How to Create a Country

Lewis Carol had Wonderland. J.R.R. Tolkien had Middle Earth. L. Frank Baum had Oz. Literature is rife with authors who created their own country - a place where their characters could interact with each other and their stories could be told. Creating your own country makes for a delightful creative exercise, both as a springboard for writing stories set within its borders and as an imaginative way to learn about geography, politics, and social science.

Instructions

1. Start was a basic concept for your country. Is it supposed to be on Earth somewhere or in some fantasy universe far away? Is it contemporary or set in the distant past? Perhaps it's on an alien planet, to be used as the setting for science fiction stories. You needn't come up with all the details right away, just a general idea of your country's concept. It will make a strong guide during subsequent steps.

2. Develop the geography for your country. Before borders and political boundaries existed, there was the land. It shaped settlements and civilizations, determining how people define themselves and the way a nation develops. If you want your country to be plausible, develop the geography based on logical assumptions. Rivers tend to start in the mountains and flow towards the sea. Desert areas receive very little rain, so they probably won't be next to jungles (which require a ton of rain.) If you're developing a fantastical country like Wonderland, you don't need to adhere so closely to those tropes, but you should still consider why and how the natural features are where they are. It will further define later steps.

3. Come up with signs of civilization: roads, cities, man-made landmarks, and political borders. They should follow the same logic set forth in Step 2. Political borders are often defined by natural boundaries, such as mountain ranges or deserts. They rarely arise in the middle of a fertile plain (and if they do, they usually have a reason for doing so, such as a treaty agreeing to split the plain between two nations.) Large cities are usually based around water sources: lakes, rivers, or the sea. Human beings are generally drawn towards resources - fertile grassland or the like as opposed to deserts. If you place a city or a structure in a hostile climate, it needs to have a good reason for being there.

4. Draw up a history of your country, using Steps 2 and 3 as a guide. Go over each element of civilization (cities, roads, etc.,) asking yourself how it got there, and what the people who built it hoped to achieve. Many nations started out as disparate bands or tribes. Did they come into conflict while your country was forming? Did one tribe conquer all of the others? Were they separated by geography and if so, what allowed them to overcome the barrier? History invariably contains dramatic clashes, the rise and fall of leaders and similar developments. Be sure to add some to your country's past, and reflect on how early events affect later ones.

5. Describe the country's current social and political state. Is it a thriving democracy? An enlightened dictatorship? An abject tyranny? Is it prosperous or poor? Why or why not? What kind of relations does it have with other countries nearby, particularly those with which it shares a border? (You may want to include such border countries in previous Steps, if only to explain how they have interacted with yours in the past.) Consider those details in terms of the stories you may wish to tell. For example, a happy country with no political problems probably doesn't need a dashing young revolutionary to overthrow the leadership.

6. Think about the people who populate your country: their traditions, their habits, the kind of labor they engage in, and so on. Ethnic struggles and the presence of minorities may lead to social conflict, while a homogenous people are maybe more insular and xenophobic than people with more of an ethnic mix. In addition to the population as a whole, develop some prominent individuals for your country. A ruler or rulers are vital, whether it be a king, a president, or a warlord, as are lesser political figures jockeying for position around him. You might want to include prominent media personalities, artists, journalists, or engineers as well - anyone with sufficient influence to have an impact on your country's development.

7. Come up with some basic heraldry for your country: a flag, an anthem, and perhaps the traditional clothing worn or the military uniforms. They're not strictly necessary, but they do provide some excellent final touches to make your country live and breathe.

Tips & Warnings

• The process of creating a fictitious country rarely proceeds smoothly from one step to the next. As you develop details in later steps, feel free to revise earlier notions to make them fit.