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 in the English-speaking world include Argleton, Lancashire in England, and Beatosu and Goblu, Ohio in the United States.{{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}}