Settings in The Adventures of Tintin

These are the settings, both real and imagined, in The Adventures of Tintin, the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé.

Europe

•  Belgium
  • Brussels: Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, Tintin in the Congo, Tintin in America, Cigars of the Pharaoh, The Blue Lotus, The Broken Ear, The Black Island, King Ottokar's Sceptre, The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Shooting Star, The Secret of the Unicorn, Red Rackham's Treasure, Prisoners of the Sun, The Seven Crystal Balls, Land of Black Gold, Destination Moon, The Calculus Affair, The Red Sea Sharks, The Castafiore Emerald, Tintin and the Picaros, Tintin and Alph-Art
  • Antwerp: Tintin in the Congo, The Blue Lotus, The Broken Ear, The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Shooting Star, Red Rackham's Treasure, Land of Black Gold
  • Ostend: The Black Island
  • Liège: Tintin in the Land of the Soviets
  • Tienen: Tintin in the Land of the Soviets
  • Louvain: Tintin in the Land of the Soviets

•  France
  • Le Havre: The Broken Ear, Tintin in America
  • Saint-Nazaire: The Seven Crystal Balls
  • La Rochelle: The Seven Crystal Balls
  • Paris: Prisoners of the Sun
  • Marseilles: King Ottokar's Sceptre, The Blue Lotus (In the original edition, the SS Rampura (later SS Ranchi) is sailing via Marseilles.)

•  Germany
  • Berlin: Tintin in the Land of the Soviets
  • Frankfurt: King Ottokar's Sceptre

•   Switzerland
  • Geneva: The Calculus Affair
  • Nyon: The Calculus Affair

•  United Kingdom
  •  England
    • Dover: The Black Island
    • Kent: The Black Island
    • Eastdown (fictitious): The Black Island
    • Southampton: Tintin in America (The ship returning Tintin to Europe is the SS Normandie sailing on route New York-Southampton-Le Havre]), The Blue Lotus (The ship carrying Tintin back from China is the SS Ranchi, with final destination of Southampton)
    • London: Flight 714 (Starting point for Tintin, Haddock and Calculus on their journey towards Australia)
    • Liverpool:The Blue Lotus
  •  Scotland
    • Kiltoch (fictitious): The Black Island
    • Glasgow:The Black Island

•  Iceland
  • Akureyri: The Shooting Star

•  Malta: The Blue Lotus (The SS Ranchi is sailing via Malta)

•  Gibraltar: The Blue Lotus (The SS Ranchi is sailing via Gibraltar)

•  Soviet Union
  •  Russian SFSR
    • Moscow: Tintin in the Land of the Soviets
  •  Byelorussian SSR
    • Stolbtsy: Tintin in the Land of the Soviets

•  Spain
  • Santa Cruz: Tintin in the Congo (Tintin passes through the Canary Islands)

•  Poland
  • Second Polish Republic: Tintin in the Land of the Soviets

•  Italy
  • Naples: Tintin and Alph-Art
  • Ischia: Tintin and Alph-Art
  • Rome: Red Rackham's Treasure (French version,Tintin passes through Rome)

•  Portugal
  • Lisbon: Tintin in the Congo (In the original edition, Tintin passes through Lisbon), Cigars of Pharaoh

•  Czech Republic
  • Prague: King Ottokar's Sceptre

•  Austria:The Black Island (mentioned)

•  Netherlands:The Black Island (mentioned)

•  Yugoslavia
  • Belgrade: King Ottokar's Sceptre (passed through it)

•  Monaco
  • Monaco:Tintin and the Picaros (Japanese version,passed through it)

• Syldavia (fictitious): King Ottokar's Sceptre, Destination Moon, Explorers on the Moon, Tintin and the Lake of Sharks

• Borduria (fictitious): King Ottokar's Sceptre, The Calculus Affair

Africa

•  Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Belgian Congo
  • Matadi: Tintin in the Congo

•  Egypt
  • Port Said: Cigars of the Pharaoh, The Blue Lotus (The SS Ranchi is sailing via Port Said)
  • Cairo: The Valley of the Kings: Cigars of the Pharaoh

•  Morocco
  • French Morocco
    • Bagghar (fictitious): The Crab with the Golden Claws
    • Tangier: Cigars of the Pharaoh (In the original edition, it is implied that Tintin passed through Morocco on his way to Egypt on board the SS Epomeo)

•  Algeria
  • Algiers: Cigars of the Pharaoh (The SS Epomeo passed through it)

•  Tunisia
  • Tunis: Cigars of the Pharaoh (The SS Epomeo passed through it)

•  Libya
  • Tripoli: Cigars of the Pharaoh (The SS Epomeo passed through it)

North America

•  United States
  • New York City: Tintin in America
  • Chicago: Tintin in America
  • Redskin City (fictitious): Tintin in America

•  Jamaica : Red Rackham's Treasure (passed through it)

•  Dominican Republic
  • Santo Domingo : The Secret of the Unicorn (passed through it)

South America

•  Peru
  • Callao: Prisoners of the Sun
  • Jauga: Prisoners of the Sun
  • Santa Clara: Prisoners of the Sun

•  Colombia : Tintin and the Picaros (with Bianca Castafiore, passed through it)
•  Venezuela : Tintin and the Picaros (with Bianca Castafiore, passed through it)
•  Ecuador : Tintin and the Picaros (with Bianca Castafiore, passed through it)

