How was the rest of the world during the Hunger Games?

In The Hunger Games, the main plot unfolds in Panem, a dystopian state divided into 12 Districts, where power is concentrated in the hands of the economic and political elite. Katniss Everdeen, protagonist of the story and resident of District 12, emerges as a central figure in the fight against government oppression, with the main objective of ending corruption and the suffering of the most vulnerable.

However, although there is mention of characters from regions other than Panem and the Districts, there is a significant gap in knowledge about the rest of the world. Both the books and films provide only glimpses of the tragedies that plagued the planet before the revolution and Katniss’s birth, leaving details about the other countries and their history shrouded in mystery.

The world beyond North America

While most of the nation of Panem resided around the United States, the borders stretched from northern Canada to southern areas of Mexico. As for the reason for the collapse of modern civilization in the rest of the world, the story references a hundred ecological disasters and global conflicts, such as the deformity of land masses and rising sea levels, implying that Panem has become the only surviving and habitable nation.

There is also a theory among fans that each of Panem’s districts survived a type of nuclear winter, where the inhabitants repopulated these territories over time. With the idea that the survivors needed each other, the government of Panem would have settled and annexed the territories, thus creating a larger country.

A possible explanation in “The Song of Birds and Serpents”

With the release of the film adaptation of “The Song of Birds and Snakes”, which focuses on the past of the franchise’s antagonist, President Snow, there is a vague possibility that the issue has been “resolved”. If Snow became such a feared and powerful leader, it would make sense if he had a broader and more accurate knowledge of the fate of the rest of the world.

Lucy Gray, the protagonist alongside Snow, mentions that “The Pack”, a nomadic group of which she is part, makes a living through art, traveling at the time of the First Rebellion against the Capital. They do not have a fixed location, so it is never mentioned where Lucy Gray or the others were born. Following this logic, it is possible to deduce that there are still people living outside of Panem, even if the narrative never addresses this.

During an interview with The New York Times in 2018, Suzanne Collinsauthor of the book saga, spoke about the information she gathered while writing the story, suggesting the possibility of new approaches within the universe of Panem:

I have a world of information about the characters that didn’t make it into the books. It’s some eye-opening stories that could be enlightening, but in the case of The Hunger Games, I think it would just be a distraction unless it was part of a new story in the world of Panem.”

Currently, all films in the Hunger Games franchise are available on Prime Video.