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San Serriffe is a fictional island nation created for April Fools' Day. An elaborate description of the nation, using puns and plays on words relating to typography (such as "sans serif"), was reported as legitimate news, apparently fooling many readers who did not understand the joke and did not understand that there was a reason that the island was also known as Hoaxe. Image File history File links Information. ... // Fiction (from the Latin fingere, to form, create) is the genre of imaginative prose literature, including novels and short stories. ... An island nation is a country that is wholly confined to an island or islands. ... April Fools Day or All Fools Day, though not a holiday in its own right, is a notable day celebrated in many countries on April 1. ... A pun (also known as paronomasia) is a figure of speech, or word play which consists of a deliberate confusion of similar words within a phrase or phrases for rhetorical effect, whether humorous or serious. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

The first version of the hoax appeared in the British newspaper The Guardian on 1 April 1977. A seven-page supplement was published in the style of contemporary reviews of foreign countries, commemorating the tenth anniversary of the island's independence, complete with themed advertisements from major companies. The island was reused for similar hoaxes in 1978, 1980 and 1999. A hoax is an attempt to trick an audience into believing that something false is real. ... The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ... April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ...

San Serriffe was one of the most famous and successful hoaxes of recent decades; it has become part of the common cultural heritage of literary humour, and a secondary body of literature has been derived from it. The remainder of the article draws from these many sources. Cultural heritage (national heritage or just heritage) is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations. ... Look up humour in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

San Serriffe

San Serriffe is an island nation, also known as Hoaxe, in the southern oceans. The original idea was to have it located near Tenerife but due to the ground collision of two Boeing 747s there a few days before publication, in the original Guardian newspaper report it was moved to the Indian Ocean, near the Seychelles Islands. Owing to a peculiarity of ocean currents and erosion its exact position does vary. A recent report locating it in the Bering Sea was presumably an error. On April 1 2006 The Guardian reported that San Serriffe is currently floating just off New Zealand's South Island. Animated map exhibiting the worlds oceanic waters. ... Flag of Tenerife Tenerife, a Spanish island, is the largest of the seven Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. ... The Tenerife disaster took place on March 27, 1977, at 17:06:56 local time (also GMT), when two Boeing 747 airliners collided at Los Rodeos (TCI) on the island of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, killing 583 people. ... An ocean current is any more or less continuous, directed movement of ocean water that flows in one of the Earths oceans. ... Severe soil erosion in a wheat field near Washington State University, USA. For erosion as an operation of Mathematical morphology, see Erosion (morphology) Erosion is displacement of solids (soil, mud, rock and other particles) by the agents of ocean currents, wind, water, or ice by downward or down-slope movement... Satellite photo of the Bering Sea Bering Sea and the North Pacific Ocean Bearing Sea with Kamchatka Peninsula and Alaska The Bering (or Imarpik) Sea is a body of water north of, and separated from, the north Pacific Ocean by the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands. ... April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Geography

San Serriffe is an archipelago consisting of two main islands and a number of smaller ones. Of the larger islands, the more northerly (the Caissa Superiore or Upper Caisse) is roughly round and the more southerly (the Caissa Inferiore or Lower Caisse) round but with a promontory extending south-westwards from the south-east, at Thirty Point. The two major islands are separated by the Shoals of Adze, dominated by Cap Em. The capital, Bodoni, is in the centre of the Caissa Superiore, and is served by an international airport. It is linked by fast highways to the major ports, including Port Clarendon. The Mergui Archipelago An archipelago is a landform which consists of a chain or cluster of islands. ... Majuscules or capital letters (in the Roman alphabet: A, B, C, ...) are one type of case in a writing system. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Letter case. ... A point is a unit of measure in typography. ... An em is a unit of measurement in the field of typography, equal to the pt size of the current font. ... Bodoni is a typeface designed by Giambattista Bodoni (February 16, 1740 in Saluzzo – November 29, 1813 in Parma), an Italian engraver, publisher, printer and typographer of high repute. ... Oxford University Press (OUP) is a highly-respected publishing house and a department of the University of Oxford in England. ...

History

Possibly due to its remote and shifting location, the full history of San Serriffe has never been adequately told, but these basic details are known.

• 1421. "Discovered by adventurers recruited by John Street, an English admirer of Henry the Navigator. The crew made their historic landfall in the Shoals of Adze." (Guardian, April 1, 1977)
• 1432 - 1439. Colonized by the Spanish and Portuguese
• 1659. Annexed by Great Britain
• 1815. Ceded to Portugal
• 1824 - 1836. The condominium (meaning uncertain)
• April 1 1967. Independence; a social democratic government takes control.
• June 1967. Colonel Hispalis seizes control
• August 1969. General Minion seizes control
• May 11 1971. General M.-J. Pica assumes responsibility for the government, and subsequently institutes martial law and assumes full dictatorial powers due to "foreign terrorist infiltration". This leads to nationwide protests, escalating into civil war and 23 years of ensuing chaos and anarchy.
• May 12 1997. First general elections.

Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the  United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total 130... Infante Henrique, Duke of Viseu KG (Porto, March 4, 1394–Sagres, November 13, 1460); pron. ... April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... In international law, a condominium is a territory in which two sovereign powers have equal rights. ... April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Social democracy is a political ideology emerging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from supporters of Marxism who believed that the transition to a socialist society could be achieved through democratic evolutionary rather than revolutionary means. ... May 11 is the 131st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (132nd in leap years). ... A pica (pronounced PIKE-ah, SAMPA /paIk@/) is a unit of measure traditionally used in document layout. ... May 12 is the 132nd day of the year (133rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Ethnic groups

The native people of San Serriffe are the Flong. However the dominant group are of European stock, the descendants of colonists, known as colons. There is also a large mixed-race group, known as semi-colons. In the last available census (1973), as reported in the April 1 1977 Guardian, the population of the island was 1,782,724, with approximately 640,000 colons and semi-colons; 574,000 Flongs; 271,000 Creoles; 117,000 Malaysians; 92,000 Arabs; and 88,000 persons of other ethnic groups. Flong is a term in printing which refers to a kind of stereotype used in a rotary press. ... The colon (:) is a punctuation mark, visually consisting of two equally sized dots centered on the same vertical line. ... A semicolon ( ; ) is a punctuation mark. ... Year 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. ... April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The term Creole and its cognates in other languages — such as crioulo, criollo, créole, kriolu, criol, kreyol, kriulo, kriol, krio, etc. ... Languages Arabic other minority languages Religions Predomiantly Sunni Islam, as well as Shia Islam, Greek Orthodoxy, Greek Catholicism, Alawite Islam, Druzism, Ibadi Islam, and Judaism Footnotes a Mainly in Antakya. ...

Government

For many years following independence in 1967, San Serriffe had an autocratic form of government under military strongman General Pica. However, democratic elections were held in 1997. The winner was the charismatic Antonio Bourgeois. 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... A pica (pronounced PIKE-ah, SAMPA /paIk@/) is a unit of measure traditionally used in document layout. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Bourgeois at the end of the thirteenth century. ...

Culture

Among the cultural highlights of life in San Serriffe are:

• The Cult of the Sonorous Enigma
• The Festival of the Well-Made Play
• The Ampersand String Quartet

The relaxation of the islands' strict anti-pornography laws under the Bourgeois government has led to the publication of a series of risqué novels by Serriffean journalists, collectively referred to as the "Times Nude Romances". Look up enigma in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The roman ampersand at left is stylized, but the italic one at right reveals its origin in the Latin word An ampersand (&), also commonly called an and sign, is a logogram representing the conjunction and. ... The resident string quartet of the Library of Congress in 1963 A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string instruments—usually two violins, a viola and cello—or a piece written to be performed by such a group. ... The Times New Roman typeface, on top at 88. ...

Cuisine

The bitter-sweet swarfega is prepared in various ways to create unique Serriffean dishes, and for this reason the local cuisine lacks the oily characteristic of some related styles. Swarfega is a brand of heavy-duty hand cleaner, manufactured by Deb Ltd. ...

National bird

The national bird of San Serriffe is the kwote; a member of the guillemot (guillemets) family. Look up quote in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A Guillemot is a variety of seeabird. ... Also called angle quotes, guillemets (<< or >>) are line segments, pointed as if arrows. ...

Sport

San Serriffe has made little impression on the international sporting world apart from their epic defeat of England at football in 1999. The application of the national Rugby Union team, the Kwotes, to participate in the Rugby Union World Cup 1991 was rejected by a Twickenham official on the grounds that "We don't have any four-figure scoreboards, old boy." However the islands' annual endurance challenge race, involving running, mountain biking, and windsurfing from Cap Em to the German immigrant village of Ems in the Caissa Inferiore (popularly known as the Two Em Dash), now attracts international participants, and it has been some years since it was won by a Serriffean athlete. Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the  United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total 130... Football (soccer) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Year 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar). ... A rugby union scrum. ... Results of The 1991 Rugby World Cup. ... Twickenham is a suburb in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, south west London. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... A cross country mountain bike race A hardtail mountain bike A mountain bike or mountain bicycle (abbreviated MTB or ATB (All Terrain Bicycle)) is a bicycle designed for mountain biking, either on dirt trails or other unpaved environments. ... A windsurfer with modern gear tilts the rig and carves the board to perform a planing gybe (downwind turn) close to shore in Maui, Hawaii, one of the popular destinations for windsurfing. ... An em is a unit of measurement in the field of typography, equal to the pt size of the current font. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ...

References

• Special Report: San Serriffe. The Guardian, 1 April 1977 (7pp)
• Visit San Serriffe, The Guardian, 1 April 1978
• Bachaus, Theodore (pseudonym of Henry Morris) (1978). The World's Worst Marbled Papers: Being a collection of ten contemporary San Serriffean marbled papers.... Port Clarendon, San Serriffe: San Serriffe Publishing Co. (but actually Newtown, PA: Bird & Bull Press).
• Bachaus, Theodore (pseudonym of Henry Morris) (1980). The Private Presses of San Serriffe. Port Clarendon, San Serriffe: San Serriffe Publishing Company (but actually Newtown, PA: Bird & Bull Press).
• Bachaus, Theodore (pseudonym of Henry Morris) (2001). The Booksellers of San Serriffe. Port Clarendon, San Serriffe: San Serriffe Publishing Company (but actually Newtown, PA: Bird & Bull Press).

The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ... April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ... The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ... April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ...

External links

• Foolish things, David McKie, The Guardian, 1 April, 2006 explaining how the original hoax came about and the impact it caused
• Some rough guides to San Seriffe, The Guardian, 5 April, 1999
• How young Tony Blair tuned into a new type of politics, The Guardian, 2 April, 1999
• Return to San Serriffe, Berlin Sans, The Guardian, 1 April, 1999
• The leader's rise to power in San Serriffe, Mark Arnold-Forster, The Guardian, 1 April, 1977
• Spiking the cultural roots, Tim Radford, The Guardian, 1 April, 1977
• San Serriffe travel guide from Wikitravel - Ongoing April Fools Project.
• Museum of Hoaxes account of the history of the hoax