District 13

**District 13** is one of the thirteen districts of Panem (and for 75 years between rebellions, an independent nation), and was widely thought to have been destroyed by the Capitol during the First Rebellion (74 years before the start of the series). The Capitol claimed that the district had been uninhabitable ever since, due to the chemical bombs that were dropped on it; during television broadcasts, the ruins of the district were shown to still be smouldering. It is later revealed, however, that these broadcasts were faked; District 13 had actually struck a secret deal with the Capitol and was allowed to secede from Panem. The general public knew that District 13's was graphite mining, and while they did mine the substance on a small scale, their primary industry was nuclear science and technology. After the district was supposedly destroyed, the Capitol promoted Graphite mining as 13's only industry as a further part of its propaganda regime. This is similar to how District 2's main industry is masonry, but the Capitol attempted to conceal the fact that Peacekeepers were also trained and equipped there. District 13 is located in the northeast of Panem, north of District 12.

## History

### Pre-Hunger Games

Little is known about District 13's early history other than that at some point in the past, it was founded as one of the original thirteen outlying administrative districts of Panem. The district was originally the center of Panem's military-industrial complex, with a focus on the development and production of nuclear weapons, technology, and science. Graphite mining was a secondary industry for District 13, with it likely playing some role in the District's nuclear production and emerging technology. Based off its primary industry, the District was probably militarized to an extent, likely being a significant provider for the Capitol's Armed Forces, supplying them with equipment, vehicles, and the various weapons utilized by Panem's military.

Presumably, along with the other twelve districts of Panem, District 13 also suffered oppression by the Capitol for an indeterminate amount of time. Years of this would ultimately culminate in the outbreak of the First Rebellion in Panem. While the exact cause of the civil war is unknown, District 13's status as the nation's primary weapons manufacturer meant it was most capable of launching an armed insurrection. Thus, it can be assumed that District 13 was most likely the instigator of the conflict and went on to be a major supporter of other rebel contingents in the other districts.

Following the failed invasion of the Capitol, the tide turned against the rebel forces. Realizing the inevitability of a Capitol victory in the conflict, District 13 launched a successful gambit in seizing the Capitol's primary nuclear weapon stockpile. Knowing the Capitol possessed a secondary stockpile out west, District 13 negotiated a peace treaty under threat of mutually assured destruction. By allowing the district to quietly secede as an independent state, District 13 would withdraw all support for the rebels in the other districts and pretend to have been destroyed above ground. Not wanting a nuclear war, the Capitol reluctantly agreed to the terms.

As such, District 13 evacuated all of its forces and population to a series of underground bunkers while the Capitol obliterated the above ground infrastructure through repeated aerial bombardment. With the loss of their military support, the rebellion collapsed in the face of the Capitol's overwhelming superiority in what was known as the Dark Days. Despite failing to secure freedom for the entire country, District 13 would continue to fortify its position over the following decades in preparation to eventually liberate the remaining twelve districts from the tyranny of the Capitol.

### *The Hunger Games*

Mayor Undersee's speech prior to the Reaping told the story of how the districts of Panem rose out of the ashes of North America, and how District 13 was obliterated during the Dark Days.

Katniss Everdeen recalls that graphite mining was an industry in District 13 before it was obliterated and that when the district is occasionally shown on television it's still smouldering from the toxic bombs dropped on it by the Capitol.

