series which are visited by the protagonist, Colt Seavers, in his capacity as a bounty hunter. These include Clarksburg Parish, Lake Lucille Parish and Littlefield Parish (LA), Hazeltine County (TX), Elmo County, Red Sands County and Coyote County (AZ), Federalsberg County, Dawson County and Crabtree County (CA) and Gladstone County (NM).
  • Charlie's Angels has several fictional counties appear throughout, including Pine Parish (LA), Dry Falls County (AZ) and Purnell County (WY).
  • True Blood is set in the fictional Renard Parish, Louisiana. The county seat is the town of Bon Temps.
  • Queen Sugar takes place in St. Josephine Parish. The county seat is the town of St. Josephine.
  • Quantum Leap has episodes set in various fictitious counties at different times, such as Twelve Oakes Parish (LA), Pine County (OK), Cable County (AL) and Mountain View County (WA).
  • The Fugitive has protagonist Dr Richard Kimble visit many fictional locations during his time as a wanted man. These include Longtree County and Puma County (AZ), Ocean County, Grandee County and San Marcos County (CA), Tyler County (NB), Rossburg County (WA), Trinity County (ID), Wyler County (MT), Overton County (WY), Londale County and Santa Elena County (NM), Ellsmore County (KY), Darlo County (UT), Vardon County (WI) and Swan County (IL).
  • The Mentalist is set in California and features several fictional counties: Vineland County, Redwood Point County, Kane County, Livingston County and Sutter Valley County. There are also episodes that take place in the fictitious municipalities of Fairmont, Kenmore, Salter City, Santa Marta, Marquesa and Brimmel.
  • The X-Files features numerous fictional counties and municipalities in its episodes. This includes: Kenwood County (TN), Caryl County (NH), Graham County (WI), Seth County (AK), Raymon County (OR), Millikan County (GA) and the towns/cities of Eastwood (CT), Aubrey (MO), Home (PA), Mud Lick (KY), Kroner (KS) Squamash Township (PA), Ammas Beach (ME), Townsend (WI), Milford Haven (NH), and Ardis (MD).
  • Dark Winds has the fictional Scarborough County, Arizona. It is implied to border the real Navajo County, and the county sheriff frequently liaises with the Navajo Tribal Police throughout the series.
  • Longmire focuses on the sheriff of the fictional Absaroka County, based in its county seat of Durant. It is neighboured by the also fictitious Cumberland County.
  • The Sinner mainly takes place in the fictional upstate New York locations of Dorchester and Somerset County. Some episodes are set in the neighbouring Adler County, and its county seat of Keller. Season 3 takes place in the fictional municipality of Hanover Island, off the coast of Maine.
  • Smoke (2025) takes place in the fictional Columbia metropolitan area, which contains the cities of Columbia, West Columbia, Umberland, Walsingham, Leighton, Corrales, Dorchester and Crawford.

States

  • The Adventures of Slim Goodbody: One miniseries implied that the whole production took place in a fictional state called "Nutrition", but used American political terms like Governor and State, implying the series still took place in the USA.
  • Fringe has several fictional states in its Alternate Universe. These include North Texas and South Texas, Dakota (a combination of North Dakota and South Dakota), Carolina (a combination of North and South Carolina), Midland (a combination of Oklahoma and Kansas), Southern British Columbia (our universes Washington State), and the District of Virginia (encompassing Virginia and West Virginia), although Washington, D.C. also still exists as a separate federal district. Michigan is missing its upper peninsula, indicating it may belong to Canada. California is shown to be missing a large western portion, suggesting a tectonic event along the San Andreas fault. Additionally, Nevada is named "Independent Nevada" (implying a level of autonomy) and Louisiana is specifically mentioned to remain a Territory and not a full state, although maintains its state lines from our reality.
  • Andi Mack is set in Shadyside, Midwest, as in the fictional town of Shadyside in the fictional U.S. state of Midwest.
  • Desperate Housewives is set in a state known only as Eagle State, which is on all their license plates and envelopes.
  • Reef Break takes place in the fictional U.S. Territory of Reef Island, located in the Pacific Ocean. Its capital is Port Nimitz.
  • Designated Survivor features the fictional U.S. Territory of Taurasi, located in the Caribbean. It has a semi-devolved government run by Governor Habalo from the capital city Port Natassa. Official languages are English and Spanish. It is mentioned the territory has been part of the United States since 1938.
  • Airwolf episode Sins of the Past (Season 2 Episode 6) takes place in the fictional U.S. Territory of San Remo, located in the Caribbean.
  • Severance (2022) takes place in the town of Kier, PE. What "PE" stands for is unknown, but the state is implied to be owned by the MegaCorp the series takes place in since the surrounding area is a Company Town.
  • Watchmen (2019) has several scenes that take place in the state of Vietnam, in an alternate history where the United States wins the Vietnam War in 1971 and admits the country as a state in 1985. The capital city is Saigon, and the state becomes a popular location for African-Americans to immigrate to. A former governor of the state is Ronnie Ngo Dinh. In the 1970's and 1980's, the state was victim to various terrorist attacks on its military infrastructure by the Vietnamese Liberation Front.
  • One "Improbable Mission" game on Whose Line Is It Anyway? involves a small Canadian province called "Snackitoba".
  • Smoke (2025) is set in the fictional Pacific Northwest state of Orrington, shortened to OT in various documents. The state is mentioned to have the death penalty, and its silhouette when briefly shown is an upside down outline of Oregon.

