United States of America

The , more commonly known as the United States, USA or U.S. is a federal constitutional republic situated mostly in central North America. Its forty-eight contiguous states and, the capital district, lie between the Pacific and , bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west across the. The state of is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Pacific and Caribbean such as Puerto Rico.

Main
In the Grand Theft Auto universe, most of the locations in the games are based on cities and states found in the real-life USA.


 * Liberty City is based on and is one of the three settings of Grand Theft Auto 1 and the main setting of Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Grand Theft Auto IV. It also makes a minor appearance in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
 * Vice City is based on the city of and the  located in South Florida. It is one of the three settings in Grand Theft Auto 1 and the main setting in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.
 * San Andreas takes different inspirations depending of the universe:
 * The city from the 2D Universe is based on . It is one of the three setings in Grand Theft Auto 1.
 * The state from the 3D Universe is inspired by the real-life states of and, comprised of fictional cities based on real cities in those states, these are: Los Santos (Los Angeles), San Fierro (San Francisco) and Las Venturas (Las Vegas).
 * The state from the HD Universe is closely based on real-life Southern California and is comprised of two main counties: Los Santos County and Blaine County. It is the main setting of Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online.
 * The State of Alderney is based on the state of and is located to the west of Liberty City. Although the two states are completely independent from one another, Alderney City is known by many as being part of Liberty City's metropolitan area. It is part of the main setting of Grand Theft Auto IV.
 * The State of North Yankton is based on and is the minor setting in Grand Theft Auto V, in the Prologue and in the mission Bury the Hatchet.

Locations
The State of San Andreas, which contains three large cities and rural areas with small towns between, is located in the southwest, considering it has large deserts. The 3D Universe's Liberty City is located somewhere in the northeast, since it snowed in the mission Saint Mark's Bistro in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and the player must fly east to get there, the Grand Theft Auto IV rendition of Liberty City is in Liberty City State also on the East Coast. Note that the 3D Universe and HD Universe do not follow the same canon.

Vice City is located in the south of the United States. Unlike the other cities featured in-game, Vice City is the only known fictional city to be located in a real-life state, as various characters refer to the city as being located in Florida.

In all the games (excluding GTA V), the cities are always located on several islands connected by bridges. They appear to be isolated islands in the middle of the sea, but this is due to game limitations. Rockstar Games have stated that they avoid placing unreachable pieces of land within the games to keep the complete feel to the game. There are multiple islands, and every game except GTA V starts with certain bridges blocked, restricting the player from exploring the entire city at the start of the game. There is always a story as to why the bridges are shut, sometimes relative to the location of the game, for example; the bridges in Vice City are shut due to hurricane warnings, while in Liberty City they are blocked due to to terrorist threats against the city (HD Era), and bridges in San Andreas are blocked because of a major earthquake and Frank Tenpenny warning Carl that he couldn't leave the town. These restrictions are lifted as the story progresses, with the earlier reason for them being closed having been blown over, unlocking new parts of the city/state.

Secondary
Other cities are mentioned as well and some of them are the main settings of other Rockstar's videogames:


 * Bullworth is a town in, and is where the game Bully takes place, apparently as a bridge between the 3D and HD Universes. GTA IV contains references to Bully, as Bully contains references to 3D Universe.
 * Carcer City is an industrial possibly based in Alderney State or Liberty State, and is where the game  takes place. It takes place in the 3D Universe. There are references to Manhunt in GTA III during a news segment on the radio saying that Carcer City is not too far from Liberty City.
 * ,, and are unknown to be in the same universe, as there are no references to indicate this, but nothing to contradict it either. However, the real states of New York and California are mentioned in the game so all 3 regions may be in a different universe. However, Sandy Shores (small town which featured in GTA V) has a street named Cholla Springs Avenue, a reference to a desert location in Red Dead Redemption. There is also a car hire business named Escalera Rent-A-Car, a reference to the Nuevo Paraiso town of Escalera. Also in GTA Online you can pick John Marston or a descendant of the aforementioned to be your father.
 * During the mission Practice Swing in The Ballad of Gay Tony, Tony refers to Rocco as being under the age of consent in, thus confirming the State of Utah's existence in the GTA universe.
 * Tony also refers as stated in a Liberty Tree article: " If I wanted to go to bed at 8 pm everyday, I would go to Ohio. Not that there's anything wrong with Ohio. I just used it as an example".
 * In a GTA IV commercial for the in-game movie Dragon Brain, California was mentioned.

