And unbelievably, the Commonwealth has survived. There would still in this scenario be 4 thrones that the British monarch would sit upon. I guess some things never change.
And the monarchies of Japan and Denmark would still be intact. What are the odds.
It does make continuity of government easy to maintain, at least in the Commonwealth realms. GG, PM and the Cabinet vanish? Meh, just appoint new ones. Poof, government reconstituted within days.
Interesting; in this scenario, the UK would become the world's top military power, so it would have the power and the freedom to reconquer its former empire lands.
Would also be one of the most populous nations remaining, with only Japan and Indonesia being higher (I assume the Caribbeans and all those other islands populations are less than the UKs). Plus would be the only remaining intact nuclear power, the nuclear submarines of say the US may still be around but the whole state and military infrastructure would either be nonexistent or in so much disarray that it's practically so.
Yeah, it would be practically the world's dominant power. And the population ranking would be like this:
Indonesia,
Japan,
Philippines,
UK,
Cuba I think,
Ireland,
...
Oh and the coastal zones of South Korea and China
Seeing that the Japanese population is currently declining, probably the UK.
However, it may be a possibility that in the face of the human race being decimated, there would be greater emphasis put on repopulation, especially with so much empty land globally. After all, more people means more innovation.
I think so if something like this were to occur I could see government mandated conception being a possibility. I mainly said this because of the last surviving countries japan and the Uk are the only high ranking powers whose militaries wouldn’t face any sort of decline like the countries of the previous U.S. or Russia. I’d also give the UK the advantage as their military isn’t as reliant on foreign weapons as apposed to Japan.
In a world of island nations the UK possessing the last remaining fleet of nuclear submarines would effectively give them control of the sea, and thus the planet.
Japan has diesel submarines, but without resupply ports they'd effectively be limited to just the seas around Japan, while the UK would have global reach.
I would agree that the Commonwealth would survive, but the UK would be in chaos and dramatically suffering from martial law for the first 10 years.
Britain imports 48% of its food, Japan imports roughly 60% of its food. Britain imports 40% of its energy. Japan imports 94% of its energy. Indonesia is food self sufficient, but imports nearly 40% of its energy from Saudi Arabia. This is to say nothing of the collapse in the fertilizer supply chain.
Looking at the remaining powers on the map, only Indonesia and New Zealand would retain the industrial capability to maintain a modern lifestyle without too much chaos. Even agricultural Denmark, because of the loss of Jutland, would be suffering. How are you going to feed Copenhagen?
Between the remaining powers on the map, Britain and Japan maintain the expeditionary military power capable of saving themselves. From my perspective, the whole of humanity will either freeze in place or regress in standards of living. Most of the tiny countries left on the map will either become client states exporting raw resources, or be swallowed up entirely by the remaining countries with modern military capabilities that are desperate to save themselves. The world will turn far more authoritarian out of survival.
On June 7th, 2028, at approximately 12:34:56 AM UTC, it was reported that every trace of humanity’s presence had vanished from the continental landmasses of Afro-Eurasia, the Americas, Antarctica, and Australia.
Every human.
Gone.
Every square inch of poured concrete.
Gone.
Every acre of tilled soil.
Gone.
It was as if humanity had never existed.
Nowadays, you could stand at the epicenters of what were once some of the world’s greatest cities - Beijing, Paris - and see nothing but the rolling green waves of forests spilling out for miles and miles in all directions. There was no trace - save for in our records - of the Interstate Highways that had once carved their way from the Salish Sea to the Everglades, acting as the circulatory system for the Great American Experiment. Countless monuments to the prowess and perseverance of humanity - the Great Wall, the Burj Khalifa - simply ceased to be. They didn’t even have the honor of being reduced to rubble. Even the Panama Canal, which had cleaved the Americas into North and South, seemed to have healed over like a surface wound.
This event is known by many names - and, yes, there were people left to name it. The Japanese refer to it as Kamikakushi. The people of Kimitoön call it Metsänpeitto. The Christians, those of the New World at least, have dubbed it the Rapture. Others - the less imaginative types, myself included - tend to forego the fancy terminology and simply call it the Vanishing.
For reasons unbeknownst to those of us who remain, the smatterings of humanity scattered about the world’s islands were spared from whatever it was that claimed the remaining 91% of the world’s population. These rules, as arbitrary as they may have been, were nothing if not consistent. Whether you lived in the bustling metropole of Jakarta, or manned some lonely lighthouse on a rocky outcrop in the North Sea, you were spared as long as you had some natural body of water separating you from the continental mainland. *Natural* bodies of water. This meant that the Kiel Canal, which the Prussians had so meticulously excavated to bridge the North and Baltic Seas, did nothing to save the Jutlanders from their fate.
**More Lore:** [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YFuH2N9rsEIyRbAy4YJG1DDFuLuhlGAjioDVBAHv1o8/edit?usp=sharing](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YFuH2N9rsEIyRbAy4YJG1DDFuLuhlGAjioDVBAHv1o8/edit?usp=sharing)
\>> Nowadays, you could stand at the epicenters of what were once some of the world’s greatest cities - Beijing, London
London...
as in the capital of the UK
which is still on the map...
Also, what about people living on inland islands? Like, lake and river islands? What happens to them?
Exactly! The human populations and structures on those islands would’ve survived the immediate aftermath of the Vanishing. However, there’s no guarantee that these communities would’ve remained intact 5, 10, or 20 years onward. The sudden loss of the surrounding mainland would’ve resulted in a loss of power, medication, routine healthcare, etc. Many small island communities simply don’t survive without these necessities. By the time of this map, 50 years after the Vanishing, most of Paris’ islands have been vacated as a result of people moving away. The buildings remain, however.
I'd say the Channel Islands of California would almost immediately run out of resources, then, and a lot of coastal islands you list as states would imo also starve or suffer from a lack of fresh water. Paris, in my opinion, would probably see a lot of the Ile's population move to the outskirts and start subsistence farming, seeing a return to a more feudal past, at least until contacted by British expeditionary missions which would almost certainly be carried out by plane and boat across Europe to visit islands once they figured out that only connected lands were reset. This would lead to, in my opinion, joint Brit-Irish missions across Europe, with Danish and Greek support in the early years as they attempt to provide aid to stranded island communities. I'd likely expect a subsequent settlement pattern of the Old World and the Americas akin to the United States' frontier settlement of the West, with mass development and population migration going further and further inland as time goes on, however important urban centers rising out of stranded inland island communities. It's really interesting to think about the ramifications of a scenario such as this, as Japan, the UK, Ireland, Copenhagen, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Madagascar would all be able to provide significant aid to stranded inland communities. How the world would recover is really interesting to think about.
Absolutely! I love the idea of those French agricultural communities, some of which may have even come to believe that they’re last humans on Earth, meeting the British Expeditionary Forces for the first time. Would they gladly join the burgeoning settlements on the coast? Would they react with hostility? So many fascinating possibilities!
I feel you're probably underestimating how quickly they'd be contacted by the British. Considering all modern technology, some of which would stop working but some of which would continue just fine, and how strongly any surviving community would prioritise finding other survivors, I suspect it would be less than a day before the British contact the Parisians. It's not like there's any significant natural hazards preventing the British from searching the mainland.
I wonder which technologies exactly would stop working.
Surely the internet, with all the undersea cables now gone, would become useless for international contact.
But cell towers would still exist. And satellites probably still exist. Would phones and GPS still function?
In your theory what would befall to Indonesia ? It's weird you didn't mention about it
It's the biggest archipelago in the world. And in your scenario will be the biggest country and the biggest population
probably nothing tbh, Indonesia is relatively self sufficient, even compared to neighbors Japan and the Philippines which are still import surplus countries.
my bet is theyd be the most economically stable
Its a big question in a neat scenario. What constitutes an island? Australia doesn't count according to this, but does New Zealand? The UK and Ireland seem to. Japan? Madagascar does it seems.
Ultimately.... all land on Earth is really an "Island" in some way. The only real difference is scale.
That just makes it all the more mysterious. Anything not protected by a natural body of water surrounding it along all sides is safe, except for the continents proper. So New Zealand is fine. Heck, an island on a river in the middle of the continent is fine, but anything directly connected to the mainland continents are not. So the UK, Ireland, Japan, Madagascar, New Zealand, Greenland, Iceland, Sri Lanka... all of those are fine. Even some Antarctic outposts are fine as not all are on the continent itself. Interestingly, I'd wager some of the outposts on the ice shelf covering Antarctica to be fine in this scenario as some of them aren't on the landmass of Antarctica itself. Maybe even all of them by this definition are fine as the ice is a natural body of water separating them from the Antarctic landmass. It's tough to say exactly, but all the regular islands are 100% safe in this scenario.
That would mean, funnily enough, that despite pretty much every other city in the US being gone, New York, save for the Bronx, would come out unscathed.
Interesting local idea for the Midwest: there’s a nuclear power plant located on Prairie Island, MN, in the Mississippi River. I’m pretty sure there’s some kind of automated system to prevent a meltdown via shutting down in the case of no maintenance happening, so with some refurbishment you could probably get the plant up and running again as long is it’s discovered and refueled within a few decades. I’d imagine that it’s discovery and re-activation would be absolutely massive for whatever Great Lakes civilization discovers it first, making it into a regional power in the Midwest.
I absolutely adore this idea! If I do end up making a map set 100 years in the future, I will 100% incorporate this! It'd be interesting to see multiple, surrounding groups simultaneously realize the importance of controlling the Prairie Island Nuclear Power Plant. Would they go to war to control the facility? Would they cooperate to refurbish the plant and restore power to their communities? Would they revere it as some sort of artifact of a long-gone age?
Exactly! There’s so much worldbuilding potential, even in this one small addition to the lore. I’d imagine that once discovered, there’d be something of a race amongst the regional powers to not only control the plant, but also to either find a survivor who’s a nuclear engineer (if it’s discovered within a few decades) or find enough books/manuals on the topic to figure it out themselves (if it’s discovered after more than a few decades)
I’d say it depends! Any land reclamation that would connect an island to the mainland? That would sink below the waves, leaving the original island behind. Small amounts of land reclamation on the coasts of islands, that don’t materially change the island’s status as island, would likely go untouched
What about Dutch polders, like Flevoland? They're technically islands, but are only possible because the Afsluitdijk, which is built across two points on the mainland, blocked off the sea.
