| Quadling Country | |
|---|---|
Map of Oz, with Quadling Country in the south |
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| The Oz series location | |
| Creator | L. Frank Baum |
| Genre | Children's books |
| Type | Fairy country |
| Notable locations | Forest of the Fighting Trees, Dainty China Country, Glinda's Palace, Jinxland |
| Notable characters | Glinda, Hammer-Heads, Hoppers, Horners |
The Quadling Country is the southern division of L. Frank Baum's fictional Land of Oz. It is distinguished by the color red, worn by most of the local inhabitants as well as the color of their surroundings. Like the Munchkin Country, the outer regions of the Quadling Country are rich, pleasant and beautiful, inhabited by kind and friendly people, while the areas closer to the Emerald City (i.e. most of the regions between the mountains of the Hammer-Heads and the Forest of the Fighting Trees) are forbidding and dangerous (see "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" section below).
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Like all the countries of Oz, the Quadling Country contains various unusual sights and places. Among them are:
In Gregory Maguire's revisionist Oz novels Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West and Son of a Witch, Quadling Country is described as a largely undeveloped, swampy region, with the ruddy-faced Quadlings being portrayed as artistic and sexually free. It is also stated that in Oz they represent the lowest of the low in humans. It is here that Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West), Nessarose (the Wicked Witch of the East) and Shell are raised, though they are natives of Munchkinland. Despite its unprofitable swampy soil, Quadling Country is reported to be situated above vast deposits of rubies, and for this reason the Wizard sends his forces to clear the area for mining. This campaign results in the decimation of both the population and the ecosystem of the area.