Grand Theft Auto World
The Grand Theft Auto World is a fictional world consisting of fictional places such as, Liberty City, Vice City, Carcer City, San Andreas and other fictional areas. It is assumed that the rest of the real world exists within the fictional world.
All the locations in the GTA III Era games exist in the same fictional universe, since characters crossed between them, and there are no contradictions. Liberty City from Grand Theft Auto III is replicated almost identically in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Grand Theft Auto Advance, but set at a different time to GTA III to account for the differences. Likewise with Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas also overlaps with Liberty City, as outlined below.
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 overseas and arrive (by cutscene) in Liberty City. This relationship is similar to the real-world geographical placing of the states of California and Nevada (which San Andreas is based on) to New York (which Liberty City is based on).
However, outside of the GTA III era, the recurring locations are represented very differently. Liberty City appeared in Grand Theft Auto 1 and GTA III with almost no similarities other than the city they were both based on - New York. GTA Liberty City Stories and GTA Advance replicated the city again, but with the same style as GTA III. Grand Theft Auto IV is also based in Liberty City, and again has been created from scratch.
These different versions of the locations have to be taken in good faith to be the same place (in the case of the GTA III era) or as a totally new place (with the other games). The overlaps that will occur between the Liberty City of the GTA III era and that of GTA IV are common to the series, not the location.
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 sizeable population (4 million in GTA III), 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 from crime and corruption, with the presence of organized crime, feuding street gangs, petty criminals, and rampant misconduct among city officials and law enforcement. The city has been voted the Worst Place in America.
New Guernsey/Alderney
New Guernsey, based on New Jersey, is a location that appeared in GTA 1. It consists of Guernsey City (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. Even though Alderney is based on a state, it is the size of a borough (about the same size as Algonquin), and is treated as a borough of Liberty City. It contains neighborhoods that are based on differents cities in New Jersey, such as Weehawken, Englewood, Jersey City, Newark, Kearny, Elizabeth, etc.
Vice City
Vice City, based on Miami, Florida, is a city that appeared in GTA 1, GTA Vice City and GTA Vice City Stories. 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 (which separates Miami Beach With mainland Miami). Each major island is divided into several districts. The Population of Vice City is given at around 1.8 million. Unlike Liberty City and the state of San Andreas, however, Vice City has no railway or rapid transit systems, and all islands are connected by road and pedestrian bridges. While the city contains local taxicabs like other GTA cites, Vice City was the first city in the Series to offer functional taxicab services that sends the player directly to a single location at a fee, available in a specific mission (to a club) or when the player failed a mission as a result of being killed of arrested (to the last mission trigger, excluding phone missions). This "Later that day..." taxi function has been used in subsequent GTA games, including GTA San Andreas and GTA Liberty City Stories.
San Andreas
San Andreas is a fictional state in the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series of video games. To date, there have been two incarnations of San Andreas:
- In the original Grand Theft Auto, San Andreas is a level based on the city of San Francisco, California.
- In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, San Andreas is a fictionalized American state based on the real states of California and Nevada. San Andreas appears as a series of large islands surrounded by water, but connected by a series of bridges. San Andreas is subdivided into three cites (Los Santos, San Fierro and Las Venturas) and five counties Red County, Flint County, Whetstone, Tierra Robada and Bone County. Details of this incarnation are as follows:
Los Santos is the largest city in San Andreas. It is based on real life Los Angeles. It borders Red County to the north and Flint County to the west.
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 is a moderately sized city with San Fierro Bay 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 freeway system.
Towns There are also 13 towns in the State of San Andreas: Palomino Creek, Montgomery, Dillimore, Blueberry, Angel Pine, El Quebrados, Bayside, Las Barrancas, Fort Carson, Las Payasadas, Valle Ocultado, Aldea Malvada (ghost town), Las Brujas (ghost town)
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 3 separated parts - Commercial, Residential and Industrial (like GTA III).
London
London, England, was the city used in both the mission packs available for the original Grand Theft Auto - London 1969 and London 1961. To date, London is the only real-life city to be used in a GTA game, as all others have been fictional cities, most based on real American cities.
Carcer City
Carcer City is a location featured in Rockstar's Manhunt. It is mused that Carcer City would exist in the same fictional universe as the GTA games, because of overlaps and references within them. Apparently, through the 'Miles Traveled' system on the statistical screen on GTA IV, Carcer City is around 30 to 50 miles away from Liberty City.
Mentioned Locations
- Miami, Florida In GTA Vice City, There are billboards that say "Move over Miami"
- Kowloon is a city in China, which is mentioned by Wu Zi Mu in the mission Ran Fa Li in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and is the hometown of Huang Lee, the protagonist of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. Kowloon, in real life is an area of Hong Kong.
- Capitol City is a city mentioned in the stats of GTA IV.
- Bullworth is the town which "Bully" takes place in.
- Reddick, Florida is the town in which the V-Rock radio station is set.
- Mars, Alabama is the birthplace of Pastor Richards.
- Glasgow is mentioned in the Police database as a home town of one of the characters in GTA 4.
- Bogota, Amsterdam, Bangkok, Toronto, Leith and Tokyo are cities mentioned in the official website of GTA3 (Francis International Airport), saying you can take flights to these cities, as well as London, San Andreas, Vice City and Miami.
- Preston, England is mentioned on the GTAIV internet.