Fictional States of the U.S.

Descriptions taken from Wikipedia: List of Fictional States of the United States. Underneath each description is a short account of my reasoning of placing each state onto the map, based off of information in their respective works of fiction. I left out less serious, mock states such as 'Pennsyltucky' and 'Oklachusettes'. Total number of states in this U.S. is 75.

Feedback and suggestions are certainly welcome.

List:

Alderney, from Grand Theft Auto IV, is the surrogate to New Jersey. Alderney replaced New Guernsey as the parody surrogate state in the Grand Theft Auto series. Alderney is depicted in-game as being directly west of the State of Liberty and a location where a portion of Grand Theft Auto IV takes place.

Alderney and Liberty are depicted as islands most likely in the New York/New Jersey Bight. I placed them as small archipelagos, adding to their in-game depictions, which have omitted and left ambiguous the rest of both states outside of the game map boundary. At this scale, the shape of the in-game map would be indistinguishable, so I was mostly left to create the archipelago myself.

Calisoga (Calisota), in the Duck universe from various Walt Disney comic books, Calisota is roughly equivalent to Northern California. It includes the city of Duckburg, and possibly Mouseton, Spoonerville, and St. Canard. The name is likely derived from California and Minnesota, with possible references to the Northern California town of Calistoga.

I decided to tweak the name a bit to sound less obvious that its copied from Minne-'sota'.

Catawba, a stand-in for North Carolina in Thomas Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel (1929). It contains the mountain town of Altamont (Asheville) and city of Pulpit Hill (Chapel Hill), where a large university is located.

Approximately where the Catawba people had have their homeland, around North Carolina.

Coventry, from Bill Willingham's horror comic book of the same name.

Unsure which region Coventry is based on, but many American mythological stories take place in hilly, woody, more sparely populated, country. In the Appalachian mountains would fit this.

Delmarva (fictional state), is the state in which Beach city is located in Cartoon Network series Steven Universe. It is based heavily on a peninsula with same name, the meeting point of Delaware, far eastern areas of Maryland, and a small portion of Virginia.

Placed on the real peninsula of Delmarva, while not occupying the entire peninsula, Which also locates the states of New Troy an Delaware.

Erie, unnamed*, in Joe Klein's novel The Running Mate (2000) is a Midwestern state and the home state of Senator Charlie Martin (D). Des Pointe is the state capital, largest city and hometown of Senator Martin, but many other locations in the state are mentioned. Industrial centers are Port Sallesby and Singer Rapids. Stated to have 53 counties. Charlie Martin is partially based on Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey, but Nebraska and several other Midwestern states are mentioned separately, leaving the identity of Martin's homestate unclear

Since this state has no name, I took the liberty (heh, liberty!) of naming it myself. After finding a suitable location for it on a Great Lake, I decided to name it after a people group of that region, the Erie.

Euphoria, in the academic novels of David Lodge, based on California. It first appears in Changing Places (1975), much of which is set in Euphoric State University in the city of Plotinus, itself based on Berkeley, California. Euphoria is located between "North California" and "South California".

I placed it somewhere mid-Californian, East Coast, such that the northern and southern regions of California would be north and south of Euphoria respectively.

Fremont, a fictional state in James A. Michener's novel Space (1982) located roughly along the border between Kansas and Nebraska, that is meant to stand for the American midwest in general. The origin of its name is not stated, but it is assumed to be named for 19th century explorer and politician John Charles Fremont.

Between Nebraska and Kansas. Shares a lot in common with these states.

Keystone, from Keystone Motel (2015); a Steven Universe episode. A fictional version of Pennsylvania.

Based off Pennsylvania, so I placed it adjacent.

Liberty, is the state that Liberty City is located in the Grand Theft Auto series and has been depicted in one form or another the most out of all other fictional states. In Grand Theft Auto IV, Liberty is shown situated directly east of the State of Alderney in and in the 3D universe is stated to be located somewhere close to Carcer City.

*See description of Alderney. Carcer city, on a side note, is likely located in Alderney, as it takes influence from New Jersey cities.

Mennsylvania (Moosylvania), from Jay Ward's Rocky and Bullwinkle television series. This state has been contested by the U.S. and Canada in two episodes of the series, "Moosylvania" and "Moosylvania Saved". The U.S. says it is a province of Canada, while Canada says it is a U.S. state. It is an island in the middle of western Lake Superior.

Since 'Moosylvania' may not pass as a real state name, I tweaked it to name it after a local people group, the Menominee. Also, assume that in this timeline that the island eventually did become a U.S. State.

Mickewa, a state represented by Senator Elias Gotobed, in Anthony Trollope' novel The American Senator (1877).

Approximately where the Chippewa/Ojibwe people have their homeland, on the 'Yooper' peninsula. Mickewa is most likely a portmaneau of Michigan and Chippewa.

New Temperance, in Gangsters 2 (2001). The state map had an eastern coastline and included several large islands, and was made up of a combination of urban and upstate areas. The architecture and in particular civic institutions like the police seemed largely based on Illinois—the most important fact about it, however, was simply that it was a dry state during Prohibition.

