Land of Oz

Geography

Oz is roughly rectangular in shape, and divided along the diagonals into five countries: Munchkin Country in the East, Winkie Country in the West, Gillikin Country in the North, and Quadling Country in the South. In the center of Oz, where the diagonals cross, is the fabled Emerald City, capital of the land of Oz and seat to the monarch of Oz, Princess Ozma. Unfortunately, numerous pockets throughout the land of Oz are cut off from the mainland, for geographic or cultural reasons, and have never heard of Ozma, making it impossible for them to acknowledge her as their rightful queen. It is necessary therefore to send occasional delegations to these remote places in order to enlighten their inhabitants.

Related Topics:
Munchkin Country - Winkie Country - Gillikin Country - Quadling Country - Emerald City - Princess Ozma

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Oz is completely surrounded on all four sides by a Deadly Desert, which insulates the citizens of Oz from discovery and invasion. The desert has nonetheless been breached numerous times, both by children from our world (mostly harmless), and by more sinister characters, such as the Wizard of Oz and the Nome King, who occasionally gets the urge to conquer Oz. It was therefore necessary for Glinda to create a Barrier of invisibility around the Land of Oz, for further protection; however this barrier has merely slowed, not stopped, the flow of visitors to Oz.

Related Topics:
Deadly Desert - The Wizard of Oz - Nome King - Glinda - Barrier of invisibility

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Perceptive cartographers will notice that on some maps of Oz, the west is drawn on the right-hand side of the map, and the east is drawn on the left-hand side, though north is still at the top and south at the bottom of the map. The compass rose on these maps is adjusted accordingly. There are some that hold that this is the result of an error on behalf of on early Oz cartographer, who copied the map from a glass slide, without noticing he was holding the slide backwards. However, the true reason for this feature of Oz maps is that it simply reflects the nature of Oz at the time (perhaps as a result of Glinda's spell, which has the effect of confusing most standard compasses).

Related Topics:
Cartographers - Compass rose

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Oz is the largest country on the continent of Nonestica, which also includes the countries of Ev, Ix, Mo and Phunniland. Nonestica is an island in the Nonestic Ocean. Researchers attempting to locate the land of Oz have deduced that Nonestica must be somewhere in the Pacific, however, due to the aformentioned barrier of invisibility, this is impossible to confirm using modern technology (or using antiquated technology, for that matter).

Related Topics:
Nonestica - Ev - Ix - Mo - Phunniland - Nonestic Ocean - Pacific

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