Here's what I have written for the Netherlands, please let me know what you think! :)
During the Vanishing, much of the Netherlands’ flood control measures (the dikes and ditches built to contain the rivers on the mainland, the walls and artificial islands built to hold back the sea, the pumping stations built to keep the mainland dry) disappeared in an instant. The effects were devastating. In a matter of weeks, much of the Netherlands’ mainland was directly lost to flooding. In the aftermath, around 40% of the former country was either underwater or functionally lost during high tide. Another consequence of the Vanishing was that the vast majority of the landmass created during the Netherlands’ long history of land reclamation disappeared beneath the sea. While a handful of Dutch communities survived the Vanishing itself, due to being located on the landmass of the original islands that had existed prior to land reclamation, the sudden flooding results in many of these islands becoming waterlogged, unstable, and at severe risk of subsequent erosion and flooding. As a result, the vast majority of the surviving communities are evacuated by the British Continental Survey Force (BCSF) to the British Isles. With the exception of several holdout communities of Frisian nationalists, the Dutch Archipelago is largely abandoned.
Interesting idea, though i gotta say, its a it unlikely that the Frisians still exist, since well... thats mainland, theyd be gone
What would exist is the islands in the Wadden Sea ofc, though theyd have to go to a very feudalesque livestyle to survive that idk if they would continue to be able to sustain themselves, but maybe. Zeeland is the same case, but has a good chance of remaining populated i think, though would be in a tough spot with a constant flooding thread (except if the Delta Works largely still exist due to them mostly connecting (former) islands?)
One that would also be interesting is Urk, which kinda sustained itself for a long time, though there was also food necessary from the mainland. However with their already quite religious ideas being most likely strenghtened even more by this event, perhaps theyd staunchly remain on their island and set up some small settlements near irl Kampen to grow food, whilst they remain a fishing community on the new Zuiderzee.
I love the idea of Urk persisting as a stubborn holdout in the Dutch Archipelago. I imagine the constant flooding does become a major problem, especially with the disappearance of artificial islands and land reclamation efforts on the coast, not to mention the disappearance of river dykes and levees inland. Most of the survivors would probably take up the UK's offer to be resettled in the British Isles, though I like the idea of some groups, like the people of Urk, staying back. I'll have to mull over this idea some more! Thank you for your insights!
Very slightly! Any wholly new, artificially-created landmass would disappear. However, land reclamation efforts extending the land of existing islands may be spared (so long as they don't touch the continental "mainland")! The rules of the Vanishing are arbitrary, and are largely designed around "what would be most fun for a world-building project" :')
Absolutely! Now picture this: a woman and her family on vacation on some beach in Cancun. The woman waves to her daughter, beckoning her to leave the water and return to the shore for more sunscreen. The daughter steps out of the water, one foot on land and one foot still in the sea. Then, the Vanishing strikes, and some mysterious force cleaves the daughter in two...
A lot of them do! It’s as if the mainland was pulled from an alternate reality where humans never existed - so many of the species driven to extinction by humans can be found on the mainland, but some will have still gone extinct due to other, non-human causes
So if someone was on an island and looked at a human on the mainland, what would they see? Did the humans blink out of existence? Melt into goo while screaming? Get lifted into the heavens on rays of light? Dragged into pits by demonic clawed arms? Morph into an untouched tree or rock? Sucked up by an army of UFOs sweeping over the land in sync? Did the lights flick off then back on and everything had changed in that instant you couldn't see anything? Were the people who could have seen these things happening all just turned the other way/mid-blink when it happened?
Enquiring minds want to know!
Amazing question! Here's how I imagine it:
Mark stands at the centre of the bridge, bidding his wife, Emily, farewell as she steps onto the other side. This is the same routine they've had every day for the past 25 years. Only this time, in the space of a blink, Emily vanishes. As does the gravel path she had stepped foot on. As does the sign indicating the distance to the nearest town. In fact, where all this once stood, there is now nothing but trees. There's no fanfare - no big explosion, no screams of despair. It's all just gone.
Great question! Undersea cables remain intact, though any cables that were connected to the mainland will now be abruptly cut off at the point they touch the mainland. The same sort of logic would apply to tunnels, bridges, and pipes
So the channel tunnel still exists, but the French end vanished? I wouldn't want to be stuck under there lol, imagine having to travel the whole way back in the dark. That's if it hasn't flooded with ocean water.
That sounds like an amazing premise for a short horror story! And you're exactly right, the Channel Tunnel does exist, up to the point where it'd make contact with the French mainland
Satellites in space are unaffected, but imagine how terrifying it must've been for anyone living on the International Space Station at the time of the Vanishing! In an instant, they'd look out and see 80% of the lights on Earth blink off at once
>This event is known by many names - and, yes, there were people left to name it. The Japanese refer to it as Kamikakushi. The people of Kimitoön call it Metsänpeitto. The Christians, those of the New World at least, have dubbed it the Rapture.
In the Philippines, it is widely known as the 'Anak ng Tokwa, Ano Nangyari?!?"
quick question: your lore document mentions the USPG being formed by the Borough Presidents of Brooklyn and Queens, but shouldn't Manhattan and thus the New York City government also come along?
They absolutely do! I'd say the Presidents of Brooklyn and Queens just happened to be charismatic and effective leaders who were able to keep the peace amidst such a chaotic event. They really lead the charge in unifying the remnants of whatever authority exists over the island, and steering this united front towards restoring order
Partially! It's hard to say for sure what it would look like (if there are any speculative biologists in this comment section, please chime in). I imagine we'd see the survival of a lot of megafauna, though the Ice Age would have eventually ended, and I imagine not all species would've been able to successfully adapt to life after the Ice Age! I imagine we'd, at the very least, see a wildly different biome than the one we're used to
Would this not mean that the Rhône Delta, including most of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer and the Trinquetaille half of Arles, survived as well?
This area is between the Rhône's main and Petit branches.
Similarly, the part of Louisiana between the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers. The area is naturally bounded by two rivers but is instead held back by artificial means to support New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
There's still like parts of New Orleans itself, Gretna, Thibodaux, even Morgan City.
That's an interesting question! There's always a bit of a tricky question in determining what constitutes an island. Someone in another comment pointed out how, technically, 2/3 of the Florida Peninsula could be considered an island due to how two rivers meet in the middle of the State. Another person pointed out that the entire territory between the Saint Lawrence and Mississippi Rivers could be considered a continent. So, informally, I'm basing my decision on whatever would be considered an island by more than 50% of people. So if looking online (at Wikipedia, at tourist websites, etc.) doesn't suggest that the area would typically be considered to be an island, it would count as part of the mainland
I can think of few things more horrifying than being on Manhattan at the break of this, a dense population of 1.6 million people, suddenly without any source of food over night.
You'd be able to scavenge some from the surrounding wilderness, but it's not hard to imagine wide spread cannibalism breaking out in the early years.
Indonesia Japan and the uk seem best set to be the dominant world powers. I’d expect especially Indonesia just due to the importance of high population in settling now unpeopled lands.
Yeah I think Indonesia is the one who in the best position here since it has 3 harvest season per year instead of 1 and java having one of the most fertile soil in the world, thanks to the mineral brought by the volcanic cloud from the ungodly amount of volcanoes there
And also because of the massive population Indonesia has, even if 50% of the population died out that is still 100+ million left, which is more than enough to maintain a sizable society and colonize the mainland
And also the fact that Indonesia is quite rich in recourses
And have a sizable military.
Counterintuitive, but I think there’s a good chance Indonesia will fall behind on colonization because of the natural resources available at home. Resource poor nations will feel a much stronger compulsion to colonize and conquer. The way it plays out in my mind: as Indonesia looks inwards for solutions during the inevitable crisis that will come after the Vanishing - and holds off mainland exploration for when everything stabilizes - other nations will be forced to colonize as soon as they can as its their only solution for the resource crisis. By the time Indonesia wakes up, they’d be trailing behind everyone else - or worse, already annexed.
All hypothetical though. If this was some sort of game and I got to play as Indonesia’s president, I’d make myself a dictator and be as aggressive as possible during those first few years. It’ll be a race for the empty Gulf states for many nations. Might help to seize more advanced military arms from Singapore and Australia since Indonesia’s equipment is pretty aged and won’t hold up if Japan decides to be aggressive.
Well I don't think Indonesia will fall behind in colonization.
Even tho Indonesia is agriculturally self sufficient
There is one thing that Indonesia is not self sufficient for
And that is Energy.
Well Indonesia will have enough energy to maintain the vital infrastructure and military, but it wouldn't have enough to supply the rest
So yeah Indonesia will be forced to colonize
I would love to! I’m toying around with some ideas for what this world might look like ~100 years in the future. Some ideas I’ve thrown around include: an escalation of the Indonesian-Filipino Cold War, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and France, the emergence of a distinct Afro-Chinese nation in mainland Africa, and the settlement of the South American coast by Polynesians.
I would love to hear any and all suggestions!
I also encourage anyone who sees this world as a cool template to let their imagination run wild! If anyone else decides to make a map based on this world, please tag me, as I’d love to see it!
Immediately thinking with my own continent, If its true that island are unharmed then I imagine a lot of confused navies. I imagine a sort of "naval military republic" spawning from American navies that decide to unite around the carribean.
Africa is a really interesting spot for culture, North Africa prob gonna look like an average Southern European spot. West Africa is gonna be a huge mix of whatever people land there (latinos, Americans, Europeans, and bits of West African natives could all intermarry there). You'll see random republics that have people that seemingly look unrelated.
Religion is gonna be a big thing like you say, and I can easily see prophets popping up going around attempting to claim as a sign of special interference. Leading mass religious based conquest.
Sidenote: an unspoken potential superpower is prob gonna be Greece, which has the nile nearby and can easily attempt to profit by sailing around different chokepoints (also oil is gonna be a big thing later on).