### *Catching Fire*

*(Book)*

Bonnie and Twill, two refugees from District 8, explain to Katniss why they believe the destruction story might not be completely true; whenever the Capitol shows television footage of District 13, the ruins are always smoldering. While this does tie in with the Capitol's official position that the district is still uninhabitable, Bonnie and Twill realized that the exact same mockingjay made an appearance in every broadcast, even in ones supposedly filmed years apart. This reveals that the Capitol never actually shows the current state of the district, but simply replays old footage with a different reporter spliced in. Bonnie and Twill believed that the district was still inhabited by the people living underground. They also expressed the belief that the Capitol may have left District 13 alone in the first place because of the district's speciaity in nuclear weaponry- up until this point, Katniss was apparently unaware that 13 ever had nuclear weapons, but realized that her only information on the subject came from the Capitol itself. Although she is slow to accept Bonnie and Twill's theory, Katniss begins to review footage of the old broadcast, and realizes that they were right about the mockingjay, which leads her to wonder what's actually in the district. Following her rescue from the Hunger Games Arena at the end of the Third Quarter Quell, Katniss learns that not only is District 13 still inhabited, but that it is being used as the base for a new Rebellion.

### *Mockingjay*

Upon Katniss' arrival in District 13, she learns a fuller history of the place: Due to the non-aggression pact they established with the Capitol seventy-five years earlier, District 13 has remained politically independent and isolated from the rest of Panem. In exchange for this freedom, they promised not to attack the Capitol and start another war. The Capitol was willing to accept this arrangement because District 13 had trained their nuclear missiles on the Capitol and were threatening to destroy the city. Even though the Capitol had far more nukes than 13, they could not risk having the entire country destroyed because of a nuclear war. As a result of their political isolation, District 13 has never participated in The Hunger Games.

After this agreement was reached, the Capitol cut off all outside access to the district and demolished the visible remains above ground. This allowed them to falsely display the ruins of the district to the rest of Panem, to remind them of the consequences of rebelling against the Capitol. As part of its propaganda regime, the Capitol also stated that 13's primary industry had been graphite mining, with no mention of its nuclear weapons. The Capitol may have believed that, with no outside support, District 13 would simply die off. Indeed, the inhabitants struggled for some time just to stay alive, and despite their hoarded arsenal of weaponry, Boggs made it clear to Katniss that they were in no position to take on the Capitol again until very recently. It is also mentioned that there was a pox outbreak District 13 some years prior to Katniss' arrival, lowering the population and making most of the survivors infertile (for that reason, District 13 was eager to accept refugees during the Second Rebellion - as Dalton, a refugee from District 10 put it - for "breeding stock"). Unsurprisingly, there were very few children in the district. In order to survive, the people of District 13 had developed innovative technologies that allowed them to maximise available resources, as well as a strict, militaristic lifestyle that emphasized frugality and a constant readiness to defend themselves against potential attacks.

When District 13 gained its independence, it also retained control of its valuable arsenal of nuclear weaponry, and the non-aggression pact with the Capitol ensured its safety from outside threats. When the people relocated underground, they began developing and manufacturing new types of weaponry, and continued to so for the armed forces during the Second Rebellion.

#### Second Rebellion

After the third Quarter Quell, Katniss Everdeen, Finnick Odair, and Beetee were rescued from the arena and brought to District 13, along with the survivors from the bombing of District 12. The tributes then trained for their roles in Second Rebellion. Katniss served as the symbol, while Beetee created specialized weaponry and infiltrated the Capitol's computer network. Finnick performed in a special propoganda film to help distract the Capitol while Peeta Mellark, Johanna Mason, and Annie Cresta were rescued from imprisonment.

During an interview with Caesar Flickerman, Peeta warned District 13 on live TV that the Capitol was going to bomb the district. This gave them a ten-minute head start to the bunkers. The Capitol saw through this act, and Peeta was whipped and tortured as punishment.

District 13 played a valuable role in securing freedom for the entire nation throughout the Second Rebellion, through its roles as a weapons supplier and communications center. The district also provided air support to the rebels, most notably in the Bombing of the Nut (District 2) and the Bombing of the Capitol.

## Everyday life

### Schedules

Citizens of District 13 live a highly regimented life: Every morning, each citizen gets a temporary tattoo on the underside of their arm that shows their daily schedule. The schedule displays, in 24-hour time, where to be and what activities are to be performed at specific times. After a certain time, the ink breaks down and can be washed off in preparation for the following day.

