Settings in The Adventures of Tintin

Fictional settings in The Adventures of Tintin:

* Syldavia in the Balkans is by Hergé's own admission modelled on Albania [Letter from Hergé to Charles Lesne, 12 June 1939, cit. Assouline, Pierre (1996) "Hergé", Folio (p218)] , and is threatened by neighbouring Borduria — an attempted annexation appears in "King Ottokar's Sceptre" — this situation parallels respectively Czechoslovakia or Austria and expansionist Nazi Germany prior to World War II. It is later home to Sprodj Atomic Centre, which launches the first rocket to the moon.
* Borduria is the historical rival of Syldavia, and attempts a fascist annexation similar to the 1938 "Anschluss" of Austria in "King Ottokar's Sceptre". By the time of "The Calculus Affair", it has become a member of the East Bloc, used as a metaphor of a Communist state. Borduria is ruled by military dictator Marshal Kurvi-Tasch, who in addition to oppressing his own people, attempts to influence Third World conflicts by sending "military advisors" to countries such as San Theodoros.
* Khemed, in Arabia. Khemed is subject to a revolution in The Red Sea Sharks and in the Land of the Black Gold.
* The events of "Flight 714" take place on the island of Pulau-Pulau Bompa (Pulau-Pulau is Indonesian words for Islands).
* Sondonesia, a country in South East Asia. Said to be undergoing a civil war or a war for independence, with rebels for hire. Rastapopoulos's hired gun, Allan, recruits Sondonesians as gun-toting muscle in "Flight 714". They appear to be thinly disguised Khmer Rouge or the East Timor fighters for independence, and Hergé's insistence that Sondonesia is in a state of civil war shows amazing clarity of vision as to the true state of the conflict in Cambodia at that period. The name Sondonesia is a portmanteau of Sunda and Indonesia. However, the location of the Kemajoran airport of Jakarta and the latest radio message from 'Makassar' before the plane was hijacked to one of the Sondonesian islands suggests that the location itself is not far from the Malay/Indonesian archipelago. Herge gave further evidence by some 'Sondonesian' conversations (the angry sailor on the boat, and the two bunker guards) which were spoken in Indonesian Malay. One point very clear is that in the book appear a Proboscis monkey (similar nose to Rastapopoulos as Allan figure out) this species is exclusive of Borneo island.
* San Theodoros in South America, a prototypical banana republic where US-based companies and Borduria (meant as an allusion to the USSR or Cuba) vie for power, with "advisors" of local generals. The capital is Los Dopicos, which is later renamed Tapiocapolis.
* São Rico in South America. Sao Rico was added as a reference in a later versions of The Shooting Star. The original version had the villainous masterminds as stereotypical Jewish American puppet-masters — the later version darkens their skin tone and inserts Sao Rico as a reference.
* Nuevo Rico, bordering San Theodoros. The two countries go to war over oil in "The Broken Ear", which is parallel to the 1930s Chaco War between Paraguay and Bolivia. The capital of Nuevo Rico is Sanfacion (a play on Asuncion, indicating that it is modeled upon Paraguay).
* El Chapo, after the South American Chaco region. "The Broken Ear" is set in a war inspired by the Chaco War.
* Pilchardania and Poldavia are both mentioned in "The Blue Lotus". Pilchardania is mentioned on a newsreel that Tintin views while hiding in a cinema from the police. The Poldavian consul gets mistaken for Tintin in a beard and wig in the Blue Lotus opium den.
* Gaipajama, an Indian principality based on those that existed during the British Raj, is mentioned in "Cigars of the Pharaoh". Listed on the Flags of the world website (http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/fic_tint.html). Gaipajama is a pun on the English "gay pyjama".

Notes and references