Listenbourg

About

Listenbourg is a fictional European country bordering Portugal and Spain created by Twitter user @gaspardooo in October 2022. The country's name was coined in a now-viral post that the user made on October 30th of that year, sharing a map with a new country photoshopped on it, inspiring memes and discussions about the fictional country over the following days, with some trying to claim it's real.

Origin

On October 30th, 2022, French Twitter^[1] user @gaspardooo posted a photoshopped map showing a new country added to the borders of Spain and Portugal. In the post, the user writes what translates to, "I'm sure Americans don't even know the name of this country ptdrrr." The post garnered over 84,000 likes and 6,900 retweets in two days (shown below). A minute after the post was made, Twitter^[2] user @EwenSgr commented what translates to, "Who does not know listenbourg ???" garnering over 4,200 likes in the same span of time. OP responded with what translates to, "they don't even know how to place France so I'll let you imagine for Listenbourg."

Spread

Over the following days, French Twitters users began posting memes about Listenbourg, often joking that it's a real country. On October 30th, 2022, Twitter^[3] user @LeVraiOmersi retweeted a video of someone canoeing, writing, "Admire the beauty of Listenbourg 😍😍," garnering over 6,500 likes in two days (shown below). That same day, a subreddit, /r/Listenbourg,^[4] was started.

On October 31st, Twitter^[5] user @WilLaLegende posted, "Listenbourg has become a country more recognized than Israel," garnering over 11,000 likes in a day. That same day, Twitter^[6] user @BasitoAro posted a photoshop of Tucker Carlson talking about the country, garnering over 38,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Also that day on October 31st, 2022, Twitter^[7] user @anecdote_rapide posted a long-form thread titled "Thread on the incredible history of Listenbourg" about Listenbourg, garnering over 26,000 likes and 2,800 retweets in a day. The thread includes fake historical documents and events in Listenbourg's history (examples shown below).

Brand Twitter accounts soon started playing into the meme. Later on October 31st, the official Waze France Twitter^[8] page posted what translates to, "Listenbourg, at least we know how to get there!" garnering over 21,000 likes in under a day (shown below). On November 1st, the L’Europe Ensemble Twitter page (@Ensemble_UE) posted, "We support Listenbourg's membership of the EU," garnering over 9,500 likes in under a day.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References