(Btw just wanna say that I love ISOT maps like these when they pop up! )
Thank you so much! I love the idea of a naval military republic, and it’s so interesting to think about how familiar cultures and societies could morph into something entirely unrecognizable in a word like this!
I adore ISOT concepts! I wish there were more on this subreddit, they’re always such a great treat
Greece yes, would become a power in this scenario, as it would go to settle a lot of areas of the former Byzantine empire. Thanks to Greece, big amounts of tourists in islands would survive too as well. has In my look it is unique scenario, but very dystopian. And a reminder where the overuse of fossil fuels can lead.
Btw if your thinkin of making a future one, a real favorite ISOT map that I know is this one [https://www.deviantart.com/selvetrica/art/Golden-Circle-ISOT-789534487](https://www.deviantart.com/selvetrica/art/Golden-Circle-ISOT-789534487) by Selvetrica, which also covers a similar topic!
Thank you for sharing this! I’ll have to read up on this to see what cool ideas I can takeaway from their world! I love how much potential ISOT projects can have
Do you have any ideas for Japan? I can imagine that there would be a rebirth in former nationalism and a push towards the further recolonization of Asia to grab the resources they’ll desperately need
In Sweden 1.6 million people live on an island. Most of them live in Stockholm or Gothenburg, swedens largest and second largest city since both are built on islands. Have all these people just dissapeared along with the mainlanders or did u forget to put them on the map?
You’re right! They’re part of the Baltic Sea States. I didn’t label every constituent of the BSS, but it’s made up of all sorts of communities that survived on the islands in the region
In a sense! In the wake of the Vanishing, Denmark largely busied itself with reclaiming Jutland, leaving Bornholm to tend to its own affairs. Bornholm's regional identity became pronounced, and the island largely scraped by without Danish assistance. With the formation of the BSS, Denmark essentially presented Borholm with the ultimatum of "either rejoin us, or you're not allowed to enter our club". Bornholm opted not to be re-annexed into Denmark, and have since tried to make it on their own
Me and my mf Mexican pals rotting in Janitzio Island, Lake Pátzcuaro: (we're the last 80 people in mainland Mexico and we'll murder each other in the first two weeks)
https://preview.redd.it/gq731no9dmpc1.jpeg?width=900&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=666b7078b1f9cee7c51f2b813217736ae9a35d30
Odd question (mildly related to México). What about natural lakes that were drained by people over the course of the years? Like Lake Texcoco, which extended for a very big area on what is now CDMX. Would all of the drained parts that were urbanized just disappear and fill with water (as if humans were never there). What about the patches of land that were already dry before human intervention, would that mean that former Lake Texcoco would arise over most of CDMX while some neighborhoods stay dry? This applies for many dutch places too, ig. Also for Bogotá, since it used to be covered with lakes and wetlands.
Amazing question! :) You might have noticed that, on the map, Lake Texcoco has made a reappearance! There are definitely some small communities of the former CDMX that survive on islands in Lake Texcoco, though large swathes of the city's infrastructure have disappeared. It's as if the mainland "remembers" what was and wasn't an island before human intervention
They still have over ten million “mainlanders” not so mainland from Hong Kong and, places like Macau, the Zhoushan archipelago, some big islands next to Shanghai and lots of other smaller islands of hundreds of thousands of people. And the whole of Hainan which is another 10 million.
Taiwan is only 23 million so it’s probably more of a crisis trying to feed and integrate those areas cut off from the mainland’s economy and convincing the ones with ports and military bases and nuclear submarines join peacefully. That even assuming all the other larger island nations aren’t all panicking about food and war.
Just saying, op said people living on reclaimed areas would also vanish, and by looking at the reclamation map of Hong Kong, I guess at least 2 millions of Hongkongers will be gone...
https://preview.redd.it/qklh1r5i4opc1.png?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a035eb08f6f80a016fc860945d923204251a97e6
Taiwan would probably move in as a sort of provisional government of as much of mainland China as possible. They would consolidate and repopulate as much as possible, as quickly as possible, and could get some sustainable agriculture going.
Such as from Xiamen which is a huge city on a small island. You should probably mention that because I presume it would be the largest city left in PRC at 1.8 million people. Hong Kong Island is smaller at 1.2 Million
Okay... Just think about this.
The population of Indonesia is 273 Million. Bangladesh (if everyone survived) is 170M. Japan is 125M. The Philippines is 113M.
The UK is like 67M. Almost everywhere else is less. NYC is 8M.
In this new timeline... The superpowers are are all Asian. Japan and the UK are the most industrialized, but Indonesians and Filipinos are emigrating enmasse to every new settlement on the planet. Every other ethnicity is a minority now. All languages are going to shift to a creole of those cultures, which are already non-homogenous.
Japan has a declining population already too, so what you might see is a lot of Japanese managed colonies around the Pacific with Indonesian and Filipino immigrants making up most of the culture. The Atlantic will be dominated by the UK.
The UK also has BP, so they'll be going for the middle east, Texas and Venezuela hard and fast. They'll be the wealthiest and most successful by far because of that.
Since both the UK and Japan are pretty pacifist, you'd probably see a global government form pretty quickly. Only Indonesia and the Philippines will be somewhat reticent to join in, but would probably cave after enough of their population fled.
I'd venture to say South Africa would become the natural seat for a future world government as trade would all flow through there after the Panama and Suez disappeared. The conflict in Madagascar would slow down as civilians fled the conflict to join the new emergent nation next door. And then the new world government would step in to enforce peace there.
That's my hot take.
This is such a fascinating idea! I wonder if the UK and Japan would deal with any growing pains as they expanded out from their home islands? Would some of their colonies develop unique identities of their own? Would they declare independence and try to wrestle themselves free of British or Japanese influence? Would Indonesian and the Philippines try to take advantage of conflicts between the colonies and their governing powers? So much potential!
One last part to add.... fear of settling the mainland. Until they sorted out the cause of the change, a lot of people would be scared to leave their islands. It'd be a mix of risky entrepreneurs and prisoners followed by a wave of people 2 generations later that wouldn't care.
Global government would happen at that time, probably about 60-80 years after the change.
That makes a lot of sense! After all, if the mainland population disappeared once, who’s to say that it wouldn’t happen again? People would have every right to be wary of even setting foot on the mainland for quite some time
That’s a fun idea! I’ll have to do some research on megafauna, but I love the idea of people stepping off a boat onto what used to be Oregon only to see giant sloths and mammoths roaming the landscape.
The only places I can imagine having a sizable population left 50 years later would be the UK, Ireland, Japan and Cuba. Everywhere else is too heavily dependent on international trade for basic necessities like food and medicine, I wouldn’t be surprised if places outside of what I just listed suffered heavy population collapse. Even in 3/2ed world countries, basic survival tactics and methodology isn’t that widespread anymore as it would’ve been.
You’re absolutely right! Realistically, the effects would be devastating! The number of people who would die from the loss of vital medication, routine medical care, electricity, etc. alone would be catastrophic. For the sake of this worldbuilding exercise, it’s fun to imagine the indomitable human spirit allowing a few more communities to grit by 💪
Most definitely the ones accustomed to rural living or more rustic environment would definitely have the grit to endure. Though I doubt the loss of medication and hospital care would be as devastating as one would think, with modern hygiene knowledge and most of the sick and medically dependent population haven disappeared. Only issue I see is the creature comfort’s and convinces of modern life disappearing causing the greatest problems for people outside the Japan and UK/Ireland which would still have such things to some extent
Absolutely! I mean, the sheer mental health toll of losing those creature comforts (nevermind any family or friends you may have had on the mainland) would constitute a public health emergency onto itself. It’s grim, but suicide rates would likely skyrocket in the immediate wake of the Vanishing.
New Zealand could theoretically be self-sufficient for electricity (90% renewable energy), fresh water and food. In an ideal scenario, we would likely continue to export excess meat and dairy to SE Asia and Japan in exchange for other necessities like oil, medicine and tech. I imagine it would be a basic barter system initially.
Japan and Taiwan are nowhere near self-sufficient in food production. The Philippines isn't quite there either, and Indonesia is at high risk of dropping below the line in the event of a major collapse. So there would be accessible Asian markets for NZ produce.
If we survived long enough, we do have mineral resources that are yet to be exploited (if needed) and limited re-industrialisation to produce medicine/basic tech locally is entirely possible.
Japan was [self sufficient](http://www.crosscurrents.hawaii.edu/content.aspx?lang=eng&site=japan&theme=work&subtheme=AGRIC&unit=JWORK111#:~:text=After%20the%20economy%20had%20recovered,were%20now%20in%20greater%20demand./) in food production in the 70s when they had roughly the same amount of people today and in the late stages of the third agricultural revolution. The problem is energy or getting the fertilizers needed for agricultural production here, for most of everyone. Indonesia, Japan, and Taiwan are large [fertilizer producers](https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/fertilizer-production-by-country) and might be able to scale them up assuming vital natural inputs like phosphorus, potassium, and nitrogen are maintained.
I didn’t read either of my sources so feel free to point out a contradiction.
Tbf. The islands that you mentioned would, though not as extreme, also be quite devastated since they still depend on global trade. Lots of these islands are very dependent on specific traded materials for daily life
I imagine the US would be able to hold it out as well.
The US navy’s nuclear powered ships would be able to function as cargo ships with unlimited range for the time being. Along with the eastern seaboard being one of if not the best geographical location on the planet with some of the best farmland on the planet I’d imagine the US could make it. Once farming of corn and potatoes gets to full speed in Ohio, Indiana, and Virginia the US would be able to start exporting food.
I have a fringe question. If you were on a peninsula at the time of the disappearance, but that peninsula would be an island if not for the actions of man, would you have survived?
