Panem
Map of Panem as it appears in Catching Fire.
Location	North America
Inhabitants	People of Panem
Appearances	The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay
Mentioned	N/A

Panem is a nation that was established during an unknown time period in a post-apocalyptic world. It is situated primarily in North America, and the Capitol is located in an area formerly known as theRocky Mountains, as it states in the first book of The Hunger Gamestrilogy.

Panem was run by an authoritarian-totalitarian dictatorship that was led by President Snow before the second rebellion. It is portrayed in the trilogy to be the dominant society in North America, and no other nations or civilized societies beyond Panem have been mentioned, so it is unknown if any exist at all. Panem was later led by Commander Paylor after the war.

The name Panem derives from the Latin phrase panem et circenses, which literally translates into ‘bread and circuses’. The phrase itself is used to describe entertainment used to distract public attention from more important matters. Furthermore, by the government providing ample food and entertainment, the citizens would give up their political rights.

In Panem, the law is harshly enforced: After the Dark Days, a sadistic annual event known as the Hunger Games was established as a warning reminder of the past.

According to the Capitol. Panem has a population of 4,556,778 people. Adding up the Capitol and 12 districts gives it a population of only 1,905,286 people.

Location and Geography

Panem is located in the remains of North America. Not much is known about the exact locations of the districts, other than the fact that District 12 is located in the Appalachia.

The size of the country is known not to be as large as North America today, given that, according to Katniss, large areas of land (across the world) were flooded by rising sea level.

History

Much of Panem’s history is shrouded in mystery, though known history dates back approximately seventy-five years prior to the beginning of The Hunger Games trilogy.

Founding

An unspecified time before the current date, the face of the Earth changed and modern civilization was seemingly destroyed. It is unknown precisely what caused the “end of the world,” but major landmasses changed shape as the sea level rose to unknown heights around the planet, hinting that North America became smaller and presumably the only landmass on Earth.

Some time after the end of the world as we knew it, a nation was established in North America that would soon come to be known as Panem. It is unknown precisely when Panem was established and how long it has existed, though it is certain that Panem has been around for more than seventy-five years, and it’s entirely possible for it to be at least a century or two old.

Panem eventually grew large enough that it was segmented into thirteen separate districts, each responsible for producing goods of a particular industry to serve the growing needs of the nation, and all operating under the auspices of Panem’s oppressive Capitol. Its exact method of expansion is unknown; it is possible that some of the separate districts may have even once been smaller, separate nations that were eventually annexed by Panem.