Grand Theft Auto World

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The Grand Theft Auto World is a fictional world containing the settings or otherwise-mentioned locations of all the GTA games (for example, Liberty City, Vice City, Carcer City, and the state of San Andreas). It is assumed that the rest of the real world exists within the fictional world, although possibly without some of the major cities to which the GTA locations are analogous (Liberty City/state of Liberty may replace New York City/state of New York, for example). Continuity is generally retained throughout the games, creating a coherent fictional universe.

A map selection screen in the first Grand Theft Auto game reveals that the contemporary renditions of Liberty City, San Andreas, and Vice City are located in or near New York, California, and Florida respectively. It is unclear whether these locations are canon with the rest of the series, however it is known that Vice City is located in Florida. Furthermore, during one mission in GTA San Andreas, the player could fly a plane eastwards and arrive, after a cut scene, in Liberty City. This relationship is similar to the real-world geographical placing of the states of California and Nevada (upon which San Andreas is based) to New York (upon which Liberty City is based). This does involve crossing a vast body of water, but bodies of water are used to isolate game-worlds in the GTA series, and do not necessarily indicate that these game-worlds are truly islands.

In between game eras, the recurring locations of GTA are represented very differently. Liberty City appeared in Grand Theft Auto 1 and GTA III with almost no similarities other than that they were both broadly based on New York City. Liberty City retained continuity throughout the GTA III Era (compare GTA III's rendition to that of Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Grand Theft Auto Advance), however GTA IV introduced a new Liberty City created from scratch.

Featured locations

These cities, islands, states and countries are featured in at least one official Grand Theft Auto game as a playable location. This does not include modifications or locations that just mentioned in-game or shown on an in-game television etc.

Liberty City

Liberty City, based on New York City, is a location that has appeared in GTA 1, GTA III, GTA Vice City, GTA San Andreas, GTA Advance, GTA Liberty City Stories, GTA IV and GTA Chinatown Wars. It is generally depicted as a large city with a sizable population (4 million in GTA III, double that in GTA IV), featuring a complete transportation infrastructure of roads and railways, and is located on a geographical configuration of shorelines and islands, similar to that of New York City. The city has been described as one suffering heavily from crime and corruption, with the presence of organized crime, feuding street gangs, petty criminals, and rampant misconduct among city officials and law enforcement. Due to its ever-growing crime statistics (the highest in the U.S.), it has been repeatedly voted as "The Worst Place In America".

Liberty City is located in the state of Liberty, a parody of the state of New York. It is likely that all the other cities in the real state of New York exist in the state of Liberty. It is unknown if Liberty City is the capital of it's state, after all New York City is not the capital of New York.

New Guernsey/Alderney

New Guernsey, based on New Jersey, is a location that appeared in GTA 1. It consists of Guernsey City (based on Jersey City), Fort Law (Fort Lee), Schlechberg (Gutenberg), Hackenslash (Hackensack) and Eaglewood (Englewood).

In Grand Theft Auto IV, New Jersey was used as a location again, alongside Liberty City, but was renamed to Alderney. Although Alderney is an entire state, it appears to be the size of a borough (about the same size as Algonquin), and is treated as a borough of Liberty City (although this may be due to technical limitations—Alderney foot police, for example, are seen wearing different uniforms to the LCPD, although LCPD vehicles patrol Alderney). Alderney contains neighborhoods that are based on different cities and regions in New Jersey, such as Weehawken, Inglewood, Jersey City, Newark, Kearny, and Elizabeth, among others.

Vice City

 
Vice City

Vice City is the setting in GTA 1, GTA Vice City and GTA Vice City Stories. It is based on Miami, Florida. In the GTA III era games, it consists of two major islands and six smaller islands; both main islands separated by a large body of water similar to that of Biscayne Bay (separating Miami Beach from mainland Miami). Each major island is divided into several districts. The population of Vice City is given as around 1.8 million. Unlike Liberty City and the state of San Andreas, Vice City has no railway or rapid transit systems, and all islands are connected by road and pedestrian bridges.

In the games, Vice City is based on Miami, but it has been confirmed to be in the real state of Florida, therefore it's possible that Vice City replaces Miami within the GTA World; however, "Miami" was mentioned in a cut scene and various billboards in GTA III, leaving Miami's presence in the GTA world ambiguous at best.

San Andreas

 
Los Santos during dawn

San Andreas, which is intended to be based in the West Coast of the United States, has appeared as four different entities in the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series of video games.

Los Santos is the largest city in San Andreas. It is based on real life Los Angeles, California. It borders Red County to the north and Flint County to the west.

 
View of San Fierro from Tierra Robada.

San Fierro is the smallest city in San Andreas, based on San Francisco, California. San Fierro is located in the western part of San Andreas. South of the city lies the massive Mount Chiliad, and to the north lies the county of Tierra Robada. San Fierro Bay lies to the north, and The Panopticon to the east.

