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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.[1]
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.[2] 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.[3]
There are also misnamed settlements, such as the villages of Mawdesky and Dummy 1325 in Lancashire on Google Maps.[4]
There is a satirical conspiracy theory that the German city of Bielefeld is a phantom settlement, despite its population of over 300,000.[5] Another example is Leiria, Portugal, (pop. 128,640),[6] which even gave rise to a song "Leiria não existe".[7]
- Paper Towns, a novel where phantom settlements become plot points
- The 2015 film of the same name, based on the novel
- Paper township
- Phantom island
- Fictitious entry
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