    Radio 
  • Borsetshire, a fictional English county, is the setting of The Archers.
  • In the world of Lake Wobegon from A Prairie Home Companion, Lake Wobegon isn't just a fictional town, it's the county seat of a fictional Minnesota county called Mist County. Supposedly Mist County is what happened when the initial surveyors of Minnesota missed a chunk of land. The mapmakers didn't want to go back and redo all their work (i.e. putting Lake Wobegon on the map), so they fudged the map to ignore Mist County.

    Theatre 

    Video Games 
  • DUSK-12 is set in the non-existent Russian city of Chernozersk. It's likely based on Chernogorsk, a city that does exist, however.
  • Far Cry 5 takes place in the fictional Hope County, Montana.
  • Hitman 2 has the fictional Isle of Sgàil in the North Atlantic.
  • This is a staple of Rockstar Games' titles.
    • The Grand Theft Auto franchise:
      • Liberty City is the games' stand-in for New York City. Grand Theft Auto IV further reveals that it is located in the fictional state of Liberty, and added an additional state in Alderney, the series' stand-in for New Jersey.
      • Vice City is the series' stand-in for Miami. While earlier games presented it as being located in Florida, Grand Theft Auto VI instead places it in the state of Leonida, a fictionalized version thereof. Some canny observers of VI's marketing materials have also noticed license plates for a state of Gloriana, which many suspect is the GTA universe's version of Georgia.
      • Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto V take place in the fictional state of San Andreas, based on California and, to a lesser extent, Nevada, which includes cities such as Los Santos (Los Angeles), San Fierro (San Francisco), and Las Venturas (Las Vegas).
      • Grand Theft Auto V adds North Yankton (based on North Dakota and other rural Midwestern states), which features in a couple of missions, though it can’t be explored freely. It also expands on San Andreas and includes the Alamo Sea (the Salton Sea), the Senora Desert (the Colorado Desert and the Coachella Valley), and Stab City (Slab City). Although it excludes San Fierro and Las Venturas, it makes Los Santos a very precisely accurate pastiche of Los Angeles, unlike in its original appearance.
    • Manhunt takes place in Carcer City, a Dying Town in the Rust Belt inspired by such decrepit Midwestern cities as Detroit, East St. Louis, Gary, Indiana, and Flint, Michigan.
    • The Red Dead Redemption franchise:
      • The first game has two fictional US states. The first is New Austin, which is based on central and western Texas with some land features and vegetation thrown in from New Mexico (like Rio Bravo), Arizona (like the saguaro cactus in Cholla Springs), Louisiana and eastern Texas (like Thieves' Landing and its surrounding area), the Sierra Nevada Foothills and Sacramento Valley in Northern California (like parts of Hennigan's Stead), and the Mojave Desert in Southern California (like Gaptooth Breach). The second is West Elizabeth, which is based on the Great Plains of Kansas and Nebraska (Great Plains) and the Colorado Rockies (Tall Trees), with Blackwater being a very dead accurate expy of Blackwater, Missouri. It also has as a fictional Mexican border state called Nuevo Paraiso, which resembles parts of Chihuahua, Sonora, and Baja California, although Diez Coronas looks like Monument Valley in Utah.
      • Red Dead Redemption 2 expands on West Elizabeth and adds Ambarino, New Hanover, Roanoke Ridge (based on the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains, highlands in northwest Arkansas, southern Missouri, eastern Oklahoma, and southeastern Kansas), and Lemoyne (based on Louisiana, with Bayou Nwa being the bayou and Saint Denis being based on New Orleans, but also has elements of southern Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, including Georgia’s red clay soil).
  • The town of Silent Hill is located in Toluca County, which is apparently in Maine.
  • WolfQuest is an Edutainment Game series set in Yellowstone that prides itself on its realism, but for some reason it includes a completely fictional Ghost Town map called Lost River.

