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How it all started -

One day, a map showing Listenbourg, a fictional country added onto the Iberian Peninsula, appeared on social media. The alleged country sits above Spain and Portugal and is colored green, implying it’s an EU member state.

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It was a jab at Americans - Americans don’t have the best reputation when it comes to their knowledge of geography, so Twitter user Gaspardo jokingly wrote, originally in French, “I’m sure Americans don’t even know the name of this country,” alongside the photoshopped map with a red arrow pointing at the slab of land, on October 30.

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Running with it -

According to Euronews, a user immediately replied, “Who does not know Listenbourg?” and the joke soon took flight.

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Instantly viral -

The post gathered thousands of likes and retweets on Twitter, and at the time of writing sits at 117,500 likes and 10,600 retweets.

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Taking it further -

Instead of just joking about how everyone knows Listenbourg, some people decided to take the joke to the next level by claiming the place was actually real. Enter: a fake high-definition satellite map.

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Reddit joined in -

A channel soon appeared on Reddit claiming that Listenbourg has its own Formula 1 Grand Prix. It also claimed that Listenbourg's astronauts were a part of a mission to the Moon.

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It needed a political reputation -

Meanwhile, other people were organizing around what they called Listenbourg’s “extreme-centre party,” whose leader apparently pledged to “improve Listenbourg’s image abroad,” which would explain why people hadn't heard of it.

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Ministry of the Interior got involved -

A Twitter account for Listenbourg’s Ministry of the Interior popped up and offered to answer any questions regarding its identity, documents, and visas.

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A passport was designed - “For all administrative procedures related to identity papers & visas contact us!” the Ministry of the Interior account tweeted in English, French, and German alongside a photo of the Listenbourg Union’s passport, which is purple and features a gold eagle and the letter N surrounded by a wreath.

© Twitter @IntrListenbourg

The topography was laid out - In another tweet, the Ministry of the Interior wrote, “Here is the official map showing the topography of our beautiful country of Listenbourg!”

© Twitter @IntrListenbourg

As well as their most important cities - The Ministry of the Interior also shared, “the official map of the most important cities in our beautiful country of Listenbourg.”

© Twitter @IntrListenbourg

There’s a country website -

The homepage says the president of Listenbourg is a man named Gaspard Hoelscher who “grew up and followed a science-oriented educational path in the public schools of our beautiful country. After a preparatory course and three years in engineering school, Gaspard Hoelscher chose to serve his country by joining the Listenbourg Air Force,” and “After twenty years of faithful service” he became the president in 2022.

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And a whole list of government officials -

From Prime Minister Yannik Detmold, to ministers of economy, justice, transport, foreign affairs, and more, there are names and images you can scroll through on the site.

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A dash of historic controversy, for good measure -

People went so far as to give the country a history dating back to at least the 17th century, as another post on Twitter claimed that Listenbourg’s King Listen XV was, in fact, the first Sun King, going to war against Louis XIV for the prestigious title in 1661.

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A national anthem appeared - A national anthem popped up on YouTube on a purportedly official Listenbourg government account, which features a man singing with a brass band. The comments are filled with people saying how much they love and respect Listenbourg.

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The flag -

The anthem was shared atop an image of a red-and-white flag with a golden eagle above a wreath and the letter N, just like the passport depicted. Say what you will about internet trolls, but they respect coherency!

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Wikipedia naturally got involved -

A French Wikipedia entry for the Republic of Listenbourg appeared and elaborated on the country’s supposed history. Wikipedia has since taken the entry down, however.

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Big names got in on the joke -

Ryanair tweeted on November 3, “Proud to be announcing our new base in Listenbourg!” The professional account of the Toulouse Football Club tweeted that it would visit Listenbourg before the championship of Ligue 1. Prime Video France announced a new film about Listenbourg to be released February 31.

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The Formula 1 joke -

Julien Febreau, a well-known French sports commentator for Canal+, added to the Formula 1 race joke and tweeted, “We have just learned that the #Listenbourg will join the GP calendar from 2023! The event will take place at the start of the season on February 29, 30 and 31! Lewis Hamilton said he was excited to drive there, as they have the best crowd in the world!”

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Why it’s especially popular in France -

France, among many other European and non-European countries, has suffered various geographical mishaps at the hands of US-based outlets. In 2005, for example, CNN infamously placed Toulouse and Strasbourg in Switzerland and Germany.

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Revenge for geographical mess-ups -

CNN reportedly also once placed the Ukrainian region of the Donbas in Pakistan, an entirely different continent, after the war first broke out in the Eastern European country in 2014. Before that, Slovenia was forced to consider redesigning its flag in 2004 after being mistaken for Slovakia so often.

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Revenge for geographical mess-ups -

In another example, after the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing suspects were identified as being of Chechen background, the Czech ambassador to the US was forced to publicly clarify the difference between the Czech Republic and Chechnya.

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Listenbourg was born and flourished over a few days -

All it took was three days for the hilarious misinformation of Listenbourg to spread like wildfire.

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Lessons we can learn -

First of all, geography class is more important than we thought.

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Fake news spreads fast -

We’ve all heard about the dangers of fake news, but this is yet another example of how the internet can make something unreal seem very real.

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The evolution of a meme -

On a lighter note, we can also use this as a case study of how a joke develops online, and how people can add to it and build it up in ever more hilarious and twisted ways.

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Other famous fake countries -

Molvania, an imaginary post-Soviet state described as the “birthplace of the whooping cough,” was made up by a group of Aussie comedians known as The D-Generation to highlight the ignorance around less-commonly known parts of the world.

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Yugoslovakia -

This non-existent country came out of a misnomer for both Yugoslavia and Slovakia, and it’s most often used to poke fun at those with little or flawed knowledge of Central and Eastern Europe.

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There are some real made-up countries, too -

The Free Republic of Liberland, for example, is a micronation created by Czech politician and activist Vít Jedlička after the breakup of Yugoslavia. It’s reportedly on a slice of land on the Danube between Croatia and Serbia, and has its own flag, anthem, and constitution. Jedlička has reportedly been issuing citizenships and passports since 2015.

Sources: (Euronews) (Listenbourg Government)

See also: Micronations around the world that you had no idea existed

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