District 12

Heavily specializing in coal mining, District 12 exports coal to the Capitol and the rest of the country, while continuing to remain in abject poverty. With very few citizens receiving basic amenities such as food, water, and electricity, hunger issues, physical exhaustion, and death is rampant in this District.

District 12 Definition

Home of Katniss Everdeen, District 12 is the smallest and the poorest in Panem. It contains a sparse population of 10,000 (the remnants of the bombings during the First Rebellion), whose main industry is coal mining. However, the industry of District 12 shifted to medicine after the Second Rebellion.

Location

District 12 sprawls across the Appalachian mountains of North and South Carolina. In the Hunger Games map, this district is located on the east coast of Panem. It is bordered by three other districts – 6,8 and 13 on one side and the woods on the other. These woods are the forested regions of North Carolina’s Big Ivy Area in real life.

People of District 12

The people of District 12 are hardy workers that battle poverty and starvation on a daily basis. The children are mandated to attend school from a young age and are enrolled to work in the mines during adulthood. Some also grow up to take over their parents’ businesses, especially the ones from the merchant section.

The people of District 12 were distinct in their assistance. Like Katniss Everdeen and Gale Hawthorne, the people from the Seam had dark hair, grey eyes, and an olive complexion, while people from the merchant section possessed blue eyes and blonde hair, much like Peeta Mellark and his family.

Before the Second Rebellion, the population of District 12 was nearly 10,000. However, the Capitol destroyed the district and killed nearly everyone during the rebellion. Gale states that less than one-tenth (specifically 915) of the population made it out alive when they escaped to District 13. 

The Seam

Bordering the woods, the Seam is the poorest section of District 12. This part of the district consists of hundreds of exhausted coal miners who were forced to work in dangerous conditions in the mines every day. Not only were they exposed to carbon monoxide fumes regularly, but they were also under the risk of collapsing taverns. The workers used a canary as a warning signal under the mines – if it stopped singing, it was understood that they had run out of oxygen.

Most people lived in abject poverty here and only received electricity for a few hours each day. As such, everyone used candles to get by. It is also noted that nearly everything in the Seam was coated with dust from the coal mines.

The Merchant Section

The Merchant Section was socio-economically better off when compared to the Seam. This was the trading section of the district, with several small businesses owned and run by the people of the district. Goods were traded amongst other districts or shipped off to the Capitol. Most of the merchant section was better fed, and as a result, death by starvation was not as common here as it was in the Seam. 

Mayor Undersee and his daughter, Madge, lived in this section of the district, as well as Peeta Mellark. Katniss’ mother lived here as well, before marrying her husband who was from the Seam.

The Hob

The Hob is the black market of District 12. This is where Katniss and Gale used to sell their spoils from hunting, often to Peacekeepers and Mayor Undersee, who paid better than district residents. The Hob was home to Greasy Sae’s soup, white liquor, goats, and many more contraband items. It was burnt down after the 74th Hunger Games.

The Justice Building

The Justice Building is an area in every district that contains the seat of regional government. It also acts as the town hall where official business is conducted. 

The Justice Building in District 12 is used to register weddings and grace martyrs of coal mining accidents with medals of honor. The square in front of the Justice Building is also the site of the reaping when citizens are forced to attend and watch the names of tributes being drawn for the Hunger Games.

Hunger Issues

Hunger and starvation were a constant problem for the people of District 12. The people barely had food to get by, while the extreme physical exertion required for coal mining made it almost impossible for anyone to be well-nourished. The Seam suffered the most from hunger issues, with several people dying regularly due to starvation. Katniss and her family nearly suffered the same fate after her father’s death, until winter gave way to spring and Katniss could make soup from wildflowers.

Katniss and Gale regularly poached animals from the woods to keep their family alive, even though it was considered illegal. One of the ways in which a district could alleviate their problems with food was by signing up for tesserae, which most children in District 12 ended up doing. However, this was not nearly enough to fill up a family’s stomach.

The people in the merchant section were much better off in terms of food when compared to those from the Seam. It is noted that Peeta had a sturdy build and incredible physical strength, which can be partly attributed to the food he received from his parents’ bakery. Once, when Katniss was starving in the rain, Peeta tossed a piece of burnt bread in her direction, indicating that he and his family had more than enough to eat if they were getting rid of burnt food.

Weddings

Weddings were a small and traditional affair in District 12. The women wear well-worn white dresses while the men wear something apart from their mining clothes. The couple registers themselves in the Justice Building where they are assigned a small home. Friends and family gather to share food and, if available, a piece of cake. It was traditional for the couple to cross the threshold of their home to music and dancing, where they would light a fire and toast some bread.

Maybe it’s old-fashioned, but no one really feels married in District 12 until after the toasting.

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