History, Geography, and Culture of Panem

[whirl_fragrance]

Notes: Hi everyone! This is my personal speculation on how the nation of Panem developed, how it’s set up, and why things are the way they are. I’ve wondered a lot about Panem’s history. How come the Capitol emerged more powerfully than all the districts? How much do the districts actually get to communicate with one another? We don’t get many

Comments

[wickedgrdn]

I wish more of this had been covered in the books. I'd really love to know the background of the Capitol, the districts and how it all came to be. This is very interesting to me. :)

[eevilalice]

That's what fandom's for. :)

[whirl_fragrance]

Yes, me too! I was always really wondering about how Panem came along, and we know so little, so that's how this super long essay thing happened. Thanks for reading!

[eevilalice]

I'm wondering who came up with that map for the game. If it wasn't Collins, I'm not sure I'd count it as official/canon.

[aimmyarrowshigh]

Same. I'm personally figuring that it's the official map of the movie!canon, but since they changed a few *explicitly stated* district specialties from the book!canon, I can't really reconcile the two in my head.

[jocelyncs]

They changed whaaat?! What did they change?!

[whirl_fragrance]

They changed some district specialties? Which ones? Well, movie canon doesn't agree with my ideas a lot of the time, because I looked at the tributes from the 74th games in the movie and none of them particularly resemble each other. Is there an updated version of the map with more districts shown?

[jocelyncs]

My nerdy heart is all a-flutter at this topic

[danceprincess20]

I agree with basically all of this, particularly the parts about the size of the districts and the treatment of people in 11 vs. other places.

[girls_are_weird]

i definitely agree with you about the "jurisdiction" of the districts. i think the official map is still (mostly) correct to canon, taking that into account. i think each district has "towns" or-- let me phrase that better so as not to create confusion about the town/seam thing-- "settlements" depending on the size of their population. D12's population is fairly small, so everybody lives in just the one settlement. that's what katniss refers to as "district twelve," but that doesn't mean the territories surrounding that settlement are not within the official D12 borders. i figured, since twelve's main economic activity happens basically underground, and they don't NEED more land because they don't have that many people, that there was simply no point in further urbanization. so most of the land in D12 is actually untouched-- it's all just forest. i figure D13 was much the same when it was still above ground, and D2 can probably follow the same pattern, too

[whirl_fragrance]

Ahaha my geeky heart is all a-flutter too! I'm so glad other people actually care

[jocelyncs]

Here's two questions that have frequently come to me that I'd love to hear your thoughts on:

1) Just how far in the future does THG take place?

I'm thinking at least several hundred, maybe even a millenia or two. Even assuming the changes in human civilization were caused by just one cataclysm rather than many, the descriptions of multiple wars on top of disasters involves a lot of time, along with the advances (and loss) of technology that are shown.

2) What is the role of religion in Panem?

I find that a fascinating thought. Religion plays a role in many wars, and can be an instrument of control but also of change. My theory is that the Capitol does not use it and frowns on it, since there aren't many religions that could be skewed enough to sanction the Hunger Games, but there are almost certainly pockets of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and other "old-world" philosophies in the districts.

[aimmyarrowshigh]

SC has said that it's "triple-digit years" in the future -- I actually wrote a lot about the time lapse in The Panem Companion to help figure out the geography.

It's also important to remember that THIS IS ONLY THE OFFICIAL MAP FOR THE FILM CANON. They changed some of the *explicitly stated* specialties from the books, so movie!Panem and book!Panem may be totally different (and both equally valid).

[danceprincess20]

I agree with both of your answers. I'm a political junky and there is actually a lot out there that supports/explains both the idea that a very conservative and religious government led to the games and the whole Capitol setup and the idea that a very liberal/free of religious doctrine government led to the games and the Capitol setup. It's kind of easy to argue whichever side of it you what to believe.

[jocelyncs]

Heh! Good point. What's funny about my interpretation of religion in Panem is that while liberal, I'm an atheist! But I'm also a political/philosophy junky and think the environment of the Hunger Games and the brutality suggests a civilization where those in power reject religion as "ignorant superstition." I touched on that in a fanfic I wrote.

[aimmyarrowshigh]

Fun -- I'll be interested to see what you think of The Panem Companion. :)

[whirl_fragrance]

Oh, that sounds really interesting. Is it out yet? Just a question, are you the author of The Panem Companion? Because if you are, that's totally awesome and cool.

[aimmyarrowshigh]

(I am, and it comes out on December 4.) Thanks!

[whirl_fragrance]

Oh wow, that's so exciting! Can't wait to see what's in that book (: We should be friends!