Activities such as meals - which are normally taken communally - are scheduled regularly every day and participated in by all citizens. Other activities vary significantly from person to person and depend on several factors: Children under the age of 14 attend school, taking classes on history and other subjects. Depending on their background, children may have other duties in addition to schooling- Primrose Everdeen assisted in the district's hospital. If you are over 14, you qualify for the rank of "soldier" and receive military training in addition to some education sessions. Activities for adults appear to be more specialisez- when the refugees from District 12 arrived, Mrs. Everdeen was assigned to the hospital (due to her healing background) and Greasy Sae to the kitchens. At some point during the day, citizens are given 30 minutes of down time with family (i.e. "Reflection").

Although schedules are not usually subject to change - at least not changes requested by citizens - Katniss Everdeen insisted on several conditions before she agreed to help the rebellion, some of which involved scheduling: In District 13, people were not allowed to have outside pets (as a precaution), but Katniss asked that her younger sister, Prim, be to keep the cat named Buttercup she took care of in District 12 in exchange for being the rebels Mockingjay. Buttercup is let outside to find food, but his comings and goings were strictly controlled, and if he had caused any security problems, he would have been shot on sight. If he missed curfew, he would be locked out.

Katniss also requested special hunting time. President Coin accepted, but stipulated that she could only hunt within a strict quarter-mile radius for a time span of two hours and had to use the game that they, she and Gale, caught for the kitchen in District 13. They each had a tracking device attached to their ankle.

### Celebrations

Weddings in District 13 are relatively low-key events with the couple signing a marriage certificate and being assigned a compartment for them to share. Due to their strict, frugal lifestyle, the citizens are not much prone to celebration, and Katniss muses that they seem to have no holidays at all (something that even the poverty-stricken citizens of District 12 indulged in).

## Armed Forces

As District 13 was formerly the center of Panem's military-industrial complex (prior to the First Rebellion), this meant that the district was the primary weapons supplier to the armed forces of the nation. Its military might played a crucial role in both the First and Second Rebellion, in supporting the other districts to successfully launch an armed insurrection against the Capitol.

During its 75 years as an independent state, District 13 was mentioned to have continued building upon its armed forces and military technology. In addition to its seized pile of nuclear weapons, District 13 also possesses a fleet of hovercraft, with some of it formerly belonging to the Capitol's Peacekeeping Force.

All able-bodied citizens of District 13 ages fourteen and above are obliged to serve in its armed forces, with its standard issue infantry rifle being the Heckler & Koch G36 rifle.

## Trivia

* It is stated that District 13 is in the Northeast region. The only major deposit of graphite in North America is near Lake Huron in Canada.
* District 13 is the only district to never take part in a Hunger Games event.
* Districts 2 and 13 are the only districts with dual industries, though no other district knew about its second primary industry. District 12 also has dual industries but only after the Second Rebellion. However, nuclear energy and graphite mining are closely related, as graphite is one of the most important components on a nuclear reactor.
* In its prime, District 13 may have been one of the larger districts: One reason Bonnie and Twill didn't fully believe the graphite story was because the mines themselves were small and few in number, and the population of 13 was known to be much larger than what small scale mining actually required.
* District 13 is the only known district to be located underground, though it originally existed above ground before the First Rebellion.
* District 13 was the starting point of the First Rebellion and in some ways of the Second Rebellion.
* District 13 is one of the three known districts to be bombed during the Second Rebellion (District 8 and District 12 were also bombed).
* It is stated by Prim in the third film that District 13 had an epidemic a few years ago that made President Coin lose her daughter and her husband. This could be the pox outbreak that Katniss said had occurred.

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1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 *Catching Fire*, Chapter 10
2. ↑ *The Hunger Games*, Chapter 1
3. ↑ *The Hunger Games*, Chapter 6
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 *Mockingjay*, Chapter 2
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 *Mockingjay*, Chapter 3