Listenbourg is a fictional country created as the subject of an internet meme in October 2022, which depicts it as an extension of the Iberian Peninsula.[1][2][3] French Twitter user Gaspard Hoelscher shared a doctored map of Europe with a red arrow pointing to the outline of a pasted country adjacent to Portugal and Spain, and joked that Americans would not be able to name the country.[8][6][9]
The nonexistent nation went viral on social networks, with users expanding on the fictional history of the country and some major brands, national politicians, and official organisations playing along with the joke.[10]
Origin
Europe with (left) and without Listenbourg
The trend started as an internet meme posted by a French Twitter user intending to test the stereotype of Americans having a poor grasp of European geography.[4][11]
On October 30, 2022, Gaspard Hoelscher, known as @gaspardooo on Twitter,[4][5] shared a photoshopped map of Europe with an additional landmass attached to the Iberian Peninsula.[9] The post was captioned: "Je suis sûr que les américains ne connaissent même pas le nom de ce pays ptdrrr" (transl. "I'm sure Americans don't even know the name of this country lol"). Another user responded with the rhetorical question "Qui ne connaît pas le listenbourg?" (transl. "Who does not know Listenbourg?"), giving the hoax its name.[3][12][13]
The country's name has been described as sounding like a blend of "Luxembourg" with "Lithuania" and/or "Liechtenstein".[3][14] Listenbourg's outline is that of mainland France, resized and rotated.
Viral spread
The joke became a viral phenomenon with other Twitter users offering invented facts about the country, doctored photographs and satellite maps[5] purporting to show aspects of it.[6] Dozens of Twitter accounts claiming to represent Listenbourg government institutions arose in a few days, and people invented a capital, flag, history, national anthem, culture and language for the fictional country.[15][12][2]
Five regions: Flußerde, Kusterde, Mitteland, Adrias and Caséière, in Listenbourg. The capital is named Lurenberg.[12]
Several large, verified social media handles joined in on the joke.[5] Participants in the joke attempted to flesh out Listenbourg's existence with detailed social media threads. Collaborative actions established that the country was split up into five regions called Flußerde, Kusterde, Mitteland, Adrias and Caséière.[12][16] The population was said to be 59 million.[2][7] The meme's originator, Gaspardo, was proclaimed president of Listenbourg,[2][1][10] although he admitted his prank totally overwhelmed him.[17]
Plausible buildings generated by DALL-E deep learning AI model from the prompt "Listenbourg"[3]
It was noted that the DALL-E artificial intelligence program generated European-style buildings when given the word "Listenbourg" as a prompt.[3]
In November, the nonexistent country was trending on Twitter, and the TikTokhashtag #Listenbourg had more than 75 million views.[1][3][10][11]
Responses
Major organizations and news channels played along with the hoax, although most of them made clear they were not being serious.
On October 31, 2022, the official Paris 2024 Olympics channel tweeted: "The number of Olympic delegations has risen from 206 to 207 with the arrival of Listenbourg".[15][2][20]
On November 1, 2022, the GPS navigation software company Waze posted in French a tweet of "Le Listenbourg, nous au moins on sait comment y aller!" (transl. "Listenbourg, at least we know how to get there!").[3][20]
French politician Jean Lassalle pretended to have visited an agricultural festival in Listenbourg.[12][7]
The French city of Nice announced a twinning with Listenbourg's capital, while its official airport inaugurated a new air link to the extra chunk of land.[10][24]
