Fans of the Listenbourg meme have catapulted the fictional country into the spotlight, creating a powerful story around the fake nation. Social media accounts purporting to be official government channels for Listenbourg have emerged and have already released a national anthem.

		Read more: What is #Swedengete?  The evolution of an internet trend, from memes to colonialism 		
	read more 	


			What is #Swedengete?  The evolution of an internet trend, from memes to colonialism

Listenbourg was created by Twitter user Gaspardo when he shared a photo map of Europe with an additional country on the northern border of Spain and Portugal. The country is shaded green, implying that it is a member of the EU. Story continues below ad I’m sure Americans don’t even know the name of this country ptdrrr pic.twitter.com/aecSupQdyU — Gas🅿️ardo (@gaspardooo) October 30, Gaspardo captioned the post: “I’m pretty sure Americans don’t even know the name of this country.” Another user replied, “Who doesn’t know Listenbourg?” — giving her name to the fake country. The meme quickly went viral in French-speaking social media circles, and a TikTok hashtag for the defunct nation has garnered more than 77 million views. The viral videos purport to show people installing 5G cables in Listenbourg or offer “10 interesting facts” about the fake country. There is an official Listenbourg government account on Twitter, as well as an account for the Ministry of Public Finance. The Listenbourg Ministry of the Interior even offered to answer any questions about visas and identity cards. Story continues below ad For all administrative procedures related to identity documents & visas, do not hesitate to contact us!
For all administrative questions about identity cards and visas, please contact us!
For all administrative procedures related to identity documents & visas contact us! pic.twitter.com/nmCgUgYXfR — Ministry of the Interior (@IntrListenbourg) November 1, 2022 Listenbourg’s national anthem, posted by the fake government’s YouTube channel, has been listened to more than 53,000 times and there is already a remix drill of it. Meme contributors are trying to flesh out Listenbourg’s story, with detailed threads on Twitter and Reddit. Historians of Listenbourg say the country dates back to the early 10th century when it was known as “Lisbourg”. Current trend

			Beauty queens Miss Argentina and Miss Puerto Rico secretly marry 	   				Some antibiotic products containing amoxicillin in short supply, Health Canada says

Story continues below ad A Twitter post claims that King Listen XV of Listenbourg, who looks suspiciously like Henry Cavill, was the first Sun King and went to war with King Louis XIV of France over the title in 1661. It was in 1661 that Listenbourg saw one of the biggest wars in its history, indeed in 1661 Louis XIV took power in France and called himself “the Sun King” a term stolen from King Listen XV, the who had already called the Sun King. annoyed Listenbourg. pic.twitter.com/QGaKDAnRgl — Rapid Anecdotes 📚 (@anecdote_rapide) October 31, 2022 A pinned post on the country’s official subreddit reads that Listenbourg has faced repeated invasions from France and Spain. “It was completely annexed from the south by Spain and from the north by France during the Listen War. “Several insurgencies have attempted to break free,” the post reads. “A new uprising was recently sparked when Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic ordered, due to the war in Ukraine, to declare martial law in the region.” Story continues below ad

		Also read: Beauty queens Miss Argentina and Miss Puerto Rico secretly marry

According to the report, the country is now led by a descendant of Napoleon Bonaparte, Gaspard-Louis Napoleon, referring to Gaspardo, the creator of the meme, who has since called himself president of Listenbourg. Social media accounts from major companies have joined in on the Listenbourg fun. For example, Ryanair advertised that it was opening a new base in the fake country. Proud to announce our new base in Listenbourg! pic.twitter.com/fzN0mVHBsL — Ryanair (@Ryanair) November 3, 2022 Story continues below ad Available February 31st. pic.twitter.com/Vn2RnYaG9Z — Prime Video France (@PrimeVideoFR) November 2, 2022 But why has the Listenbourg meme rocketed to such virality? Euronews argues it’s because France and other European countries are tired of being labeled, mispronounced or otherwise misrepresented by foreign news media and officials. For example, CNN came under fire in 2014 after mistakenly placing the Ukrainian region of Donbas in Pakistan — which isn’t even on the same continent. Slovakia and Slovenia are so often confused for each other that Slovenia considered changing its flag in 2004. During his presidential campaign, George W. Bush told a Slovak reporter that he learned a lot from his meeting with Slovakia’s foreign minister, saying, “I had a great meeting with him. It’s an exciting country” — the meeting he was referring to was actually with the prime minister of Slovenia. Story continues below ad Europe 1, America 0. © 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.