District 11

"Known for its bountiful orchards, District 11's workers spend their days among rustling fruit trees and sizeable farms."

- Description from The Hunger Games: Tribute Guide

"This bread came from District 11. I cautiously lift the still warm loaf. What must it have cost the people of District 11 who can't even feed themselves?"

- Katniss

District 11 is one of the poorer districts, right after District 12 in the nation of Panem. Their job is agriculture; orchards, fields of grain, and cotton surround the district. Almost everything they grow goes to the Capitol.

Government and Security
District 11's government is known for being harsh and cruel. For example, in Catching Fire, when Peeta and Katniss visited District 11 in their Victory Tour, they witnessed an old man being shot by Peacekeepers for whistling Rue's four note tune. Two more gunshots were heard afterwards.

The fence sorrounding the district is thirty feet high and topped with razor wire, with metal ground plates to prevent anyone digging beneath and guard towers evenly spaced along it.

Rue mentioned that a boy was once shot for trying to keep a pair of night vision goggles, even though he still "acted like a three-year old." If any worker stole crops, they were publicly whipped, a common occurence. In general, the Capitol tried to keep a tighter grip on District 11 because of it was the main food supplier, and was vital to the Capitol's existence.

Location
According to Suzanne Collins, District 11 is near Atlanta, Georgia. It appears to be south of District 12, because its weather was comfortably warm while snow was falling in 12. This warm weather would lengthen District 11's growing season and provide an ideal climate for growing cotton.

Relation to The Games
District 11 tributes are usually underfed and unprepared for the games, and generally place low. However, some have occupational skills that are useful in the arena, such as Rue, who could leap between trees. Others, like Thresh, have strength because of physical labor.

During the 74th games (in the film), after Rue's death was shown, both saddened and angered, a riot went on at District 11. This could of actually happened as Suzanne helped write the script and would explain why President Snow wanted Katniss dead in the games.



Tributes
The only known tributes are Rue, Thresh, Chaff, and Seeder. Usually, tributes from District 11 die early, making Rue and Thresh real exceptions when they both reached the final eight. Chaff and Seeder, as victors in their respective Games, were selected in the reaping to participate in the 75th Hunger Games, the third Quarter Quell.

Every known tribute of District 11 died at the hands of a Career, with the possible exception of Seeder. However, it is likely that she did as well.

Way of Life
District 11 specializes in agriculture, growing wheat and managing orchards. The signature bread from this district is a dark, crescent-shaped roll dotted with seeds. T here are many tracker jacker nests in District 11, causing workers to keep medical leaves on hand. In the orchards small children are sent to high branches to pick the highest fruits. They have long hours: from sunrise to sunset, the people work the fields to send food off to the Capitol. During the harvest they often work until well after dark, using torchlight and night vision goggles. District 11 is many times larger than District 12. The citizens of District 11 are housed in small shacks.The people of this district are described as having "dark hair and dark skin". Due to this, they may be of African American, Latin American, Native American, or South Asian decent. However, due to the location of District 11 being confirmed by Suzanne Collins as "the Deep South" it is likely that they are mostly African American.

The Weeping Call
There is a song that is old, most likely from District 11. It is called "The Weeping Call". It is about a man who works in the orchards, who loves a woman working there as well. He watches out for her every day, but one day she doesn't come. He is horrified to find that she hung herself from a tree in the orchard, and from then on, the man is sullen that his true love is dead.

It is often construed as a social comment on lynching, given the anthropological and allegorical constructs of District 11. It also serves a similar purpose during the Second Rebellion as songs such as "Follow the Drinking Gourd" served in the antebellum plantation society in the same geographical area.