Phantom settlement

{{Short description|Settlement on a map that does not exist}}

{{redirect|Paper towns|other uses|Paper Towns (disambiguation)}}

{{distinguish|ghost town|abandoned village}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}

Phantom settlements, or paper towns, are settlements that appear on maps but do not actually exist. They are either accidents or copyright traps. Notable examples include Argleton in Lancashire, UK and Beatosu and Goblu, US.{{Cite web |last=Punt |first=Steve |date=18 September 2010 |title=BBC Radio 4 – Punt PI, Series 3, Episode 1 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00trzfl |access-date=2022-11-26 |publisher=BBC |language=en-GB |archive-date=26 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126182655/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00trzfl |url-status=live }}

Phantom settlements often result from copyright traps, also known as mountweazels, which is when a false entry is placed in literature to catch illegal copiers.{{Cite web |title=mountweazel |url=https://emmawilkin.com/words-of-the-week-2/2020/2/26/mountweazel |access-date=2022-03-31 |website=Emma Wilkin |date=26 February 2020 |language=en-GB |archive-date=15 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210615151451/https://emmawilkin.com/words-of-the-week-2/2020/2/26/mountweazel |url-status=live }} Agloe, New York, was invented on a 1930s map as a copyright trap. In 1950, a general store was built there and named Agloe General Store, as that was the name seen on the map. Thus, the phantom settlement became a real one.{{cite web|last=Krulwich|first=Robert|title=An Imaginary Town Becomes Real, Then Not. True Story|url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2014/03/18/290236647/an-imaginary-town-becomes-real-then-not-true-story|publisher=NPR|accessdate=20 March 2014|date=18 March 2014|archive-date=8 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150508201345/http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2014/03/18/290236647/an-imaginary-town-becomes-real-then-not-true-story|url-status=live}}

There are also misnamed settlements, such as the villages of Mawdesky and Dummy 1325 in Lancashire on Google Maps.{{Cite web |date=20 November 2009 |title=See the new villages of Mawdesky and Dummy 1325 on Google Maps |url=http://www.southportvisiter.co.uk/news/southport-news/see-new-villages-mawdesky-dummy-6618605 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804101540/http://www.southportvisiter.co.uk/news/southport-news/see-new-villages-mawdesky-dummy-6618605 |archive-date=4 August 2017 |access-date=2022-11-26 |website=Southport Visiter}}

There is a satirical conspiracy theory that the German city of Bielefeld is a phantom settlement, despite its population of over 300,000.{{Cite news|url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/05/german-city-bielefeld-offers-1m-for-proof-it-doesnt-exist|title = German city offers €1m for proof it doesn't exist|newspaper = The Guardian|date = 5 September 2019|last1 = Connolly|first1 = Kate|access-date = 23 April 2020|archive-date = 11 November 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201111195321/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/05/german-city-bielefeld-offers-1m-for-proof-it-doesnt-exist|url-status = live}} Another example is Leiria, Portugal, (pop. 128,640),{{Cite web |last=Nenhum |date=2024-01-23 |title=Leiria não existe |url=https://www.regiaodeleiria.pt/opinioes/leiria-nao-existe/ |access-date=2024-10-06 |website=Região de Leiria |language=pt-PT}} which even gave rise to a song "Leiria não existe".{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdSjfl5sv2c |title=INÊS APENAS – LEIRIA NÃO EXISTE |date=2023-11-21 |last=INÊS APENAS |access-date=2024-10-06 |via=YouTube}}