Politicians
Throughout the GTA games, numerous United States politicians are mentioned, including presidents, congressmen, governors, and mayors. These include both fictional and real-life individuals. Fictional U.S. politicians are used to parody several real-life individuals as well as the U.S. and local governments.

3D Universe

 * Presidents
 * John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) - In GTA San Andreas, set in 1992, The Truth mentions John F. Kennedy and his assassination.
 * Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) - Mentioned on the radio and his photo is an easter egg in GTA Vice City.
 * George W Bush (2001-2009) - The Liberty Tree article "The W Comes To Town" shows George W. Bush having just been elected president at the time of GTA III, entirely canon with real life events.


 * Congressmen
 * Alex Shrub (?-1986) - A fictional right-wing Florida congressman appearing in GTA Vice City whose name and mannerisms are based on George H.W. Bush, voices his intention to run for president, although he fails after his affair with porn star Candy Suxxx becomes public (all of this happening in 1986). Said affair became a very public spectacle, even across the country in San Andreas where photos of Shrub and Suxxx are seen on Carl Johnson's wall.


 * Mayors
 * Roger C. Hole (?-1998) - Liberty City Mayor.
 * Miles O'Donovan (1998-?) - Liberty City Mayor.

HD Universe

 * Presidents
 * Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809) - Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton mentioned in GTA IV in TV program "History of Liberty".
 * Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865) - Abraham Lincoln and his assassin John Wilkes Booth are mentioned on the GTA V website Yourdeadfamily.com.
 * George Lawton (Unknown) - Presumably based on George H.W. Bush. He became a senator after serving as president.
 * Joe Lawton (Sometime between 2007/2008-2009, 2013-present) - A parody of former president George W Bush mentioned in both GTA IV and GTA V.


 * Mayors
 * Julio Ochoa (2001-2009) - Liberty City Mayor. Possibly a parody of Michael Bloomberg or Rudolph Giuliani.


 * Governors
 * John Hunter (2008) - A liberal candidate running for governor of the State of Liberty in GTA IV.
 * Michael Graves (2008) - A conservative candidate running for governor of the State of Liberty in GTA IV.
 * Jock Cranley (2013) - A conservative candidate running for governor of the State of San Andreas in GTA V.
 * Sue Murry (2013) - A liberal candidate running for governor of the State of San Andreas in GTA V.

2D Universe

 * Liberty City (New York City)
 * Western Landmass (New Jersey)
 * Central Landmass (Manhattan)
 * Eastern Landmass (Brooklyn, Queens)
 * Minor Islands (Roosevelt Island, Rikers Island)
 * North Eastern Island (The Bronx)


 * San Andreas (San Francisco)
 * Northern Landmass (San Francisco)
 * South Eastern Landmass (Marin County)


 * Vice City (Miami)
 * Western Landmass (Miami Mainland)
 * North Eastern Island (Miami Beach)
 * Eastern Island


 * Anywhere City

State of Florida

 * Vice City (Miami)

State of Liberty
Note: The latter is not included in any gameworld, and therefore inaccessible in-game.
 * Liberty City
 * Portland (Brooklyn, Queens, Lower Manhattan)
 * Staunton Island (Manhattan, Staten Island)
 * Shoreside Vale (New Jersey, Bronx, Long Island, Westchester)
 * Upstate Liberty (Upstate New York)

State of San Andreas

 * Bone County
 * Area 69
 * Fort Carson
 * Las Brujas
 * Las Payasadas
 * Flint County
 * Angel Pine
 * Las Venturas (Las Vegas)
 * Los Santos (Los Angeles)
 * Red County
 * Blueberry
 * Dillimore
 * Montgomery
 * Palomino Creek
 * San Fierro (San Francisco)
 * Tierra Robada
 * Aldea Malvada
 * Bayside
 * El Quebrados
 * Las Barrancas
 * Whetstone
 * Angel Pine

Unknown State(s)

 * Carcer City (Pittsburgh, Camden or Detroit)
 * Cottonmouth (possibly New Orleans or Tampa)

Mentioned Locations

 * States
 * Alaska (mentioned in the talk show Pressing Issues in VCPR)
 * Idaho (mentioned by Toni on Flash FM in GTA Vice City)
 * Indiana (mentioned by Toni on Flash FM in GTA Vice City)
 * Kansas (mentioned by pedestrians in GTA Vice City)
 * Nebraska (mentioned by Toni on Flash FM in GTA Vice City)
 * Alabama (mentioned by Pastor Richards as his place of birth in a fictional town named Mars)
 * Ohio (mentioned by Mike Toreno in Highjack in GTA San Andreas)
 * Panama (mentioned by Mike Toreno in The Introduction in GTA San Andreas)


