The fictional country in "VIVANT": Balka Republic

Last year, TBS released a large-scale Japanese drama "VIVANT" (ヴィヴァン), starring Sakai Masato and Abe Hiroshi. It also filmed on location in Mongolia for two and a half months, and staged many big scenes that are rare in Japanese dramas.​

Although the plot has mixed reviews, the play did make great efforts to build an imaginary country-the Republic of Balka (バルカ国, Republic of Balka, Бѩлканы Бѯгд Найрамдах Улс).

According to the setting of the play, the Republic of Balka is a country in Central Asia, located to the north of China's Xinjiang, west of Mongolia, east of Kazakhstan, and south of Russia. In the capital, Kudan, the locals speak Mongolian.

The territory of the Republic of Balka actually consists of the Altai Republic of the Russian Federation, the southern part of the Republic of Tuva, one part each of the Ubsu, Bayan-Ulegi and Khovd provinces of Mongolia, and the eastern part of the East Kazakhstan Oblast of Kazakhstan.

It can be said that the "Balka Republic" is purely a territory "borrowed" from these three countries. Of course, the crew had the good sense not to damage our country's territorial integrity.

I just don’t know what the other three countries think.

According to the map that appears in the play, we can find that the Balka Republic has a total of 5 provincial jurisdictions: the capital Kudan (Куудан), Evongole Province (Өвөнгол аймаг), Serangay Province (Селангай аймаг), Tao Lemet Province (Долмет аймаг), Mahirim Province (Машрим аймаг).

The capital Kudan (Куудан) seems to be located near the village of Акташ in the Altai Republic of Russia.

In reality, this is just a small village with a population of 2,113, which emerged due to mercury mining.

But the filming location in the play is Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, where you can see Sukhbaatar Square, the Statue of Genghis Khan, the Blue Sky Tower and other landmark buildings.

Evongaol Province (Ѩвѩнгол аймаг) surrounds the capital Kudan Territory↓

It is roughly equivalent to the main body of the Kosh-Agachsky District (Кош-Агачский район) of the Russian Altai Republic plus the southern part of the Uragan District (Улаганский район) and the southern part of the Ust-Koksa District (Усть-Ко́ксинский район).

The northwest Serangay Province (Селангай аймаг) is roughly equivalent to the western part of Uvsu Province (Увс аймаг) in Mongolia, the northern part of Bayan-Ulegi Province (Баян-Өлгий аймаг), and the Mongontyga District of the Republic of Tuva, Russia. (Монгун-Тайгинский район) most.

An obvious geographical indicator is the Uvvsu Lake (Увс Нуур), the largest lake in Mongolia in reality. This large lake covers an area of ​​3,350 square kilometers. In reality, most of it belongs to Uvvsu Province, Mongolia, and a small part in the northeast belongs to Tuva, Russia. Republic, this setting is also used in the play.

Lake Ureg (Ѯѯрэг Нуур) to the west of Lake Uvsu became part of the Republic of Balka, as well as Lake Hintiktig-Holy (Хиндиктиг-Холь) in Tuva. It is worth noting that the border between Serangei Province and Gvon Gol Province is highly similar to the border between the Republic of Altai and the Republic of Tuva.

In addition, the Ureg Lake in the Balka map has a river flowing into it, and it has become the boundary river with Mongolia. In reality, this river does not exist, but in reality the eighth largest lake in Mongolia, Achit Lake (Ачит Нуур) does. Disappeared.

The southeastern Dolmet Province (Долмет аймаг) is equivalent to most of Mongolia's Bayan-Ulegi Province and the northwest corner of Khovd Province. Looking at the map, this is a sparsely populated province.

In the south is the "Adao Desert" (Адо элсэн цөл). In fact, Bayan-Ulegi Province is mountainous and glacial and has many lakes. About 10% of the territory is covered by forest.

The protagonist in the play is going to a city called Sedol in the province, and the coordinates of the place even appeared: 43°35′28.4N 104°25′16.2''E↓

But when you put it on Google Maps, you will find that this place is located in Daranzadgad (Даланзадгад) in Mongolia's South Gobi Province, which is thousands of miles away from the setting in the play.

The western Masirim Province (Машрим аймаг) is equivalent to the western part of the Katon-Karagai District and the western part of Kurceum in the Eastern Kazakhstan Oblast (Шыѓыс њазаћстан облысы). The more obvious geographical indicator is Markakol Lake. (Марћакнл). In the play, it is set that there is a Muslim settlement here.

The virtual maps that appear in the play are all produced by "fantasy map writer" Imaizumi Takayuki. This old man has been drawing virtual maps since he was 7 years old. Now he has opened a company called "Geo Research Institute" and has become a "self-employed person in the Department of Map Geography". His business includes drawing maps for film and television dramas and online treasure hunt games.

above.

Regarding the virtual country in Japanese dramas, you can also read: The fictional country and fictional language in "Xiang Bang"