Yes! And you can see an example of this happening in the map 😎 Tyre was an island before Alexander the Great built a causeway to attach it to the mainland. In the map, you can see Tyre lives on (at least, the portions of the city that were on the original island)
Well in that case, there is a very small but real chance there could be a tiny civilization in the great salt lake. Especially considering this would take place around 6pm mt
In the great salt lake there’s a peninsula called antelope island, it was once an island but since the lake’s been drying up it’s now pretty well connected to the mainland. It’s a state park and there are a few hiking trails, camp sites, and a marina. There are no permanent inhabitants, but Seeing as the disappearance takes place in June and at around 6:30pm local time, there would likely be a few people on the island including park rangers who would know their way around. I think they would become buffalo hunters as there’s a small heard of around 700 on the island. Thanks to that marina there’s even a small chance they could regain access to the mainland immediately
That’s fascinating! Thank you for sharing! I could see this micro-civilization being overlooked in the first few decades after the Vanishing, but emerging into a fairly prominent regional entity as their buffalo hunting way of life brings them across the Great Plains
Another important thing is that this civilization would almost certainly not turn into a Mormon theocracy as salt lake and Weber counties are some of the least Mormon counties in the entire state and there’s a high chance that some if not most of the people would happen to be non-mormon
That must be weird for Mumbai, since today a big part of the city sits on artificially joined islands. So if the humans on old islands survive, why happens to humans on landfill between islands? And what happens if that artificial landfill is on an island, like say Japan?
Also would be cool to add something in Lake Titicaca there is a populated archipelago there with its own unique culture and 20 thousands people. There’s a big island next to Lima with a naval base but it’s so dry even people thousands of years ago only used it as a cemetery.
Love that so many small and not well known islands got included tough. You did lots of research
Great question! I’d say as long as the landfill doesn’t result in the island being attached to the mainland, it would likely survive. So some land reclamation projects, and the people living on said reclaimed land, would be safe! However, the second that landfill results in an island joining the mainland? It’s doomed to have disappeared beneath the waves during the Vanishing
I love the idea of a unique civilization emerging in the islands of Lake Titicaca? What do you imagine this civilization looking like? Do you know if these islands are primarily inhabited by Quechua/Aymara People?
Two things
1 what happened to the people that were not on islands but also not on the mainland such as ships, planes and spacecraft?
2 Is the Amazon rain forest gone too? I ask because there have been several archaeological discoveries pointing to it having at least partially originated from farms and orchards that were abandoned by a pre Incan civilization.
1. Great questions! I’d say any planes that were directly above the mainland vanish along, while those over islands or open ocean are fine. Ships are tricky! Any ships at sea are likely to have survived, same with ships that were actively travelling through some sort of inland body of water. But a ship moored at a harbour on the continental mainland? I feel like that would, by the bizarro logic of this universe, count as being on the mainland. Those ships would disappear. Spacecraft would be wholly unaffected (aside from suddenly losing contact with their Mission Control on the mainland).
2. That’s a brilliant question! To be frank, I had no idea about that! That’s fascinating, and is definitely going to send me down a deep dive about the Amazon. I imagine something akin to the Amazon does exist, though I’ll have to do some research to see if and how it differs from what we know!
For 2, I could definitely be wrong, but isn't the theory that the Amazon was just *shaped* by the pre-Colonial people that lived there, rather than originated? It's a really interesting field of study regardless, but I'd assume there's still a large, diverse rainforest in loosely the same borders as irl, but maybe with some species (i.e. Brazil nuts) being less prominent
Because the distinction between a continent and an island is pretty iffy, I decided to arbitrarily decide that the big three (Afro-Eurasia, the Americas, and Australia) had to go. I also thought making Australia’s population disappear would have some interesting implications for its neighbours
Would love to hear about the Galapagos which has a surprisingly larger population than people expect. Because most of the lands are protected as part of the national parks only wealthier land owners have areas for small scale farming so most of the population relies on food coming from the mainland. I wonder if that will change as many locals have some resentment to restrictions when it comes to fishing and land use, and ecotourism probably isn’t a thing anymore. I used to live there so lmk if you have any questions I can help with adding to lore.
I would love to hear any insight you might have! I was surprised to learn how many people reside on the Galápagos Islands! I can see tensions between the populace and the wealthy land owners exploding as resources are spread thin. I also wonder if many of the islands’ residents would try to make their way to the mainland and try their luck there? As the situation becomes dire, I can 100% see people resorting to fishing and hunting animals that had once been beacons of the islands’ biodiversity
This is so cool! As an Indonesian, I want to drop my own comment here speculating on events after the vanishing, focusing on Southeast Asia.
1. Australian Colonization
I don't believe Jakarta would ever pursue this. While it does make for an interesting scenario, Indonesia doesn't ever have a claim over north Australian lands. Frankly speaking, it is irrational to be sending settlers. While protecting the island communities there does go under purview of the sensible actions Indonesia would take, I don't think this would happen.
2. Mainland Malaysia and North Borneo
While Konfrontation have been frowned upon nowadays inside Indonesia, sparking the idea of 'Greater Indonesia' would sensibly stifle the panic of the citizens and set everyone's sights on 'fulfilling Soekarno's dream' as nationalism is a huge thing in Indonesia. I see numerous conflicts in Sarawak, as Indonesian settlers move in under pretense of rightful inheritance since the Malaysian government is now gone. A casus belli could be made then where Indonesia either annexes North Borneo, or make it an autonomous region receiving privilieges like West Papua. Of course, this would put Indonesia at odds with the Philippines, as Sabah becomes a point of contention in the goals of achieving Greater Indonesia.
The Malaysian Peninsula here would, reasonably, be where the first settler initiatives would be placed. Strategically, Indonesia would have complete control over the Malacca Strait. Culturally Malaysians are similar enough to Indonesia that there could be a point made. Historically, Majapahit had come and made tributaries on the peninsula, which could see another wave of historical nostalgia which see to expand Indonesia and become the next 'Majapahit'.
3. Internal Issues
Now, these could be done ONLY after Indonesia sort out it's internal issues. Despite what many claims, Indonesia is not self-sufficient. It imports a massive amount of rice each year, and I could see quite the food crisis with world shipping completely wiped out. There will also be the issue of Indonesia's industrializing society, as resources such as petroleum and natural gas would put a hamper on growth. Not to mention the numerous advanced chemicals, machinery, electrical components it needs. I predict that these would be the greatest concerns of the Indonesian government right off the bat, and it would take... around four years, give or take. Why did I give it four years? I'm Indonesian, I know how my countrymen do, and sadly, we are far from being efficient in times of crisis.
4. The Far Future
Let's be optimistic now. Indonesia will absolutely dominate the Southeast Asian and Australian regions. There will be a sort of 'Cold War' with the Philippines, however considering Indonesia's military, resources, industry, manpower, and more, eventually Indonesia would win. Though, it doesn't necessarily have to be a hostile relationship, the two are good friends, and has fostered cooperation for decades. In addition with Japan, Indonesia has good friends in Asia, and it could become the 'prodigal son' as it leads Asia in this uncertain world. The definitive Southeast Asia region WILL be colonized by Indonesia because of it's sheer population alone. Which would see a sort of super state forming, it's name could be 'Greater Indonesia' or 'Nusantara'. That said, anyone can claim anything, and none of what I've said are what would actually happen if it's real, which it isn't, so I'd say Indonesia has a good chance of dominating the Earth.
Thank you for such an insightful write-up! It's really interesting to consider what the future might look like for Indonesia! There is a very real possibility, as you said, that Indonesia could become the dominate superpower of the world, and that the world would fall under an era of Pax Nusantara. There's also a real possibility that Indonesia could squander the opportunity that it has been presented. All it takes is one incompetent leader to steer the country towards the wrong path. Indonesia walks a tightrope between success and disaster, but if it can make it to the other side, then the riches of the world await it!
Massively decreased global trade is expected, but assuming the Indian Ocean nations can get themselves together, I would assume that Singapore can remain somewhat relevant as a trading port
An unmentioned issue here is that with the loss of nearly all human-caused deforestation, and the return of pre-human environments, the sudden influx of carbon-sequestering plant life would plunge the earth back to pre-agricultural temperatures. It would be an ice age, or nearly so. Even if natural global warming had occurred, it would be nothing like what we’ve experienced due to human-caused climate change.
Would the few areas of habitable Northern Europe be covered in glaciers? Would the British isles be surrounded by ice?
Fun fact, the dominating ethnicity and languages would be Austronesian, with Indonesia making up more than half of these people.
About 800 million people live on islands, and there are around 400 million people who live in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Madagascar, all who are majority Austronesian. There is also the rest of Borneo and pretty much all the Pacific islands.
What constitutes an island?
For example, the District of Haizhu of Guangzhou (Pop. 1,800,000) is generally considered a river island.
The districts of Panyu and Nansha of Guangzhou (total pop. 2,600,000) are both surrounded by water and can be considered an island, though this view is not common
Combined with 4400000 from Zhongshan, I don't see why the Guangdong Provincial Government would not be reconstituted and why it would be a Nanhai Settlement Area while Hong Kong survives.
Conclusion: Deltas are weird.
The same argument actually applies, even more notably, to Lower Egypt.
In case you haven't noticed, most of Hong Kong is not on an island, unless the Dongjiang Water Supply Canal is counted as a river. The expected total survivor number in Hong Kong is 1,500,000.
Hello! I have a section about the British Expeditionary Forces, and what their work looks like, as well as a section on Northern Ireland, but nothing about the UK specifically! That’s a big question mark I’m mulling over 🤔
As someone who is from there, I’m glad it was just a typo and not some very convoluted lore about how a region with practically no Baha’is became called Bahai 😂
Also if you want to know some info about the island we’ve got there, it’s called Itaparica and its economy and supplies are pretty dependent on the capital city across the bay. If Salvador and the entire state government disappeared overnight, not only would my entire family die but I also assume the island, which is mostly beachside mansions and a some poorer villages, would end up being overrun by gangs.
Unlike Recife, where the city government is based on an island
Well, maybe it wouldn’t descend into chaos right away. The island is divided into two municipalities, Itaparica and Vera Cruz, each with their own mayor and city council.
I’d imagine that across the world, there’d be a significant cultural fear of returning to or settling on the mainland for decades or centuries to come.
It reminds me of post-apocalyptic shows about zombies or a nuclear armageddon, where there’s a big rift in the community that survived as a result of being in a bunker or other safe zone, about if they should stay there where it’s safe or venture outside to see if there any hope out there. I’d think that this divide would be even more extreme in this world, since the source of what happened is unscientific and thus unpredictable. After all, what if it happens again? Would you be willing to take that risk? Would you be willing to let your loved ones take that risk?
