Borduria

Borduria
Flag
General location of Borduria and Syldavia
The Adventures of Tintin location
Other name(s)	Republic of Borduria
Created by	Hergé
Type	Semi-totalitarian Fascist dictatorship
Ruler	Marshal Kûrvi-Tasch
Ethnic group(s)	Bordurian (Mixed Ottoman Turkish and Southern Slavic roots)
Notable locations	Szohôd (capital)
Language(s)	Bordurian
Currency	Bordurian Dinar

Borduria is a fictional country in The Adventures of Tintin, the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. It is located in the Balkans and has a rivalry with the fictional neighbouring country of Syldavia. Borduria is depicted in King Ottokar's Sceptre and The Calculus Affair, and is referred to in Tintin and the Picaros.

In King Ottokar's Sceptre, Tintin reads a Syldavian tourist pamphlet that reveals the early history of Syldavia and its relationship with Borduria. In 1195, Syldavia was annexed by neighbouring Borduria due to the weakness of King Muskar II, and was under its rule until 1275, when Baron Almaszout drove the Bordurians away and established himself as King Ottokar I. In the later Tintin stories, this ancient rivalry continues with the Bordurians continually trying to invade or undermine Syldavia.

King Ottokar's Sceptre (written in 1939 by Hergé) depicts an unsuccessful Bordurian attempt at staging a coup d'état against Syldavia, trying to remove the king, and invading the country with the support from Bordurian sympathizers within Syldavia. The sceptre is stolen, which would force the King to abdicate, however Tintin returns it in time. The Bordurians then announce to prove their peaceful intentions by withdrawing their troops 15 miles from the borders.

In The Calculus Affair (1956), Borduria is depicted as a stereotypical half-Eastern Bloc and half-fascist country complete with its own secret police (ZEP) (led by Colonel Sponsz) and a fascist military dictator, Marshal Kûrvi-Tasch, who promotes a Taschist ideology. A statue of Kûrvi-Tasch appears in front of a government building, in which he wears a moustache similar to Joseph Stalin's and gives a Nazi-like salute. The Bordurian military of this period is depicted as technologically inept—unable to stop a stolen tank commandeered by Tintin and his companions as a result of defective mines and anti-tank guns. The Bordurians kidnap Professor Calculus after he develops an ultrasonic weapon, however he is rescued.