Panem

The Hunger Games universe is a fictional world appearing in The Hunger Games trilogy written by Suzanne Collins. It consists primarily of the fictional nation of Panem, its Capitol where the totalitarian government resides, and the outlying districts, numbered 1 to 12, each with a different economy. In addition, there is the secretive District 13, where a rebel force is building strength. The Hunger Games themselves are an annual event in which citizens from the districts, selected through a process called "reaping", are forced to participate in a battle to the death. The universe also contains fictional flora and fauna, such as the Mockingjay, a bird whose mimicry is used as a plot device, and after whom the third book in the series is named.

The series takes place in the fictional nation of Panem, which has replaced the 21st Century North American nations at an unspecified future time after a series of ecological disasters and a great war. The name Panem comes from the Latin word for bread. Panem consists of a Capitol city located in the Rocky Mountains, surrounded by thirteen outlying Districts. The government is a totalitarian dictatorship similar to ancient Rome, a police state in which the Districts are subservient to the Capitol, expected to provide economic goods in exchange for protection provided by "Peacekeepers".

Seventy-four years before the start of the story, a civil war was waged against the Capitol, led by District 13 which was a center of military production. The Capitol put down the rebellion and razed District 13 to the ground, ostensibly wiping out its residents. The government refers to this war as "the Dark Days", and to punish the rebellious districts and remind all generations of the Capitol's power, instituted an annual pageant known as the "Hunger Games" for which each district is compelled to provide one male and one female "tribute" between the ages of 12 and 18, chosen by lottery. The twenty-four tributes are sent to an arena and forced to fight to the death, until a single victor remains.

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