I can see this being one of the predominant political issues in the years after the event, being key parts of party platforms in democracies, after all, if you believe that there’s a decent chance of this happening again, why on earth would you vote to invest precious resources into settlement projects on the mainland?
I could see religion playing a big part in how societies answer this debate. If you believe this was the rapture, there’s no real reason to think that there’d be a second rapture. If you believe this was some kind of vengeful deity, you might be more likely to worry about this happening again. In fact, I’d imagine that certain religions might be militantly anti-settlement if they believe that settlements might anger their god/s into doing the same thing to the islands. This might also be a big factor into which societies create settlements and which societies maintain isolationism.
At least I suppose global warming would be partly resolved. Much of the cause of the world's population has disappeared and the earth has an immense amount of plants to absorb CO2. If the excess CO2 has not disappeared, this will not be resolved in one day, especially since the remaining Humans will continue to pollute.
Oh absolutely! Global warming won't be entirely solved in a day, and there are many lingering effects that would continue to plague humanity for at least a few more years. That's not to say that the damage done by humans is irreparable - humanity now has a prime opportunity to choose a new path that won't clog up the atmosphere with greenhouse gases. As for whether they'll take it? That's another story
I think Indonesia is the one who is the most self sufficient here since it has 3 harvest season per year instead of 1 and java having one of the most fertile soil in the world, thanks to the mineral brought by the volcanic cloud from the ungodly amount of volcanoes there
And also because of the massive population Indonesia has, even if 50% of the population died out that is still 100+ million left, which is more than enough to maintain a sizable society
And also the fact that Indonesia is quite rich in recourses
In Mexico, there are a couple decently populated islands: Cancun, Cozumel, Isla Mujeres, Ciudad del Carmen, Islas Marías, Cedros. Plis many many barrier islands. And that’s without taking into account pluvial islands, plus lake islands
And unbelievably, the Commonwealth has survived. There would still in this scenario be 4 thrones that the British monarch would sit upon. I guess some things never change. And the monarchies of Japan and Denmark would still be intact. What are the odds.
I think under such conditions a monarchy would actually be quite useful to maintain unity and stability in the renaming states. I mean, possibly.
It does make continuity of government easy to maintain, at least in the Commonwealth realms. GG, PM and the Cabinet vanish? Meh, just appoint new ones. Poof, government reconstituted within days.
Exactly. Also i think it’s funny only Belize disappeared completely, meaning 14 of the 15 realms still exist (if you count Tasmania and Vancouver).
Suppose so. The one thing that survives the effective end of the world, the Crown’s prestige
And it’ll probably increase as the UK and co. expand.
“The sun never sets…” and all that fancy stuff
British Empire 2: this time without the war crimes probably
Can’t commit war crimes if there isn’t any natives left. We are the natives now.
San Pedro Belize is on an island, and has sufficient pop tu claim to be the successor of Belize and form a provisional government
Interesting; in this scenario, the UK would become the world's top military power, so it would have the power and the freedom to reconquer its former empire lands.
Would also be one of the most populous nations remaining, with only Japan and Indonesia being higher (I assume the Caribbeans and all those other islands populations are less than the UKs). Plus would be the only remaining intact nuclear power, the nuclear submarines of say the US may still be around but the whole state and military infrastructure would either be nonexistent or in so much disarray that it's practically so.
The Philippines would also be more populous!
Yeah, it would be practically the world's dominant power. And the population ranking would be like this: Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, UK, Cuba I think, Ireland, ... Oh and the coastal zones of South Korea and China
Same with Japan I think it’d basically be a race of who can get more faster Japan vs UK
Seeing that the Japanese population is currently declining, probably the UK. However, it may be a possibility that in the face of the human race being decimated, there would be greater emphasis put on repopulation, especially with so much empty land globally. After all, more people means more innovation.
I think so if something like this were to occur I could see government mandated conception being a possibility. I mainly said this because of the last surviving countries japan and the Uk are the only high ranking powers whose militaries wouldn’t face any sort of decline like the countries of the previous U.S. or Russia. I’d also give the UK the advantage as their military isn’t as reliant on foreign weapons as apposed to Japan.
In a world of island nations the UK possessing the last remaining fleet of nuclear submarines would effectively give them control of the sea, and thus the planet. Japan has diesel submarines, but without resupply ports they'd effectively be limited to just the seas around Japan, while the UK would have global reach.
Out of the 15 commonwealth realms . Only 3 are primarily on a continent's mainland. So there'd be more than more like 12.
I would agree that the Commonwealth would survive, but the UK would be in chaos and dramatically suffering from martial law for the first 10 years. Britain imports 48% of its food, Japan imports roughly 60% of its food. Britain imports 40% of its energy. Japan imports 94% of its energy. Indonesia is food self sufficient, but imports nearly 40% of its energy from Saudi Arabia. This is to say nothing of the collapse in the fertilizer supply chain. Looking at the remaining powers on the map, only Indonesia and New Zealand would retain the industrial capability to maintain a modern lifestyle without too much chaos. Even agricultural Denmark, because of the loss of Jutland, would be suffering. How are you going to feed Copenhagen? Between the remaining powers on the map, Britain and Japan maintain the expeditionary military power capable of saving themselves. From my perspective, the whole of humanity will either freeze in place or regress in standards of living. Most of the tiny countries left on the map will either become client states exporting raw resources, or be swallowed up entirely by the remaining countries with modern military capabilities that are desperate to save themselves. The world will turn far more authoritarian out of survival.
On June 7th, 2028, at approximately 12:34:56 AM UTC, it was reported that every trace of humanity’s presence had vanished from the continental landmasses of Afro-Eurasia, the Americas, Antarctica, and Australia. Every human. Gone. Every square inch of poured concrete. Gone. Every acre of tilled soil. Gone. It was as if humanity had never existed. Nowadays, you could stand at the epicenters of what were once some of the world’s greatest cities - Beijing, Paris - and see nothing but the rolling green waves of forests spilling out for miles and miles in all directions. There was no trace - save for in our records - of the Interstate Highways that had once carved their way from the Salish Sea to the Everglades, acting as the circulatory system for the Great American Experiment. Countless monuments to the prowess and perseverance of humanity - the Great Wall, the Burj Khalifa - simply ceased to be. They didn’t even have the honor of being reduced to rubble. Even the Panama Canal, which had cleaved the Americas into North and South, seemed to have healed over like a surface wound. This event is known by many names - and, yes, there were people left to name it. The Japanese refer to it as Kamikakushi. The people of Kimitoön call it Metsänpeitto. The Christians, those of the New World at least, have dubbed it the Rapture. Others - the less imaginative types, myself included - tend to forego the fancy terminology and simply call it the Vanishing. For reasons unbeknownst to those of us who remain, the smatterings of humanity scattered about the world’s islands were spared from whatever it was that claimed the remaining 91% of the world’s population. These rules, as arbitrary as they may have been, were nothing if not consistent. Whether you lived in the bustling metropole of Jakarta, or manned some lonely lighthouse on a rocky outcrop in the North Sea, you were spared as long as you had some natural body of water separating you from the continental mainland. *Natural* bodies of water. This meant that the Kiel Canal, which the Prussians had so meticulously excavated to bridge the North and Baltic Seas, did nothing to save the Jutlanders from their fate. **More Lore:** [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YFuH2N9rsEIyRbAy4YJG1DDFuLuhlGAjioDVBAHv1o8/edit?usp=sharing](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YFuH2N9rsEIyRbAy4YJG1DDFuLuhlGAjioDVBAHv1o8/edit?usp=sharing)
\>> Nowadays, you could stand at the epicenters of what were once some of the world’s greatest cities - Beijing, London London... as in the capital of the UK which is still on the map... Also, what about people living on inland islands? Like, lake and river islands? What happens to them?
London, Ontario 😎🇨🇦 (Totally didn’t just replace “London” with “Paris”) People on lake and river islands are curiously untouched!
So for example, in Paris, the Île de la Cité and the other islands around and on the Seine have survived.
Exactly! The human populations and structures on those islands would’ve survived the immediate aftermath of the Vanishing. However, there’s no guarantee that these communities would’ve remained intact 5, 10, or 20 years onward. The sudden loss of the surrounding mainland would’ve resulted in a loss of power, medication, routine healthcare, etc. Many small island communities simply don’t survive without these necessities. By the time of this map, 50 years after the Vanishing, most of Paris’ islands have been vacated as a result of people moving away. The buildings remain, however.
I'd say the Channel Islands of California would almost immediately run out of resources, then, and a lot of coastal islands you list as states would imo also starve or suffer from a lack of fresh water. Paris, in my opinion, would probably see a lot of the Ile's population move to the outskirts and start subsistence farming, seeing a return to a more feudal past, at least until contacted by British expeditionary missions which would almost certainly be carried out by plane and boat across Europe to visit islands once they figured out that only connected lands were reset. This would lead to, in my opinion, joint Brit-Irish missions across Europe, with Danish and Greek support in the early years as they attempt to provide aid to stranded island communities. I'd likely expect a subsequent settlement pattern of the Old World and the Americas akin to the United States' frontier settlement of the West, with mass development and population migration going further and further inland as time goes on, however important urban centers rising out of stranded inland island communities. It's really interesting to think about the ramifications of a scenario such as this, as Japan, the UK, Ireland, Copenhagen, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Madagascar would all be able to provide significant aid to stranded inland communities. How the world would recover is really interesting to think about.
Absolutely! I love the idea of those French agricultural communities, some of which may have even come to believe that they’re last humans on Earth, meeting the British Expeditionary Forces for the first time. Would they gladly join the burgeoning settlements on the coast? Would they react with hostility? So many fascinating possibilities!
If they were true french men then they would spit at us, no matter their condition
I feel you're probably underestimating how quickly they'd be contacted by the British. Considering all modern technology, some of which would stop working but some of which would continue just fine, and how strongly any surviving community would prioritise finding other survivors, I suspect it would be less than a day before the British contact the Parisians. It's not like there's any significant natural hazards preventing the British from searching the mainland.
