Munchkin Country
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Munchkin Country (or Munchkinland in the 1939 film and its imitators) is a region in the fictional Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's Oz books, first described in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. In Wizard it was originally called "the land of Munchkins," and "Munchkin Country" in all subsequent Oz books. It is often referred to as "Munchkinland", which was introduced in the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz. Munchkin Country is linked to the Emerald City by means of the yellow brick road. As its name suggests, the inhabitants of Munchkin Country are called Munchkins.
"Munchkin" doesn't necessarily mean someone of short stature. Like the outside world's word "African," most people associate it with a specific race, but it really means a resident of the Munchkin Country. Many Munchkins portrayed in the books are of normal height, most notable being Nick Chopper, also known as the Tin Woodman.
Munchkin Country is distinguished by the color blue, which is worn by most of the Munchkins as well as the color of their surroundings.
Munchkin Country is the site where Dorothy Gale's house lands after being carried to Oz by a cyclone. The ruler in Munchkin Country is the Wicked Witch of the East, but upon Dorothy's arrival in Oz, she is eliminated when the house lands on top of her, causing much celebration among the Munchkins.
In Gregory Maguire's novels, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West and Son of a Witch (which use "Munchkinland"), the people are not all Munchkins, and so they are actually called Munchkinlanders. Maguire portrays Munchkinland as the breadbasket of Oz. Munchkinland is also shown to be the native home of Elphaba, or the Wicked Witch of the West, and her younger sister Nessarose (although in the novel, they grew up in Quadling Country). In the Broadway musical Wicked, based on the novel, their father is the governor of Munchkinland. In both adaptations, Nessarose eventually comes to power, but her corrupt ruling earns her loathing by the Munchkinlanders and the name "Wicked Witch of the East."
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