Las Venturas is based on Las Vegas, Nevada. Like its real life counterpart, Las Venturas is a gambling city located in the desert region. The city is also notable for its sizable freeway system.

Towns There are thirteen small towns in the GTA: San Andreas part of the state, in addition to the cities: Palomino Creek, Montgomery, Dillimore, Blueberry, Angel Pine, El Quebrados, Bayside, Las Barrancas, Fort Carson, Las Payasadas, Valle Ocultado, Aldea Malvada and Las Brujas, (the latter two being ghost towns).

There are six small towns in GTA V in addition to Los Santos: Chumash, Grapeseed, Harmony, North Chumash, Paleto Bay, and Sandy Shores. Harmony and Sandy Shores are desert towns, while Grapeseed and Sandy Shores are on the shores of the Alamo Sea.

Anywhere City

 
Concept art of Anywhere City.

Anywhere City is the setting of Grand Theft Auto 2. It is presumably called this as it is set in the near future, and doesn't bear any resemblance to any real life city in particular. It is divided into three separated parts - Commercial, Residential and Industrial (similar to the nature of the three main districts in GTA III). The infrastructure of Anywhere City is primarily composed of roadways and footpaths, but in later versions of the game released for the PC, a light rail transit system was provided.

 
London in real life

London

London, England, was the city used in both the mission packs available for the original Grand Theft Auto - Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 and Grand Theft Auto: London 1961. Manchester appears as a multi-player map in the second. To date, these are the only real-life cities to be used in a GTA game.

In GTA IV, Gay Tony mentions that he has clubs in London, and some pedestrians in GTA IV have British accents.

North Yankton

North Yankton is a state, based on North Dakota, and is featured in GTA V. It contains the small town of Ludendorff, where the missions Prologue and Bury The Hatchet take place.

Mentioned Locations

These locations do not feature in any GTA game, but are mentioned or shown. These could be mentioned by characters, posters, radio stations, television or anything else.