 * Cities
 * Capital City (Washington D.C.)
 * Columbia, Missouri (Mentioned by Mary-Beth Maybell on K-Rose in GTA San Andreas)
 * Green Bay, Wisconsin (Mentioned by BJ Smith on K-Chat in GTA Vice City)
 * Nashville, Tennessee (Mentioned by Mary-Beth Maybell on K Rose in GTA San Andreas)

State of Alderney

 * Alderney City (Jersey City)
 * Acter
 * Acter Industrial Park
 * Alderney State Correctional Facility
 * Berchem
 * Leftwood
 * Normandy
 * Port Tudor
 * Tudor
 * Westdyke

State of Liberty

 * Liberty City (New York City)
 * Algonquin
 * Bohan
 * Broker
 * Dukes

New Hampshire

 * Bullworth

North Yankton

 * Ludendorff (Fargo)

State of San Andreas

 * Blaine County
 * Fort Zancudo
 * Grapeseed
 * Harmony
 * Paleto Bay
 * Sandy Shores
 * Los Santos County (Los Angeles County)
 * Chumash
 * Los Santos
 * Davis
 * Red County

Mentioned Locations

 * States
 * Arizona (mentioned in The Lost and Damned)
 * Michigan (mentioned on Leftover-vacations.com)
 * Ohio (mentioned in The Ballad of Gay Tony)
 * South Carolina (mentioned on the radio talk show Just or Unjust on WKTT Radio)
 * Texas (mentioned in GTA IV as Wade Johnson's birthplace)
 * Utah (mentioned in The Ballad of Gay Tony)
 * California (mentioned in a commercial for the in-game movie Dragon Brain)
 * Connecticut (mentioned by various club goers in The Ballad of Gay Tony)


 * Cities
 * Carcer City (possibly in located in The State of Alderney, possibly based on Camden, New Jersey, Detroit and parts of Pittsburgh) (mentioned in The Paleto Score)
 * Chicago
 * Fairbanks (mentioned in The Science Of Crime ad on radio)
 * Minneapolis
 * New Orleans (mentioned on Liesdamnlies.net, a user called Phil from London posts about a holiday he took to New Orleans)
 * Pittsburgh (mentioned in "Strange Tramps Seen All Over Liberty City")
 * San Fierro (mentioned multiple times in GTA IV and also mentioned on Fabien LaRouche's website in GTA V)
 * Las Venturas (Mentioned multiple times in GTA IV and on the CB radio of certain cars in GTA V)
 * Red County (Mentioned in GTA IV and the CB radio of semi trucks in GTA V)
 * The Carraways and specifically, East Carraway, mentioned multiple times in GTA IV and GTA V.
 * Salem (a map was seen in the backroom of the club Bahama Mamas in TBoGT)

Others

 * Even though the Grand Theft Auto video games are made in the United Kingdom, specifically Edinburgh, Scotland, they are released first in the United States of America, and subsequently Canada followed by the UK and Europe. The games are primarily based on American popular culture, and nearly all have been set in fictitious (or copied) locations on the American mainland. The music, the clothes, the slang, and the abundance of vehicles in the game are considerably of American origin.
 * The Idaho, the Washington and the Tampa are vehicles named after American cities of the same name.
 * The San Andreas Flight School Update added an USA Chute Bag in GTA Vand in the enhanced version, the Dukes has a customizable option where the player can add an American flag to the roof of the car for $2,500.
 * The Police Stinger police car, the Liberator monster truck and the Sovereign motorcycle have American-themed schemes on it.
 * There is a USA/American scheme for the Marshall monster truck.
 * Several Vehicle Brands appears to be of an American origin or mostly based on real-life American brands (i.e. Vapid, Jobuilt, Mammoth, among others.)
 * Several weapons in Grand Theft Auto V are stated to be of an American origin or manufactured by American firearm manufacturers.

Trivia

 * Multiple real-life U.S. states are featured in GTA V, on the wall of the filling station near Trevor's Trailer, in the form of number plates. The states included are Washington, Colorado, Michigan, Ohio, Maryland, and California (included twice, with different designs). There is also a plate with the year 1965 on it, with the rest of the text covered up.
 * The 1965 plate is more than likely from Ohio or based off of the Ohio plates from that time.

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