Things You Might Not Know About the Land of Oz

Chapter Two

A few days ago I posted letting you know that I was going to be participating in the Celebrate Oz party and at the beginning of that post I put a map of Oz. The reason I have a different one at the beginning of this post is because this map is the map that has the correct placement of the Winkie Country and Munchkin Country. MGM took liberties and switched the two. I discovered this when I was doing some research trying to answer a question someone asked the other day. That someone was Oma Linda. You know who I mean. She’s the one who is the instigator behind this party and a fellow Oz lover.  I thought I’d take this time to give her an answer. The question was, “Where does the Red Brick Road lead to?”

 After much squinting at my maps (I've found several) and much reading and checking and researching and then double checking my findings, I have decided the road must lead to the Quadling Country. I made this decision based on the fact the color that represents Quadling Country is red.  For those of you who are even the least bit interested I’ve gathered together some trivia concerning the four countries that make up the Land of Oz. This information comes from the books written about Oz.


The Gillikin Country is the division to the north and is represented by the color purple and is bordered on the northern edge by The Impassable Desert. Like all of the countries of Oz, the Gillikin Country contains various unusual sights, places and facts. Among them are:

• The forest of the Winged Monkeys winged creatures that obey whoever wears the enchanted Golden Cap
• The palace of the Good Witch of the North (never actually mentioned, but assumed to exist because the Good Witch of the North rules this particular province)
• The Ruby Palace of Gayelette.
• Jellia Jamb reported to have been born a Gillikin.
• The house of Mombi, a witch whom the Wizard hired to transform and keep hidden Ozma, the rightful ruler of Oz.
• The village of Loonville, whose balloon-like inhabitants warn strangers to stay away from their clearing (the Loons can also become too puffed-up).
• Yoop Castle, where a female giant Yookoohoo lived and ruled her valley.
• Dragons living beneath the Earth's surface, allowed to come out once every 100 years in search of food.
• The Forest of Gugu, ruled by Gugu the Leopard King with his counselors Loo the Unicorn, Rango the Gray Ape, and Bru the Bear.
• Giant purple spiders that catch travelers in their webs and make them their servants.
• Mist Maidens, fairies who live in a fog bank.
• Flatheads, people living on a mountaintop whose heads are flat and must carry their brains in a can in their pockets.
• Skeezers, once friends and now rivals of the Flatheads who live within a glass city in the middle of a lake.
• Reera the Red, a Yookoohoo preferring her privacy and specializes in transformations.
• Pumperdink, an elaborate fairy tale kingdom known for dipping its criminals in ink. Ruled by King Pompus and Queen Pozy Pink. Prince Pompadour is their son.
• Up Town, proclaimed the capital city of the Gillikin Country after the abandonment of post by the Good Witch of the North, ruled by Joe King and Queen Hyacinth, who are famous for their horse, High Boy, a large, purple animal with telescoping legs.
• Regalia, sister city to Pumperdink, home of Prince Randy.
• Upandup Mountain, home of Badmannah.
• The village of the Lanternesians.
• Dinker's shop of smokables.

The Quadling Country is the division to the south and is represented by the color red and is ruled over by The Good Witch Glinda. It is bordered on the south by The Great Sandy Waste.  The outer regions of the Quadling Country are rich, pleasant and beautiful, inhabited by kind and friendly people, while the areas closer to the Emerald City (most of the regions between the mountains of the Hammer-Heads and the Forest of the Fighting Trees) are forbidding and dangerous. Some of the interesting features or sites of Quadling Country are:

• The mountains in which dwell the belligerent and armless Hammer-Heads
• Forest whose animals hail the Cowardly Lion as their king
• The Dainty China Country
• The forest of the Fighting Trees, whose Northern row of trees have the power to use their branches to fling away anyone who attempts to enter the forest
• Miss Cuttenclip, who cuts paper dolls from live paper.
• Fuddlecumjig, where the inhabitants are made from puzzle pieces and have to be reassembled often.
• Utensia, a kingdom inhabited by animated eating and cooking implements.
• Bunbury, a land where all the inhabitants are animated food.
• Bunnybury, where intelligent rabbits walk on their hind legs and wear clothes.
• Rigmarole Town and Flutterbudget Center, where people either explain things in a roundabout way or worry over nothing.
• Mister Yoop, a captive untamed giant.
• The Hoppers, one-legged cave dwellers who travel by hopping.
• The Horners, pun-loving radium miners with horns who share the caves with the hoppers and breed prodigiously.
• Jinxland, a monarchy separated from the rest of the Quadling Country by a gorge.
• Morrow, home of King Pastoria’s hunting lodge.

The Good Witch Glinda in all of her sparkling glory and oh so much pink. She really does seem to have a thing for sparkly things, doesn't she?

The Munchkin Country or Munchkin Land is the division to the East and is represented by the color blue. Munchkin Country is linked to the Emerald City by means of the yellow brick road.  It is bordered on the eastern side by The Shifting Sands. While the Eastern part of the Munchkin Country is described as rich, beautiful, fertile and pleasant, and inhabited by friendly people, the Western part of the province ( the region bordered by a large forest and the area surrounding the Emerald City) is wild, rough and dangerous. Certain areas of this land are densely forested, and inhabited by ferocious beasts.

Munchkin Country is the site where Dorothy Gale’s house lands after being carried to Oz by a tornado.  Munchkin Country's ruler was the Wicked Witch of the East until Dorothy's arrival in Oz and she is eliminated when the house lands on top of her.

Dillywink, a charming fellow and one of the shorter Munchkins. Not all Munchkins are short you know.

The Winkie Country is a division of the Land of Oz. It is distinguished by the color yellow. This color is worn by most of the local inhabitants and predominates in the surroundings.

This was the country ruled by the Wicked Witch of the West before Dorothy "melted" her with a bucket of water after which the Tin Woodman ruled over the Winkies as their Emperor. The Winkie Country is separated only by the Deadly Desert from the underground Dominions of the Nome King. The Winkie Country like all of the countries of Oz has many unusual and unique sights and structures such as:

·         The Scarecrow's house, which is shaped like an ear of corn.

·         The house of Jack Pumpkinhead a giant hollowed-out pumpkin.

·         The palace of the Tin Woodman, created because the Wicked Witch's castle was too damp and the Tin Woodman would rust.

·         The Truth Pond, which anyone can bathe in and be freed of an enchantment but must always afterward tell the truth.

·         The Tottenhots, small sprite-like people who sleep during the day and play at night.

·         Merry-go-mountains, mountains that whirl swiftly and are made of rubber.

·         Thi, where bipeds with heart-shaped chests subsist only on thistles and use mechanical dragons to pull their chariots.

·         Bear Center, in a forest where stuffed bears are ruled by the Lavender Bear and guided by the wind-up Little Pink Bear.

·         Yip Country, a republic advised by the Frogman and separated from the Winkie Country at the top of a mountain.

·         Perhaps City on Maybe Mountain.

·         The dark forest of Gloma the good witch.

·         Wackajammy, the bread basket of the West.

Elphaba AKA The Wicked Witch of the West,

maybe, maybe not what do you think?

Careless Dorothy Gale  AKA  The Witch Slayer

Remember, on Sunday, July 22^nd I’m going to have a drawing and someone will be giving Dillywink a new home. You can enter the giveaway on this post or any of my Oz posts up until midnight Saturday July 21^st.

I hope I was able to provide some things in this post about Oz that you didn’t know and maybe were just a wee bit interesting to you.

As always, thanks for stopping by.