Cities/states within the United States of America
  • Carcer City is a location featured in Rockstar's Manhunt; references are made to it in various GTA games, suggesting that it exists within the GTA world. According to the 'Miles Traveled' system on the statistical screen on GTA IV, Carcer City is around 50 – 100 miles away from Liberty City.
  • Bullworth is the small New England town (possibly New Hampshire) which Bully takes place in. Bullworth Academy is seen on TV in GTA IV.
  • Capital City is a city mentioned in the miles traveled stats of GTA IV. It is possibly based on Washington, D.C. (United States Capital) or Albany, NY (New York's Capital).
  • Colorado is mentioned in the mission "Farewell 'Chunky' Lee Chong"
  • Cottonmouth, Florida is the setting of Rockstar's "Manhunt 2". The Cottonmouth police force makes use of Police Mavericks with similar paint jobs to the VCPD's mavericks. There are also many vehicles from the GTA series seen in the game (such as the Mule, Kuruma, Stinger, and Burrito), also the Majestic Hotel appears. Some fictional medications seen advertised in Manhunt 2 also appear on yourmexicandoctor.com in GTA IV.
  • Detroit, Michigan is mentioned on leftover-vacations.com in GTA IV.
  • Mars, Alabama is the birthplace of Pastor Richards.
  • Miami, Florida - in GTA III there are billboards saying "See you in Miami!", possibly foreshadowing GTA Vice City being based there and Ray Machowski mentions it after his departure from Liberty City. In GTA Vice City, there are billboards that say "Move over Miami!", referencing how Vice City has replaced Miami.
  • Reddick, Florida is the town in which the V-Rock radio station is set in 1984.
  • Arizona mentioned two times in The Lost and Damned, both times as place for Billy Grey to move over. First time as law abiding citizen and second as witness under witness protection program.
  • Minneapolis, Minnesota is mentioned in a radio advertisement for the musical "WTF."
  • Kansas is mentioned by pedestrians in GTA Vice City. If the player starts a fight, some may say "This isn't Kansas, you know!".
  • North Dakota is the birthplace of Tim.
  • Ohio is mentioned on Cluckin' Bell's homepage, and is also were a spin-off of The Science of Crime takes place.
  • Iowa is mentioned in a show at Perestroika.
  • Atlantic City is mentioned on Kent Paul's 80's Nostalgia Zone website, under the Yuppie and the Alien page.
  • Hawaii is mentioned in a Weazel News segment on the radio in GTA IV.
  • Silicon Valley is mentioned on some internet pages in GTA IV.
Rest of the World
  • Glasgow, Scotland is mentioned in the Police database as a home town of one of the Most Wanted criminals in GTA IV.
  • Kowloon is an area of Hong Kong, mentioned by Wu Zi Mu in the mission Ran Fa Li in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas; it is also the hometown of Huang Lee, the protagonist of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars.
  • Kent, England is the birthplace of Kent Paul.
  • Preston, England is mentioned on the GTA IV internet.
  • Bogota, Amsterdam, Bangkok, Toronto, Leith and Tokyo are cities mentioned in the official website of GTA III (Francis International Airport); flights are advertised for these cities, as well as to London, San Andreas, Vice City and Miami. Bogota is also mentioned as one of the cities SF-UR broadcasts, as says the electronic voice in one of the trailers ("From Liberty City, to San Fierro, to Bogota: house music, SF-UR.")
  • Paris, France and Hanover, Germany are mentioned on Internet pages in GTA IV.
  • France is mentioned, and French law enforcement (the GIGN and DGSE) appear in GTA Vice City
    • In GTA IV, The Statue of Happiness was given to Liberty City in 1886 from the French to mark 100 years free of British food and spelling. The president of France is requesting during 2008 that the statue be returned, this is in retaliation to American president, Joe Lawton, renaming all french maid outfits as "slutty Halloween costumes".
  • The German language exists, as several background characters in GTA IV can be heard saying German phrases like "Scheiße!" (shit!), "Entschuldigung" (excuse me), "Er hat eine Waffe" (he has a gun), "Er will mich töten" (he's trying to kill me), "Was wollen Sie von mir" (what do you want?), and "Gehen Sie!" (Go Away!).
  • Moscow, Russia is mentioned by Dimitri Rascalov (probably his birthplace/hometown) to Mikhail Faustin, and Russian Mafia members by listening to conversations.
  • Brazil is mentioned on the mission Departure Time in The Ballad of Gay Tony. Before Luis faces Bulgarin, he suggests that Tony should move to Brazil if he doesn't come back. Arnaud, a random character, mentions a brazilian prostitute on his second encounter with Luis.
  • Dublin, Ireland and some other Irish cities are mentioned at signs in the Lucky Winkles bar in GTA IV.
  • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is mentioned on Chatterbox FM in GTA III when Lazlow says "Working here sure beats the hell out of digging sewage ditches outside Kuala Lumpur."
  • Australia is mentioned a few times on the radio, and it is mentioned numerous times that they were at war with the United States some time in the past.
  • Baghdad, Iraq is mentioned in GTA IV by the radio show Fizz! on the radio station WKTT. One of the hosts says "Liberty City's entertainment scene has been hotter than a Baghdad barbecue!"
  • Belfast, Northern Ireland is mentioned in during the firefight with the LCPD in the GTA IV mission Three Leaf Clover. Derrick McReary may say something along the lines of "I haven't seen fighting like this since Belfast!"
  • Vietnam and the Vietnam war is mentioned at several occasions.
  • Cambodia is where some parts of the Evacuator takes place.
  • Iran is where rock musician Crow is playing a much-anticipated show during the events of GTA IV. It is advertised on the radio and on TV.
  • Djibouti, Fairbanks, Tuskegee, Panama City and Santiago are all mentioned in a radio commercial for the TV show The Science Of Crime.
  • Mexico is mentioned frequently, particularly in GTA Vice City and GTA San Andreas.
  • Sweden, Japan and Connecticut are all mentioned in an episode of Pressing Issues on VCPR in GTA Vice City Stories.
  • Beirut is mentioned as Liberty City's twin city in the GTA III Era.
  • Canada is mentioned by Roman Bellic in GTA IV and by pedestrians in the GTA IV era games. It is also mentioned by Trevor Philips in GTA V.
    • Roman Bellic lists "scared Canadians" as one of the many types of females to hit on in Liberty City.
    • In GTA IV, Many pedestrians exclaim "I'm going back to Canada!", "proud to be Canadian!" or "Canada's way safer than this!" when something threatening happens around them.
    • In GTA IV, Weazel News said in a report that "Canadians created hockey as a excuse to beat each other, just as us Americans did with football".
    • In GTA V, Trevor Philips tells a story to Wade Hebert of himself, but using a different name to confuse Wade, mentioning that he smuggled drugs from Canada.
  • Colombia is a South American country which is the origin point for the Colombian Cartel. The illicit drug SPANK is manufactured here and sent to Liberty City via sea transportation.
  • Switzerland is a country in Western Europe, and one of the mentioned possibilities of where Darko Brevic may be hiding during the events of Grand Theft Auto IV.
  • Bucharest, Romania is the capital city of Romania, and is where Darko Brevic had been hiding during the events of Grand Theft Auto IV.
  • Greece is a country in southeastern Europe, and is mentioned by some pedestrians. When shooting a gun in The Ballad of Gay Tony in Broker some pedestrians will mention this, for example, one screams; "I did not move from Greece to America to get shot!"
  • Utah is a US State and is mentioned in The Ballad of Gay Tony.
  • Bolivia is a South American country, infamously known for the production of cocaine. Derrick McReary mentions it in the mission Three Leaf Clover.
  • Singapore is a country in South East Asia. In The Ballad Of Gay Tony, a Weazel News report mentions that a skyscraper is missing from Singapore.
  • Easter Island is a polynesian island which is a special territory of Chile. In Grand Theft Auto IV, it is mentioned on the website easterislandcoverup.com.