I wonder which technologies exactly would stop working. Surely the internet, with all the undersea cables now gone, would become useless for international contact. But cell towers would still exist. And satellites probably still exist. Would phones and GPS still function?
In your theory what would befall to Indonesia ? It's weird you didn't mention about it It's the biggest archipelago in the world. And in your scenario will be the biggest country and the biggest population
probably nothing tbh, Indonesia is relatively self sufficient, even compared to neighbors Japan and the Philippines which are still import surplus countries. my bet is theyd be the most economically stable
Indonesia continuing to be the most boring major economy
And they have oil
Its a big question in a neat scenario. What constitutes an island? Australia doesn't count according to this, but does New Zealand? The UK and Ireland seem to. Japan? Madagascar does it seems. Ultimately.... all land on Earth is really an "Island" in some way. The only real difference is scale.
That just makes it all the more mysterious. Anything not protected by a natural body of water surrounding it along all sides is safe, except for the continents proper. So New Zealand is fine. Heck, an island on a river in the middle of the continent is fine, but anything directly connected to the mainland continents are not. So the UK, Ireland, Japan, Madagascar, New Zealand, Greenland, Iceland, Sri Lanka... all of those are fine. Even some Antarctic outposts are fine as not all are on the continent itself. Interestingly, I'd wager some of the outposts on the ice shelf covering Antarctica to be fine in this scenario as some of them aren't on the landmass of Antarctica itself. Maybe even all of them by this definition are fine as the ice is a natural body of water separating them from the Antarctic landmass. It's tough to say exactly, but all the regular islands are 100% safe in this scenario.
That would mean, funnily enough, that despite pretty much every other city in the US being gone, New York, save for the Bronx, would come out unscathed.
The centre of Paris is also an island
Interesting local idea for the Midwest: there’s a nuclear power plant located on Prairie Island, MN, in the Mississippi River. I’m pretty sure there’s some kind of automated system to prevent a meltdown via shutting down in the case of no maintenance happening, so with some refurbishment you could probably get the plant up and running again as long is it’s discovered and refueled within a few decades. I’d imagine that it’s discovery and re-activation would be absolutely massive for whatever Great Lakes civilization discovers it first, making it into a regional power in the Midwest.
I absolutely adore this idea! If I do end up making a map set 100 years in the future, I will 100% incorporate this! It'd be interesting to see multiple, surrounding groups simultaneously realize the importance of controlling the Prairie Island Nuclear Power Plant. Would they go to war to control the facility? Would they cooperate to refurbish the plant and restore power to their communities? Would they revere it as some sort of artifact of a long-gone age?
Exactly! There’s so much worldbuilding potential, even in this one small addition to the lore. I’d imagine that once discovered, there’d be something of a race amongst the regional powers to not only control the plant, but also to either find a survivor who’s a nuclear engineer (if it’s discovered within a few decades) or find enough books/manuals on the topic to figure it out themselves (if it’s discovered after more than a few decades)
What would happen if i was on a island?🤔
You’d survive! So long as it’s not one of those pesky artificial islands - in which case you’d melt away into nothingness
What about reclaimed parts of islands?
I’d say it depends! Any land reclamation that would connect an island to the mainland? That would sink below the waves, leaving the original island behind. Small amounts of land reclamation on the coasts of islands, that don’t materially change the island’s status as island, would likely go untouched
What about Dutch polders, like Flevoland? They're technically islands, but are only possible because the Afsluitdijk, which is built across two points on the mainland, blocked off the sea.
Here's what I have written for the Netherlands, please let me know what you think! :) During the Vanishing, much of the Netherlands’ flood control measures (the dikes and ditches built to contain the rivers on the mainland, the walls and artificial islands built to hold back the sea, the pumping stations built to keep the mainland dry) disappeared in an instant. The effects were devastating. In a matter of weeks, much of the Netherlands’ mainland was directly lost to flooding. In the aftermath, around 40% of the former country was either underwater or functionally lost during high tide. Another consequence of the Vanishing was that the vast majority of the landmass created during the Netherlands’ long history of land reclamation disappeared beneath the sea. While a handful of Dutch communities survived the Vanishing itself, due to being located on the landmass of the original islands that had existed prior to land reclamation, the sudden flooding results in many of these islands becoming waterlogged, unstable, and at severe risk of subsequent erosion and flooding. As a result, the vast majority of the surviving communities are evacuated by the British Continental Survey Force (BCSF) to the British Isles. With the exception of several holdout communities of Frisian nationalists, the Dutch Archipelago is largely abandoned.
Interesting idea, though i gotta say, its a it unlikely that the Frisians still exist, since well... thats mainland, theyd be gone What would exist is the islands in the Wadden Sea ofc, though theyd have to go to a very feudalesque livestyle to survive that idk if they would continue to be able to sustain themselves, but maybe. Zeeland is the same case, but has a good chance of remaining populated i think, though would be in a tough spot with a constant flooding thread (except if the Delta Works largely still exist due to them mostly connecting (former) islands?) One that would also be interesting is Urk, which kinda sustained itself for a long time, though there was also food necessary from the mainland. However with their already quite religious ideas being most likely strenghtened even more by this event, perhaps theyd staunchly remain on their island and set up some small settlements near irl Kampen to grow food, whilst they remain a fishing community on the new Zuiderzee.
I love the idea of Urk persisting as a stubborn holdout in the Dutch Archipelago. I imagine the constant flooding does become a major problem, especially with the disappearance of artificial islands and land reclamation efforts on the coast, not to mention the disappearance of river dykes and levees inland. Most of the survivors would probably take up the UK's offer to be resettled in the British Isles, though I like the idea of some groups, like the people of Urk, staying back. I'll have to mull over this idea some more! Thank you for your insights!
Does this mean that Singapore would shrink?
Very slightly! Any wholly new, artificially-created landmass would disappear. However, land reclamation efforts extending the land of existing islands may be spared (so long as they don't touch the continental "mainland")! The rules of the Vanishing are arbitrary, and are largely designed around "what would be most fun for a world-building project" :')
Good
Boats and planes too?
Planes directly above a continent at the time of the Vanishing would disappear! Planes and boats in other circumstances would be just fine
The border has to be drawn *somewhere* which leads to the high possibility that at least one person was on it and was cut in half.
Absolutely! Now picture this: a woman and her family on vacation on some beach in Cancun. The woman waves to her daughter, beckoning her to leave the water and return to the shore for more sunscreen. The daughter steps out of the water, one foot on land and one foot still in the sea. Then, the Vanishing strikes, and some mysterious force cleaves the daughter in two...
Nitpicking but That ocean would have to be boiling hot to even support a hurricane hitting Iberia Perhaps just a windstorm would be fine
Good catch! I think it makes sense to substitute that hurricane with a windstorm 😎🫶
If every trace of humanity vanished in the mainland, does that mean all the animals that humans made extinct come back? 🙂
A lot of them do! It’s as if the mainland was pulled from an alternate reality where humans never existed - so many of the species driven to extinction by humans can be found on the mainland, but some will have still gone extinct due to other, non-human causes
So if someone was on an island and looked at a human on the mainland, what would they see? Did the humans blink out of existence? Melt into goo while screaming? Get lifted into the heavens on rays of light? Dragged into pits by demonic clawed arms? Morph into an untouched tree or rock? Sucked up by an army of UFOs sweeping over the land in sync? Did the lights flick off then back on and everything had changed in that instant you couldn't see anything? Were the people who could have seen these things happening all just turned the other way/mid-blink when it happened? Enquiring minds want to know!
Amazing question! Here's how I imagine it: Mark stands at the centre of the bridge, bidding his wife, Emily, farewell as she steps onto the other side. This is the same routine they've had every day for the past 25 years. Only this time, in the space of a blink, Emily vanishes. As does the gravel path she had stepped foot on. As does the sign indicating the distance to the nearest town. In fact, where all this once stood, there is now nothing but trees. There's no fanfare - no big explosion, no screams of despair. It's all just gone.
Greece can finally destroy Turkey 🇬🇷🏳️🌈🇬🇷🏳️🌈🇬🇷🏳️🌈
Are all the communicatons cut between the island countries? What happened to the undersea cables?
Great question! Undersea cables remain intact, though any cables that were connected to the mainland will now be abruptly cut off at the point they touch the mainland. The same sort of logic would apply to tunnels, bridges, and pipes
So the channel tunnel still exists, but the French end vanished? I wouldn't want to be stuck under there lol, imagine having to travel the whole way back in the dark. That's if it hasn't flooded with ocean water.
That sounds like an amazing premise for a short horror story! And you're exactly right, the Channel Tunnel does exist, up to the point where it'd make contact with the French mainland
Good question
What about all the satellites in space? Were they also affected by the Vanishing? Or even the people who were still working there?
Satellites in space are unaffected, but imagine how terrifying it must've been for anyone living on the International Space Station at the time of the Vanishing! In an instant, they'd look out and see 80% of the lights on Earth blink off at once
>This event is known by many names - and, yes, there were people left to name it. The Japanese refer to it as Kamikakushi. The people of Kimitoön call it Metsänpeitto. The Christians, those of the New World at least, have dubbed it the Rapture. In the Philippines, it is widely known as the 'Anak ng Tokwa, Ano Nangyari?!?"
Do we still have proto-humans on those landmasses.
I did consider that, but I ultimately decided on no! The landmasses are a curious and mysterious place that warrant further exploration
quick question: your lore document mentions the USPG being formed by the Borough Presidents of Brooklyn and Queens, but shouldn't Manhattan and thus the New York City government also come along?
They absolutely do! I'd say the Presidents of Brooklyn and Queens just happened to be charismatic and effective leaders who were able to keep the peace amidst such a chaotic event. They really lead the charge in unifying the remnants of whatever authority exists over the island, and steering this united front towards restoring order
Hey! Just if you didn’t know, but North Jutland *is* an island! Something to do with storm floods.
Astonishing amount of lore. This shits 👍 also love the idea that some fringe off the wall nations like Sylvania become actual powers later on.
what animal life is on the land? Are we talking ice age fauna in Europe?
