The Hunger Games” unfolds within the sovereign state of Panem, a dystopian society, leaving much of the broader world unexplored in the narrative. Adapted from Suzanne Collins’ popular young adult book series, the four-film franchise is set in Panem, a fictional entity governed by the Capitol. The Capitol, a powerful central authority, controls numerous outlying districts that encircle its opulent city. These districts provide essential services and goods to the Capitol, receiving protection in return, but are also subjected to the annual brutal Hunger Games tournament.
Given that the focal point of “The Hunger Games” literature is Katniss Everdeen’s experiences, the narrative primarily revolves around District 12 in Panem. Although key characters emerge from other districts, minimal narrative emphasis is placed on exploring them. Katniss’ awareness of the world beyond Panem is limited, with only vague references to the pre-birth tragedies, leaving the truth about other countries in the Hunger Games universe shrouded in mystery.
It is presumed that the other countries alluded to in “The Hunger Games” stories represent the remaining nations on Earth, with Panem situated across North America. While the majority of the nation spans the United States, its boundaries extend north to Canada and south to regions in Mexico. Although the initial focus of the series centers on the 12 districts compelled to participate in the annual Hunger Games event, District 13 also exists, with a map of Panem revealing the geographic locations of each district. For instance, District 12, Katniss Everdeen’s home, is positioned in the northern Appalachian mountain region, formerly part of the Eastern United States.
The continent descended into a dystopian state centuries prior to the events depicted in “The Hunger Games” series. However, the narrative remains elusive about the precise reasons behind the collapse of modern civilization. The franchise vaguely attributes the catastrophe to a series of ecological disasters and global conflicts. From the limited information available, it is inferred that the rest of the planet became uninhabitable, leaving Panem as the sole surviving civilization in the Hunger Games universe.
A recurring theme in the series is the concept of nuclear war. Notably, when District 13 enters into a treaty with the Capitol nearly 75 years before Katniss Everdeen’s involvement in the Hunger Games, District 13 possesses its arsenal of nuclear weapons, prepared to use them against the Capitol or other districts if necessary. Fan theories speculate that, in the history of the Hunger Games, each of Panem’s districts might have originated as survivor settlements from a nuclear winter, subsequently repopulating these territories over time. Panem may have integrated these distinct settlements, forming a larger country united by survivors of tragic events who relied on each other for survival.
While not explicitly stated, there is an implicit suggestion that Earth succumbed to challenges such as climate change, overpopulation, and destructive wars. Eventually, the world’s landmasses underwent alterations, and sea levels rose. The Hunger Games franchise does not explicitly mention other nations beyond the remnants of North America, fostering the belief among fans that Panem stood as the sole remaining civilization. Due to rising sea levels, the landmass dwindled, and during the primary narrative focus, Panem was home to approximately 4.5 million people.
It is plausible that Panem, the singular surviving nation in “The Hunger Games,” emerged as the only habitable continent following the collapse of modern civilization. However, it is crucial to bear in mind that the narrative is presented from Panem’s perspective. Katniss, serving as the narrator, might possess a skewed understanding of her nation’s history, influenced by the Capitol. Moreover, Katniss’s knowledge of other Panem Districts is limited, raising the possibility that other societies, much like North America’s creation of Panem, survived the catastrophic events in various parts of the world. The narrative strongly suggests that, due to restricted travel and communication beyond the continent, Panem citizens remained ignorant of the truth about the outside world.
The movie adaptation of Suzanne Collins’s prequel book, “A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” holds the potential to directly address the question of what transpired in the rest of the world. Focused on young President Snow’s time at the Capitol Academy, this new entry offers the prospect of revealing Hunger Games’ world history more comprehensively than Katniss could in her lifetime. Considering Snow’s formidable leadership, it is conceivable that he possessed a more extensive and accurate knowledge of the rest of the world’s fate in “The Hunger Games” series. Such revelations could provide context and emotional depth to Panem’s existence.
Snow’s prequel story unfolds 65 years before Katniss’s participation in the Hunger Games arena, portraying him as a teenager who becomes a mentor (as part of a school assignment) to one of the 10th Annual Hunger Games tributes, Lucy Gray Baird. Notably, Lucy hails from a family of Covey, traveling musicians originating from outside Panem who traverse different districts.
According to the novel, the Covey sustain their livelihood as entertainers, navigating through the time of the First Rebellion against the Capitol. Although Lucy’s family eventually settled in District 12, their origin was elsewhere, underscoring the likelihood that individuals still reside outside Panem. Given the Covey’s occupation as traveling performers, the existence of people beyond Panem remains plausible, even though the narrative does not explicitly address this aspect. The cinematic adaptation has the potential to broaden the Hunger Games universe beyond Panem, providing additional details that the novel intentionally left vague.
In a 2018 interview with the New York Times, Suzanne Collins revealed that the concept for her Hunger Games novels originated while she was flipping through channels, contemplating ideas for a potential next book. Encountering footage on the news depicting active war zones interspersed with pop culture programming served as a catalyst. While Collins had already decided to explore the concept of a just war from a young perspective, the inspiration took root during her television viewing.
Collins also acknowledged an immediate connection to the Greek myth of Theseus in relation to her story. The myth involves seven boys and seven girls chosen by a lottery to confront the Minotaur in the labyrinth, mirroring the situation of Katniss Everdeen and the other Hunger Games tributes pitted against each other in the arena. She credited Mary Renault’s “The King Must Die” with the idea of the labyrinth being more of an arena than a maze, as the teens sent in had to perform for the royalty of Crete. This performance included acrobatics with bulls, a practice depicted in ancient artwork, suggesting that certain elements of the story were rooted in historical realities rather than purely mythical constructs.
Panem’s organizational framework drew less from mythology and more from real-world historical influences. Suzanne Collins found inspiration in the 13 original United States colonies for the 13 Districts of Panem. The name “Panem” itself is derived from the Latin phrase “panem et circenses,” translating to “bread and circuses.” This phrase encapsulates the notion of diverting a population with entertainment, mirroring the strategy employed by the Capitol in Collins’s novel trilogy, where the Hunger Games serve as a means of distraction.
The history of other countries in the Hunger Games stories remained a deliberate mystery, seemingly withheld from readers and the audience. However, the potential for a hidden backstory lingers. Suzanne Collins herself has acknowledged the possibility of exploring these untold details in a future story within the Hunger Games universe, sparking anticipation. Having demonstrated a willingness to revisit the mythology with her prequel novel, “Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” which is now being adapted into a movie, the renewed interest in the franchise may serve as additional motivation for Collins to delve into these unresolved mysteries. While another prequel is a likely avenue, there exists the possibility of a direct continuation of “The Hunger Games” movies unveiling the truth about the other countries and their potential existence.