US government lists fictional nation Wakanda as trade partner<br>Skip to content
Home<br>News<br>US & Canada<br>UK<br>UK Politics<br>England<br>N. Ireland<br>N. Ireland Politics<br>Scotland<br>Scotland Politics<br>Wales<br>Wales Politics<br>Africa<br>Asia<br>China<br>India<br>Australia<br>Europe<br>Latin America<br>Middle East<br>In Pictures<br>BBC InDepth<br>BBC Verify<br>Sport<br>Business<br>World of Business<br>Technology of Business<br>NYSE Opening Bell<br>Technology<br>Artificial Intelligence<br>Intelligence Revolution<br>AI v the Mind<br>Tech Now<br>Health<br>Culture<br>Film & TV<br>Music<br>Art & Design<br>Style<br>Books<br>Entertainment News<br>Arts<br>Arts in Motion<br>Travel<br>Destinations<br>Africa<br>Antarctica<br>Asia<br>Australia and Pacific<br>Caribbean & Bermuda<br>Central America<br>Europe<br>Middle East<br>North America<br>South America<br>World’s Table<br>Culture & Experiences<br>Adventures<br>The SpeciaList<br>Earth<br>Science<br>Natural Wonders<br>Climate Solutions<br>Sustainable Business<br>Green Living<br>Audio<br>Podcast Categories<br>Radio<br>Audio FAQs<br>Video<br>BBC Maestro<br>Discover the World<br>Live<br>Live News<br>Live Sport
Site search
Home
News
Sport
Business
Technology
Health
Culture
Arts
Travel
Earth
Audio
Video
Live
Weather<br>Newsletters<br>Watch Live
US government lists fictional nation Wakanda as trade partner
19 December 2019ShareSaveAdd as preferred on Google
Marvel/Disney
Wakanda is a fictional East African country from Black Panther, which was adapted into a film last year
The US Department of Agriculture listed Wakanda as a free-trade partner - despite it being a fictional country.
A USDA spokesperson said the Kingdom of Wakanda was added to the list by accident during a staff test.
The department's online tariff tracker hosted a detailed list of goods the two nations apparently traded, including ducks, donkeys and dairy cows.
In the Marvel universe, Wakanda is the fictional East African home country of superhero Black Panther.
The fictional country was removed soon from the list after US media first queried it, prompting jokes that the countries had started a trade war.
Wakanda first appeared in the Fantastic Four comic in 1966, and made a reappearance when Black Panther was adapted into an Oscar-winning film last year.
The unusual listing was spotted by Francis Tseng, a New York-based software engineer who was looking up agricultural tariffs for a fellowship he was applying for.
Allow X content?<br>This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy<br>and privacy policy<br>before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’ .<br>Accept and continue
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. X content may contain adverts.
He told Reuters news agency that, when he first saw Wakanda on the list, he got "very confused": "[I] thought I misremembered the country from the movie and got it confused with something else."
Black Panther: No ordinary Marvel movie<br>Black Panther star on being 'young, gifted and black'<br>Black Panther winners make Oscar history
After the listing was removed, a USDA spokesman told the Washington Post that Wakanda's listing was added as a test file for staff, and was never supposed to be public.
"The Wakanda information should have been removed after testing and has now been taken down," he said.
After its removal, an Orlando-based reporter asked: "So do we, or do we not have free trade with Wakanda? Also where are things at on negotiations with Agrabah?"
Black Panther stars on the impact the 2018 film had
This is not the first time a fictional country has slipped into the real world.
In 2017, Poland's then-foreign minister Witold Waszczykowski told reporters he had met representatives of a number of nations to discuss Poland's bid to join the UN security council - "such as Belize or San Escobar".
While Belize does exist, San Escobar does not.
At the same time, officials have occasionally erased countries that actually do exist.
In 2004, for example, the cover of an EU guidebook featured a map of EU member states, including the UK. Wales, however, was mysteriously absent.
Black Panther: No ordinary Marvel movie
Black Panther winners make Oscar history
Black Panther star on being 'young, gifted and black'
BBC in other languages<br>The BBC is in multiple languages<br>Read the BBC In your own language<br>BBC News Brasil<br>BBC News Mundo (Spanish)<br>BBC News မြန်မာ (Burmese)<br>BBC News 中文 (Chinese)<br>BBC News Indonesia<br>BBC News 코리아 (Korean)<br>BBC News ไทย (Thai)<br>BBC News Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)<br>BBC News Azərbaycanca (Azeri)<br>BBC News Magyarul (Hungarian)<br>BBC News Кыргыз Кызматы (Kyrgyz)<br>BBC News Polska (Polish)<br>BBC News România (Romanian)<br>BBC News Русская служба (Russian)<br>BBC News na srpskom (Serbian)<br>BBC News Україна (Ukrainian)<br>BBC News O'zbek (Uzbek)<br>BBC News عربي (Arabic)<br>BBC News فارسی (Persian)<br>BBC News Türkçe (Turkish)<br>BBC News বাংলা (Bengali)<br>BBC News دری (Dari)<br>BBC News ગુજરાતી (Gujarati)<br>BBC News हिन्दी (Hindi)<br>BBC News मराठी (Marathi)<br>BBC News नेपाली (Nepali)<br>BBC News සිංහල...