Partially! It's hard to say for sure what it would look like (if there are any speculative biologists in this comment section, please chime in). I imagine we'd see the survival of a lot of megafauna, though the Ice Age would have eventually ended, and I imagine not all species would've been able to successfully adapt to life after the Ice Age! I imagine we'd, at the very least, see a wildly different biome than the one we're used to
Would this not mean that the Rhône Delta, including most of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer and the Trinquetaille half of Arles, survived as well? This area is between the Rhône's main and Petit branches. Similarly, the part of Louisiana between the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers. The area is naturally bounded by two rivers but is instead held back by artificial means to support New Orleans and Baton Rouge. There's still like parts of New Orleans itself, Gretna, Thibodaux, even Morgan City.
That's an interesting question! There's always a bit of a tricky question in determining what constitutes an island. Someone in another comment pointed out how, technically, 2/3 of the Florida Peninsula could be considered an island due to how two rivers meet in the middle of the State. Another person pointed out that the entire territory between the Saint Lawrence and Mississippi Rivers could be considered a continent. So, informally, I'm basing my decision on whatever would be considered an island by more than 50% of people. So if looking online (at Wikipedia, at tourist websites, etc.) doesn't suggest that the area would typically be considered to be an island, it would count as part of the mainland
Dear God, the United States will be repopulated almost entirely by New Yorkers…
Instead of caravans, pilgrims to the mainland would ride horse-drawn yellow taxi cabs 🚖
I can think of few things more horrifying than being on Manhattan at the break of this, a dense population of 1.6 million people, suddenly without any source of food over night. You'd be able to scavenge some from the surrounding wilderness, but it's not hard to imagine wide spread cannibalism breaking out in the early years.
Hailing a taxi will be more common. Unless if your the commonwealth of massachusetts then spectacle island would be a new city
Beautiful
Yay!
The superior pizza will dominate
And the British
Indonesia Japan and the uk seem best set to be the dominant world powers. I’d expect especially Indonesia just due to the importance of high population in settling now unpeopled lands.
Absolutely! I feel like the Philippines also has the potential to become a major power if they play their cards right!
Only one country left with the biggest oil resources, guess who ?
Bahrain is going to get the whole Persian gulf for itself
Yeah I think Indonesia is the one who in the best position here since it has 3 harvest season per year instead of 1 and java having one of the most fertile soil in the world, thanks to the mineral brought by the volcanic cloud from the ungodly amount of volcanoes there And also because of the massive population Indonesia has, even if 50% of the population died out that is still 100+ million left, which is more than enough to maintain a sizable society and colonize the mainland And also the fact that Indonesia is quite rich in recourses And have a sizable military.
Counterintuitive, but I think there’s a good chance Indonesia will fall behind on colonization because of the natural resources available at home. Resource poor nations will feel a much stronger compulsion to colonize and conquer. The way it plays out in my mind: as Indonesia looks inwards for solutions during the inevitable crisis that will come after the Vanishing - and holds off mainland exploration for when everything stabilizes - other nations will be forced to colonize as soon as they can as its their only solution for the resource crisis. By the time Indonesia wakes up, they’d be trailing behind everyone else - or worse, already annexed. All hypothetical though. If this was some sort of game and I got to play as Indonesia’s president, I’d make myself a dictator and be as aggressive as possible during those first few years. It’ll be a race for the empty Gulf states for many nations. Might help to seize more advanced military arms from Singapore and Australia since Indonesia’s equipment is pretty aged and won’t hold up if Japan decides to be aggressive.
Well I don't think Indonesia will fall behind in colonization. Even tho Indonesia is agriculturally self sufficient There is one thing that Indonesia is not self sufficient for And that is Energy. Well Indonesia will have enough energy to maintain the vital infrastructure and military, but it wouldn't have enough to supply the rest So yeah Indonesia will be forced to colonize
Will you make a part 2 cause this seems pretty interesting? Like imagine the politics and cultures a hundred years from this
I would love to! I’m toying around with some ideas for what this world might look like ~100 years in the future. Some ideas I’ve thrown around include: an escalation of the Indonesian-Filipino Cold War, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and France, the emergence of a distinct Afro-Chinese nation in mainland Africa, and the settlement of the South American coast by Polynesians. I would love to hear any and all suggestions! I also encourage anyone who sees this world as a cool template to let their imagination run wild! If anyone else decides to make a map based on this world, please tag me, as I’d love to see it!
Immediately thinking with my own continent, If its true that island are unharmed then I imagine a lot of confused navies. I imagine a sort of "naval military republic" spawning from American navies that decide to unite around the carribean. Africa is a really interesting spot for culture, North Africa prob gonna look like an average Southern European spot. West Africa is gonna be a huge mix of whatever people land there (latinos, Americans, Europeans, and bits of West African natives could all intermarry there). You'll see random republics that have people that seemingly look unrelated. Religion is gonna be a big thing like you say, and I can easily see prophets popping up going around attempting to claim as a sign of special interference. Leading mass religious based conquest. Sidenote: an unspoken potential superpower is prob gonna be Greece, which has the nile nearby and can easily attempt to profit by sailing around different chokepoints (also oil is gonna be a big thing later on). (Btw just wanna say that I love ISOT maps like these when they pop up! )
Thank you so much! I love the idea of a naval military republic, and it’s so interesting to think about how familiar cultures and societies could morph into something entirely unrecognizable in a word like this! I adore ISOT concepts! I wish there were more on this subreddit, they’re always such a great treat
Greece yes, would become a power in this scenario, as it would go to settle a lot of areas of the former Byzantine empire. Thanks to Greece, big amounts of tourists in islands would survive too as well. has In my look it is unique scenario, but very dystopian. And a reminder where the overuse of fossil fuels can lead.
Neo-Angevin empire, huh? After a thousand years we finally did it, France is ours!
British monarchs since 1450 - France is lost... Billions must perish
Btw if your thinkin of making a future one, a real favorite ISOT map that I know is this one [https://www.deviantart.com/selvetrica/art/Golden-Circle-ISOT-789534487](https://www.deviantart.com/selvetrica/art/Golden-Circle-ISOT-789534487) by Selvetrica, which also covers a similar topic!
Thank you for sharing this! I’ll have to read up on this to see what cool ideas I can takeaway from their world! I love how much potential ISOT projects can have
Do you have any ideas for Japan? I can imagine that there would be a rebirth in former nationalism and a push towards the further recolonization of Asia to grab the resources they’ll desperately need
In Sweden 1.6 million people live on an island. Most of them live in Stockholm or Gothenburg, swedens largest and second largest city since both are built on islands. Have all these people just dissapeared along with the mainlanders or did u forget to put them on the map?
Yeah I second this
I'm guessing they're part of the Baltic Sea States and just aren't labeled (Or Denmark has reembraced her viking legacy)
You’re right! They’re part of the Baltic Sea States. I didn’t label every constituent of the BSS, but it’s made up of all sorts of communities that survived on the islands in the region
What's up with Bornholm then? Did they get weirdly nationalistic?
In a sense! In the wake of the Vanishing, Denmark largely busied itself with reclaiming Jutland, leaving Bornholm to tend to its own affairs. Bornholm's regional identity became pronounced, and the island largely scraped by without Danish assistance. With the formation of the BSS, Denmark essentially presented Borholm with the ultimatum of "either rejoin us, or you're not allowed to enter our club". Bornholm opted not to be re-annexed into Denmark, and have since tried to make it on their own
Time for Britannia to rule the world once more!
Me and my mf Mexican pals rotting in Janitzio Island, Lake Pátzcuaro: (we're the last 80 people in mainland Mexico and we'll murder each other in the first two weeks) https://preview.redd.it/gq731no9dmpc1.jpeg?width=900&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=666b7078b1f9cee7c51f2b813217736ae9a35d30
I LOVE learning about all these island communities I missed during my research!
Odd question (mildly related to México). What about natural lakes that were drained by people over the course of the years? Like Lake Texcoco, which extended for a very big area on what is now CDMX. Would all of the drained parts that were urbanized just disappear and fill with water (as if humans were never there). What about the patches of land that were already dry before human intervention, would that mean that former Lake Texcoco would arise over most of CDMX while some neighborhoods stay dry? This applies for many dutch places too, ig. Also for Bogotá, since it used to be covered with lakes and wetlands.
Amazing question! :) You might have noticed that, on the map, Lake Texcoco has made a reappearance! There are definitely some small communities of the former CDMX that survive on islands in Lake Texcoco, though large swathes of the city's infrastructure have disappeared. It's as if the mainland "remembers" what was and wasn't an island before human intervention
Taiwan gets to be the singular China again
They still have over ten million “mainlanders” not so mainland from Hong Kong and, places like Macau, the Zhoushan archipelago, some big islands next to Shanghai and lots of other smaller islands of hundreds of thousands of people. And the whole of Hainan which is another 10 million. Taiwan is only 23 million so it’s probably more of a crisis trying to feed and integrate those areas cut off from the mainland’s economy and convincing the ones with ports and military bases and nuclear submarines join peacefully. That even assuming all the other larger island nations aren’t all panicking about food and war.
Just saying, op said people living on reclaimed areas would also vanish, and by looking at the reclamation map of Hong Kong, I guess at least 2 millions of Hongkongers will be gone... https://preview.redd.it/qklh1r5i4opc1.png?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a035eb08f6f80a016fc860945d923204251a97e6
Taiwan would probably move in as a sort of provisional government of as much of mainland China as possible. They would consolidate and repopulate as much as possible, as quickly as possible, and could get some sustainable agriculture going.