• San Theodoros (fictitious): The Broken Ear, Tintin and the Picaros
• Nuevo Rico (fictitious): The Broken Ear
• São Rico (fictitious): The Shooting Star (Tintin never actually visited this country, neither is anything more revealed about it except it is in South America. The country was adapted to replace the USA in post-war editions)

Asia

•  Saudi Arabia: Cigars of the Pharaoh
  • • Abudin (fictitious)
    • Mecca: Cigars of the Pharaoh (Black & White version)

• / India
  • British Raj
    • Bombay: Cigars of the Pharaoh
    • New Delhi: Tintin in Tibet

•  Pakistan
  • • Karachi : Flight 714 (Japanese version)

• / Singapore
  • Singapore: The Blue Lotus (The SS Ranchi passed through it), Flight 714

•    Nepal
  • Kathmandu: Tintin in Tibet

• China
  • Shanghai: The Blue Lotus
  • Nanjing: The Blue Lotus
  • Tianjin: The Blue Lotus

• / Sri Lanka
  • British Ceylon
    • Colombo: The Blue Lotus (The SS Ranchi passed through it)
  • Sri Lanka (Ceylan):Tintin and the Picaros (mentioned of the Professor Calculus)

•  Yemen
  • South Yemen
    • Aden: The Blue Lotus (The SS Ranchi passed through it)

•  Lebanon
  • Beirut: The Red Sea Sharks (Tintin arrives in Khemed via Beirut)

•  Israel
  • Haifa: In the original edition of Land of Black Gold Tintin is kidnapped by Zionists to Bab El Ehr but the Zionists are later captured.

•  Indonesia
  • Jakarta: Flight 714

• Khemed (fictitious): The Red Sea Sharks, Land of Black Gold

• Sondonesia (fictitious): Flight 714

•  Japan
  • Tokyo:The Blue Lotus (tintin passed through it)
  • Yokohama: The Blue Lotus, The Crab with the Golden Claws (passed through it)

•  Iran
  • Tehran: Flight 714 (passed through it)

Australia

•  Australia
  • Sydney: Flight 714

Antarctic

• Antarctic: Prisoners of the Sun (with Thomson & Thompson, Tintin passed through it)

Fictional settings in The Adventures of Tintin

• Syldavia in the Balkans is by Hergé's own admission modelled on Montenegro,^[1] and is threatened by neighbouring Borduria—an attempted annexation appears in King Ottokar's Sceptre—this situation parallels respectively Czechoslovakia or Austria and expansionist Nazi Germany prior to World War II. It is later home to Sprodj Atomic Centre, which launches the first rocket to the moon.
• Borduria is the historical rival of Syldavia, and attempts a fascist annexation similar to the 1938 Anschluss of Austria in King Ottokar's Sceptre. Borduria is ruled by military dictator Marshal Kûrvi-Tasch, who in addition to oppressing his own people, attempts to influence Third World conflicts by sending "military advisors" to countries such as San Theodoros.
• Khemed, in Arabia. Khemed is subject to a revolution in The Red Sea Sharks and in the Land of the Black Gold.
• Most of the events of Flight 714 take place on the island of Pulau-Pulau Bompa ("pulau-pulau" is Indonesian for "islands") involving people Hergé calls the Sondonesians. Said to be undergoing a civil war or a war for independence and now rebels for hire, they may be based on separatist fighters of the Republic of South Maluku.^[2] This was a self-proclaimed republic of seismically active islands in the Molucca Sea, whose residents fought for independence from Indonesia in the 1950s and 1960s. The inclusion of Jakarta's Kemajoran airport and the radio message from Makassar just before the plane is hijacked suggests that the location is within the Indonesian archipelago. The Sondonesians' conversations in the album are spoken in Indonesian Malay (Bahasa Indonesia). The Proboscis monkey which appears in the album is exclusive to Borneo.
• San Theodoros in South America, a prototypical banana republic where US-based companies and Borduria (meant as an allusion to the USSR or Cuba) vie for power, with "advisors" of local generals. The capital is Los Dopicos, which is later renamed Tapiocapolis.
• São Rico in South America. São Rico was added as a reference in a later versions of The Shooting Star. The original version had the villainous masterminds as stereotypical Jewish American puppet-masters — the later version darkens their skin tone and inserts São Rico as a reference.
• Nuevo Rico, bordering San Theodoros. The two countries go to war over oil in The Broken Ear, which is parallel to the 1930s Chaco War between Paraguay and Bolivia. The capital of Nuevo Rico is Sanfacion (a play on Asuncion, indicating that it is modeled upon Paraguay).
• El Chapo, after the South American Chaco region. The Broken Ear is set in a war inspired by the Chaco War.
• Pilchardania and Poldavia are both mentioned in The Blue Lotus. Pilchardania is mentioned on a newsreel that Tintin views while hiding in a cinema from the police. The Poldavian consul gets mistaken for Tintin in a beard and wig in the Blue Lotus opium den.
• Gaipajama, an Indian principality based on those that existed during the British Raj, is mentioned in Cigars of the Pharaoh.
• Saboulistan is never used in the series, but Hergè had planned to use this new country in the unfinished "Tintin and Alph-Art".

Outer Space

• Outer Space. Tintin and his friends travel through outer space in Explorers on the Moon.
• Earth's Moon. The majority of Explorers on the Moon takes place on the Moon.

See also

List of The Adventures of Tintin locations

Notes and references

1. Le Figaro - Voyages : Balade princière au Monténégro
2. Yeung, Kenneth (January 28, 2013). "Tintin in Indonesia". Jakarta Expat. Retrieved October 8, 2013.