Panem

The Nation of Panem is the predominant nation in which The Hunger Games trilogy takes place. It was established during an unknown time period following the destruction of modern civilization. Panem is situated primarily on the western side of North America, and its Capitol is located in an area formerly known as the Rockies. Its exact size and borders are unknown.

Panem is run by a single-party dictatorship that appears to be led by President Snow. Next to nothing is known about Panem's international relations. It appears 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.

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 amount of water in the oceans grew. Some time after the end of the world, 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 entirely possible that some of the separate districts may have even once been smaller, separate nations that were eventually annexed by Panem.

The Dark Days
Approximately seventy-four years before the events of The Hunger Games trilogy, the various districts of Panem rebelled against the Capitol, primarily due to the oppresive fashion in which the Capitol government ruled over the districts. It is unknown how long the rebellion lasted or the exact number of casualties on either side, but by the end of the conflict, the Capitol had quelled the rebellion, defeating twelve of the districts and obliterating the thirteenth entirely. Very little is known about the conflict itself.

The Hunger Games
In the wake of the rebellion, the Capitol established the Hunger Games, an annual event in which twenty four children between the ages of twelve and eighteen, one boy and one girl from each district, are chosen from a lottery and entered into a gladitorial competition where they must fight each other to the death until only one remains standing.

The event served two purposes. The first was to demonstrate the overwhelming power the Capitol had over the districts by taking their children by force and forcing them to slay each other in a no-rules competition. It was proof that the Capitol's control over its people was so inexorable and unstoppable that they could even do something so sadistic as to force the children of their conquered foes to slay each other in a battle royale. The second purpose was purely for entertainment. The Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in the same vein as a reality show, its entrants practically considered celebrities and the events themselves dramatized and glorified.

The Second Rebellion
The Second Rebellion begins in the book Catching Fire. Because of the effects in which Katniss acted in the 74th Hunger Games, it has led to rebellion in practically all of the districts during the events of the 75th Hunger Games (the 3rd Quarter Quell). So far, the outcome of the rebellion has not been decided, though District 12 is now destroyed like District 13 had been. The 2nd Rebellion will most likely end in Book Three.

Districts
The nation of Panem is separated into a total of thirteen nation-states known as districts, twelve of which are recognized as operational by the Capitol and each being solely responsible for producing, procuring, or refining goods in a particular industry as dictated by the Capitol. All of the districts are subject to the unrelenting will of the authoritarian Capitol and have no known influence concerning the national politics of Panem beyond their own individual territories.

The districts barely interact with each other, so each district generally has a unique culture unaffected by the other districts and strongly influenced by the goods it produces. Welfare levels vary significantly and are often dependant on the goods it produces; some districts such as 11 and 12 are far more impoverished than wealthier districts like 1 and 3, though apparently no district is nearly as wealthy as the Capitol itself.

The Capitol
The Capitol is the biggest city in Panem and serves as the nation's central seat of government. It is located in an area formerly known as the Rocky Mountains and is surrounded by the thirteen outlying districts. The free residents of the Capitol are generally considered the wealthiest (and most decadent) of all Panem, and the city's prosperity is fueled by the industries and forced labor of the districts beyond. While it is a major territory, it is not considered one of the thirteen districts.

The Districts
Originally, there were thirteen districts in Panem. During the Dark Days, the 13th district was obliterated by the Capitol and is no longer recognized as operational.

District 1
District 1 is one of the thirteen districts of Panem. Its industry is making luxury items for the Capitol. Due to the nature of its industry, it's considered one of the wealthiest districts, second only to the Capitol itself. It is considered a career district. Little else is known about this district.

District 3
District 3 is one of the thirteen districts of Panem. Its primary industry is general electronics of many types, though it is known for also making various mechanical products such as automobiles and firearms. Thus, many of its residents are technically apt. Little else is known about this district. It is considered a career district.

District 4
District 4 is one of the thirteen districts of Panem. Its industry is fishing, thus most residents have experience using nets and tridents, making fishhooks from scratch, swimming, and identifying edible sea life. Little else is known about this district. It is considered a career district.

District 7
District 7 is one of the thirteen districts of Panem. Its industry is lumber. Little else is known about this district.

District 8
District 8 is one of the thirteen districts of Panem. Its principal industry is the production of textiles, and they have at least one factory that is primarily used for making Peacekeeper uniforms. Little else is known about this district.

District 10
District 10 is one of the thirteen districts of Panem. Its industry is livestock. Little else is known about this district.

District 11
District 11 is one of the thirteen districts of Panem. Its industry is agriculture--orchards and fields of grain and cotton surround the district. Almost everything grown is shipped directly to the Capitol. It is one of the poorest districts in Panem, second only to District 12. It is also one of the districts where the Peacekeepers are the strictest. Ironically, this directly results in its residents generally being malnourished and underfed.

District 12
District 12 is one of the thirteen districts of Panem. It is located somewhere in the Appalachian mountains. Its chief industry is coal mining. The district has the distinction of being one of the poorest districts, if not the outright poorest, in all of Panem.

The district has not had a winner of The Games emerge from the ranks of its residents for many years since Haymitch Abernathy, a raging alcoholic and an embarrassment to the district, won the 50th Annual Games. Katniss Everdeen, the protagonist of The Hunger Games trilogy, was born and raised in District 12, as well as her immediate family and many of her friends.

Shortly after the abrupt end of the 75th Annual Hunger Games and during the opening hours of the Second Rebellion, District 12 was razed by the Capitol, allegedly by firebombs. It is unknown how much of the district was destroyed, or how many survivors remain, though due to the decrepit state of its construction and the nature of its industry (coal, which is highly flammable), it is very unlikely that much of the district remains intact. It is entirely possible that survivors still remain underground in the coal mines or along the outskirts of the district.

District 13
District 13 was one of the thirteen districts of Panem. Its chief industry was mining graphite. It was obliterated during the Dark Days as a warning to the other twelve districts of the Capitol's might. The district is now said to be uninhabitable, the ruins supposedly still smoldering from the toxic bombs dropped upon it. Video footage of the destroyed city is often broadcast nationally to instill fear into the populace. Little else is known about the district.

Unbeknownst to the majority of Panem's populace, District 13 was also responsible for the research and development of nuclear- and fission-based technology before the Dark Days.

The district is apparently still operational to this day, though it has seceded from the nation of Panem and operates covertly so as to escape the notice of the Capitol and to avoid attracting attention to its clandestine operations. It is believed that while the surface of District 13 remains scarred and uninhabitable, its residents live deep underground, hidden away from the world and the eyes of the Capitol. It is being used as a base for the Second Rebellion, and only recently has the Capitol become aware of its existence. The exact details of its continued existence are unknown, as are its exact state of being and its current method of operation.

Other Districts
Very little is known about these districts and their respective industries, though they remain operational.

Career districts
Many of the wealthier districts, known as career districts, have a more positive orientation toward the Hunger Games. As residents do not generally face extreme poverty and malnutrition as they do in more impoverished districts, their tributes are generally healthy and strong. In these districts, it is not uncommon for children to volunteer to be tributes, as winning the Games is held in highest regard in these districts. Although it is against the rules of the Games, children in these districts are often specifically raised to participate in the Hunger Games, and thus are trained in the arts of combat and survival. Thus, they are typically known as career tributes, or "careers" for short.