A Northeast state with Mafia presence, inspird by New York or Boston.

New Troy, In Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, is the state where in Metropolis is located. New Troy is probably analogous to New York State. The name was never used as a state in the comics, which has placed Metropolis in various locations along the eastern coast of the United States over the decades. The place name has also been used by writer Mark Gruenwald as a direct analog of New York State for the original version of the Squadron Supreme in assorted Marvel Universe comics series.

It most likely, according to all Superman canon, that the location of Metropolis is on the coastline of Delaware Bay at the point where it confluences with the Atlantic Ocean. New Troy would be in the surrounding region, on the Delmarva peninsula. Just opposite on New Jersey's southern coast is where in fact Gotham City is located.

North Takoma, unofficial*, in The Simpsons. Contains Springfield, Shelbyville, and Capitol City. Producer/director David Silverman once unofficially named Springfield's setting as being in the fictional state of North Takoma. In one episode, Homer's driver's license states that the postal abbreviation of their home state is "NT". In Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington, there is a montage with essayists from different states presenting their work, while the camera pans over a U.S. map. When the map moves to Springfield for Lisa's contribution, we can see the abbreviation "NT" over the state that Springfield is in. South Takoma, implied.

For years, people have been guessing and hypothesising the location of Springfield. Where is the Simpsons' hometown located? According, to some of the best research and all clues that have been given over the years, the region in which Springfield is located in is based off Oregon. This makes sense as the creator of the series, Matt Groening, was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. South of Oregon is the most suitable place to place the State. On a side note, the location of South Takoma is based on the once proposed state of Nataqua, out of north-west Nevada and parts of California.

North Yankton, in the video game Grand Theft Auto V (2013), is the birthplace of Michael De Santa (born Michael Townley) and where the prologue took place. South Yankton, implied.

Most likely based of North Dakota, with the region appearing quite rural and experiencing low temperatures and heavy snowfalls. On, a side note, The location where I placed South Yankton is where the proposed state of Absaroka in the 1930's was located.

Ochichernia (Ochichornia), in Vasily Aksyonov's semi-biographic novels and stories, relates to the popular Russian song "The Dark Eyes" ("Очи черные", "Ochi Chernie" in Russian). It has been suggested that Ochichornia is just another name for California.

I quite like the name Ochichernia, as it is unique because its the only state name so far that derives from Russian, as opposed to Spanish or Native American terms. It makes sense that this state would be in the north-west, as that region once experienced Russian exploration during the greatest extent of the Empire. I tweaked the name to make it roll off the tongue better.

Oconee, a fictional southern state tucked between Georgia and Tennessee, which appeared in Michael Bishop's satirical superhero/fantasy novel Count Geiger's Blues. The story is set in Oconee's largest city, Salonika, a Metropolis-like stand-in for Atlanta.

There is a Georgian county of the same name in the region which takes its name from the Cherokee word “Ae-quo-nee” meaning “land beside the water”.

Quapaw, unnamed*, in Joe Klein's 1996 novel and 1998 film Primary Colors, also referred to in the sequel The Running Mate (2000), is a small southern state and home to Governor Jack Stanton (D), whose hometown is Grace Junction. Its capital is Mammoth Falls. Unnamed State is allegorical to Arkansas, and Jack Stanton represents Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton.

Small state around Arkansas. Since this state has no name, I named it after a people group of that region, the Quapaw.

San Andreas, is the state where Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas game (2004) is set, housing the cities of Los Santos (based off Los Angeles), San Fierro (San Francisco), and Las Venturas (Las Vegas). San Andreas also constitutes the setting of Grand Theft Auto V (2013) but only containing two counties, one with the city of Los Santos and several other smaller towns.

Based off southern California, San Andreas is a state made up of an archipelago in the Pacific ocean. The State is depicted twice. In Grand Theft Auto V, only the area in the vicinity is depicted, but it is implied that further areas of the state exist, but are omitted for the purposes of the game. G.T.A. San Andreas depicts some of these other areas. I had to be quite liberal when it came to drawing the archipelago, as despite the existing maps, no unambiguous official definitions exist.

Skiana (Apodidraskiana), a slave state referenced in Thomas Love Peacock's novel Crotchet Castle (1831). Located there is Dotandcarryonetown, a haven for people who wish to disappear for one reason or another. The state's name appears to be derived from apodidraskinda (ἀποδιδρασκίνδα), a game similar to hide-and-seek described by the 2nd-century Greek writer Julius Pollux.

Since Apodidraskiana seems a bit unwieldy, I decided to shorten the name to just Skiana. Other than that, it's a southern state because it allowed slavery.

Udana, made up of Utah and Montana, a location on the itinerary of Humbert-Humbert, in Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita (1955).

Between Utah and Montana, since it is based of those two states.

Winnemac, in the novels of Sinclair Lewis. Several of his novels are set in the Winnemac town of Zenith, and the University of Winnemac is located in Mohalis. Winnemac is bordered by Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana.

Easy to place, as the exact description of the state in relation to it's neighbors is explained.