    Visual Novels 
  • Pizza Game: The game is set in Flordaddle, a combination of Florida and Seattle, two locations in the opposite corners of the United States. The palm trees in the background indicate that Flordaddle is indeed in Florida, and an image of the Earth shown in the Roobit route includes a large canal spanning from Washington to Florida, implying that Seattle was literally floated over to Florida to create the setting.

    Webcomics 
  • Tawawa on Monday's setting of Tawawa City is located in the fictional prefecture of the same name.

    Web Original 
  • Mandela Catalogue takes place in the nonexistent Mandela County, presumably referencing the Mandela Effect conspiracy theory, with which the story shares some themes.

    Western Animation 
  • Batman: The Animated Series: The current page image shows a license plate from "Gotham — The Dark Deco State", from the end of an episode where the Penguin is back in prison working on the license plate assembly line. He snaps one in a rage because it says "1 BAT 4 U".
  • The Earthworm Jim cartoon takes place in the fictional town of Terlawk, New Jersey.
  • The town of Gravity Falls is located in the fictional Roadkill County, Oregon.
  • King of the Hill: The town of Arlen is located in the fictional Heimlich County, Texas.
  • Miraculous Ladybug: The fictional 21st arrondissement, where Marinette lives, should logically be on the east side of Paris near the 20th, but it seems to have been taken from a part of the 16th (near the Seine and the Eiffel Tower). The Place des Vosges has been reduced in size and relocated from the line between the 3rd and 4th to across from Marinette's home. Placement of landmarks is not consistent from episode to episode.
  • Moral Orel takes place in the city of Moralton, the capital of Statesota, the geographic center of the US. (In real life, if you're just counting the 48 contiguous states, it's just south of the Kansas-Nebraska border. Include Alaska and Hawaii, and the geographic center shifts to the western edge of South Dakota.)
  • Rocky and Bullwinkle had the fictional state/province of Moosylvania, a swampy little island on the US/Canada border. (The US insisted it was a Canadian province, Canada insisted it was a US state.) Jay Ward tried once to defictionalize it as a publicity stunt; he leased a small island in Minnesota's Lake of the Woods and campaigned to make it the state of Moosyvania. The attempt fizzled after the Cuban Missile Crisis broke out.
  • The Simpsons: Springfield is located in the fictional Springfield County, neighboring the equally fictional Swartzwelder County. Very little is known about the state it's located in, but it must be a fictional one; it has its own state flag, state motto ("Not Just Another State") and state capital (Capital City).
  • Steven Universe:
    • Beach City is located in Delmarva State, named after the Delmarva Peninsula, where the states of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia converge.
    • In "Keystone Motel", the characters visit the state Keystone, which is the nickname of Pennsylvania, only here it's the actual name of the state. "Mr. Universe" shows there's an adjacent state called West Keystone, which is where Greg is from.
    • In "Same Old World", Steven and Lapis visit Jersey, which is called New Jersey in our world.
    • The show's version of New York City is called Empire City, which license plates imply is in the state of Empire.

    Other 
  • Law schools common-law countries have a few:
    • The classic ones are for parcels of land: Blackacre, Whiteacre, and Greenacre. This can go on through several colors. These are commonly used as examples in discussions of the law of real property, as well as inheritance/estate law and matrimonial (i.e. divorce) law.
    • In American law schools, "Franklin" is often used as a placeholder for a hypothetical state, most commonly in discussions of constitutional law, but also occasionally to imagine a jurisdiction with either very generic or very unusual background law in a more typical subject (e.g. tort law).note  Other Founding Fathers' names can be used, particularly Jeffersonnote  and Hamilton, as well as other notable presidents, particularly Lincoln, and some suitably generic names, especially if you need more than one and would like them to line up with A, B, C (e.g. Ames, Baker, Case)
  • In the British Army "The Loamshire Regiment" is used as a placeholder name when giving examples of army procedures. As the other wiki points out the regiment, and the fictional county for which it is named have appeared in other works.

Alternative Title(s): Fictional County, Fictional Parish, Fictional Shire

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