Borogravia is a fictional country in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of novels. It is small and extremely war-intensive, and closely resembles Yugoslavia in a number of respects, the most obvious being the prefluency of war, the similarities of the Serbo-Croatian and Borogravian languages, and the fact that Borogravia, like most of the Balkan countries, had a name ending in '-ia'. Some relationships are rather more subtle. The event of Arch-duke Ferdinand being shot in what is now Bosnia (the event that kicked off World War I) was satirized in Monstrous Regiment when the prince of Zlobenia was kneed in the testicles.
Location
Borogravia is located Rimwards of Überwald, on the Disc's unnamed main continent. The capital city is PrinceMarmadukePiotrAlbertHansJosephBernhardtWillhelmsberg.
History
The recent history of Borogravia consists mainly of fighting wars with every other country in the area (most notably Zlobenia), in the name of Nuggan. Borogravia is a Duchy, and as such is ruled by a Duke or Duchess.
Miscellaneous
- The god of the country is or was Nuggan.
- At some point (see Thief of Time) Borogravia was noted for its chocolate. However, since Nugganism prohibited chocolate (as well as garlic, mushrooms, ginger and nearly everything else), the chocolatiers have either stopped or left the country. At least one firm has found a home in Ankh-Morpork.
- Despite the way it sounds, 'Borograv' and its component syllables do not actually mean anything in either Serbian or Croatian.
- Borogravia can be read as 'borrow grave -ia', this is an example of Pratchett's punning in regards to names. It was probably to make the country seem more bleak.
Mentioned in