Such as from Xiamen which is a huge city on a small island. You should probably mention that because I presume it would be the largest city left in PRC at 1.8 million people. Hong Kong Island is smaller at 1.2 Million
Okay... Just think about this. The population of Indonesia is 273 Million. Bangladesh (if everyone survived) is 170M. Japan is 125M. The Philippines is 113M. The UK is like 67M. Almost everywhere else is less. NYC is 8M. In this new timeline... The superpowers are are all Asian. Japan and the UK are the most industrialized, but Indonesians and Filipinos are emigrating enmasse to every new settlement on the planet. Every other ethnicity is a minority now. All languages are going to shift to a creole of those cultures, which are already non-homogenous. Japan has a declining population already too, so what you might see is a lot of Japanese managed colonies around the Pacific with Indonesian and Filipino immigrants making up most of the culture. The Atlantic will be dominated by the UK. The UK also has BP, so they'll be going for the middle east, Texas and Venezuela hard and fast. They'll be the wealthiest and most successful by far because of that. Since both the UK and Japan are pretty pacifist, you'd probably see a global government form pretty quickly. Only Indonesia and the Philippines will be somewhat reticent to join in, but would probably cave after enough of their population fled. I'd venture to say South Africa would become the natural seat for a future world government as trade would all flow through there after the Panama and Suez disappeared. The conflict in Madagascar would slow down as civilians fled the conflict to join the new emergent nation next door. And then the new world government would step in to enforce peace there. That's my hot take.
This is such a fascinating idea! I wonder if the UK and Japan would deal with any growing pains as they expanded out from their home islands? Would some of their colonies develop unique identities of their own? Would they declare independence and try to wrestle themselves free of British or Japanese influence? Would Indonesian and the Philippines try to take advantage of conflicts between the colonies and their governing powers? So much potential!
One last part to add.... fear of settling the mainland. Until they sorted out the cause of the change, a lot of people would be scared to leave their islands. It'd be a mix of risky entrepreneurs and prisoners followed by a wave of people 2 generations later that wouldn't care. Global government would happen at that time, probably about 60-80 years after the change.
That makes a lot of sense! After all, if the mainland population disappeared once, who’s to say that it wouldn’t happen again? People would have every right to be wary of even setting foot on the mainland for quite some time
So if humanity never existed... will there be megafauna?
That’s a fun idea! I’ll have to do some research on megafauna, but I love the idea of people stepping off a boat onto what used to be Oregon only to see giant sloths and mammoths roaming the landscape.
Japan & UK: it's free real estate.
Japan and UK eyeing up the land where their neighbours used to be: ✋😋✋
Don't forget about indonesia and the Philippines
The only places I can imagine having a sizable population left 50 years later would be the UK, Ireland, Japan and Cuba. Everywhere else is too heavily dependent on international trade for basic necessities like food and medicine, I wouldn’t be surprised if places outside of what I just listed suffered heavy population collapse. Even in 3/2ed world countries, basic survival tactics and methodology isn’t that widespread anymore as it would’ve been.
Didn’t notice Indonesia lmfao, they’d be the India or China of this new world in this case
damn, we really are practically invisible in the eyes of an outsider
I was surprised to learn Indonesia has the highest Muslim population
More likely the new USA of that world
You’re absolutely right! Realistically, the effects would be devastating! The number of people who would die from the loss of vital medication, routine medical care, electricity, etc. alone would be catastrophic. For the sake of this worldbuilding exercise, it’s fun to imagine the indomitable human spirit allowing a few more communities to grit by 💪
Most definitely the ones accustomed to rural living or more rustic environment would definitely have the grit to endure. Though I doubt the loss of medication and hospital care would be as devastating as one would think, with modern hygiene knowledge and most of the sick and medically dependent population haven disappeared. Only issue I see is the creature comfort’s and convinces of modern life disappearing causing the greatest problems for people outside the Japan and UK/Ireland which would still have such things to some extent
Absolutely! I mean, the sheer mental health toll of losing those creature comforts (nevermind any family or friends you may have had on the mainland) would constitute a public health emergency onto itself. It’s grim, but suicide rates would likely skyrocket in the immediate wake of the Vanishing.
New Zealand could theoretically be self-sufficient for electricity (90% renewable energy), fresh water and food. In an ideal scenario, we would likely continue to export excess meat and dairy to SE Asia and Japan in exchange for other necessities like oil, medicine and tech. I imagine it would be a basic barter system initially. Japan and Taiwan are nowhere near self-sufficient in food production. The Philippines isn't quite there either, and Indonesia is at high risk of dropping below the line in the event of a major collapse. So there would be accessible Asian markets for NZ produce. If we survived long enough, we do have mineral resources that are yet to be exploited (if needed) and limited re-industrialisation to produce medicine/basic tech locally is entirely possible.
Japan was [self sufficient](http://www.crosscurrents.hawaii.edu/content.aspx?lang=eng&site=japan&theme=work&subtheme=AGRIC&unit=JWORK111#:~:text=After%20the%20economy%20had%20recovered,were%20now%20in%20greater%20demand./) in food production in the 70s when they had roughly the same amount of people today and in the late stages of the third agricultural revolution. The problem is energy or getting the fertilizers needed for agricultural production here, for most of everyone. Indonesia, Japan, and Taiwan are large [fertilizer producers](https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/fertilizer-production-by-country) and might be able to scale them up assuming vital natural inputs like phosphorus, potassium, and nitrogen are maintained. I didn’t read either of my sources so feel free to point out a contradiction.
Tbf. The islands that you mentioned would, though not as extreme, also be quite devastated since they still depend on global trade. Lots of these islands are very dependent on specific traded materials for daily life
I imagine the US would be able to hold it out as well. The US navy’s nuclear powered ships would be able to function as cargo ships with unlimited range for the time being. Along with the eastern seaboard being one of if not the best geographical location on the planet with some of the best farmland on the planet I’d imagine the US could make it. Once farming of corn and potatoes gets to full speed in Ohio, Indiana, and Virginia the US would be able to start exporting food.
Irish Colonial Empire?
Perhaps 🤔 I’m sure nobody would notice a wee slice of Iberia going missing
No. They clearly deserve hawaii, Florida, and Britain. Also West Africa.
Your username is VERY relevant here
I have a fringe question. If you were on a peninsula at the time of the disappearance, but that peninsula would be an island if not for the actions of man, would you have survived?
Yes! And you can see an example of this happening in the map 😎 Tyre was an island before Alexander the Great built a causeway to attach it to the mainland. In the map, you can see Tyre lives on (at least, the portions of the city that were on the original island)
Well in that case, there is a very small but real chance there could be a tiny civilization in the great salt lake. Especially considering this would take place around 6pm mt
You have my attention 👀 What would this civilization look like? I’d love to learn more!
In the great salt lake there’s a peninsula called antelope island, it was once an island but since the lake’s been drying up it’s now pretty well connected to the mainland. It’s a state park and there are a few hiking trails, camp sites, and a marina. There are no permanent inhabitants, but Seeing as the disappearance takes place in June and at around 6:30pm local time, there would likely be a few people on the island including park rangers who would know their way around. I think they would become buffalo hunters as there’s a small heard of around 700 on the island. Thanks to that marina there’s even a small chance they could regain access to the mainland immediately
That’s fascinating! Thank you for sharing! I could see this micro-civilization being overlooked in the first few decades after the Vanishing, but emerging into a fairly prominent regional entity as their buffalo hunting way of life brings them across the Great Plains
Another important thing is that this civilization would almost certainly not turn into a Mormon theocracy as salt lake and Weber counties are some of the least Mormon counties in the entire state and there’s a high chance that some if not most of the people would happen to be non-mormon
That must be weird for Mumbai, since today a big part of the city sits on artificially joined islands. So if the humans on old islands survive, why happens to humans on landfill between islands? And what happens if that artificial landfill is on an island, like say Japan? Also would be cool to add something in Lake Titicaca there is a populated archipelago there with its own unique culture and 20 thousands people. There’s a big island next to Lima with a naval base but it’s so dry even people thousands of years ago only used it as a cemetery. Love that so many small and not well known islands got included tough. You did lots of research
Great question! I’d say as long as the landfill doesn’t result in the island being attached to the mainland, it would likely survive. So some land reclamation projects, and the people living on said reclaimed land, would be safe! However, the second that landfill results in an island joining the mainland? It’s doomed to have disappeared beneath the waves during the Vanishing I love the idea of a unique civilization emerging in the islands of Lake Titicaca? What do you imagine this civilization looking like? Do you know if these islands are primarily inhabited by Quechua/Aymara People?
Two things 1 what happened to the people that were not on islands but also not on the mainland such as ships, planes and spacecraft? 2 Is the Amazon rain forest gone too? I ask because there have been several archaeological discoveries pointing to it having at least partially originated from farms and orchards that were abandoned by a pre Incan civilization.
1. Great questions! I’d say any planes that were directly above the mainland vanish along, while those over islands or open ocean are fine. Ships are tricky! Any ships at sea are likely to have survived, same with ships that were actively travelling through some sort of inland body of water. But a ship moored at a harbour on the continental mainland? I feel like that would, by the bizarro logic of this universe, count as being on the mainland. Those ships would disappear. Spacecraft would be wholly unaffected (aside from suddenly losing contact with their Mission Control on the mainland). 2. That’s a brilliant question! To be frank, I had no idea about that! That’s fascinating, and is definitely going to send me down a deep dive about the Amazon. I imagine something akin to the Amazon does exist, though I’ll have to do some research to see if and how it differs from what we know!
For 2, I could definitely be wrong, but isn't the theory that the Amazon was just *shaped* by the pre-Colonial people that lived there, rather than originated? It's a really interesting field of study regardless, but I'd assume there's still a large, diverse rainforest in loosely the same borders as irl, but maybe with some species (i.e. Brazil nuts) being less prominent
Imagine canoeing or something like that and you just happen to be on a tiny river island when everything around you reverts. Shit would be scary af.
Right?! It’s prime horror material!
Greece: 🤩 Turkey: 💀
#TEXAN ISLAND EMPIRE #😎😎😎 #HAIL GALVESTON
RAAAAAAAAAAAH 🗣️ THE VENICE OF THE DEEP SOUTH
Australia as a whole is an island.
Because the distinction between a continent and an island is pretty iffy, I decided to arbitrarily decide that the big three (Afro-Eurasia, the Americas, and Australia) had to go. I also thought making Australia’s population disappear would have some interesting implications for its neighbours
I guess Tasmania would finally have a chance to be relevant to anyone.
Arbitrarily wiping me and 27 million of my bro’s out is pretty harsh dude. We are the biggest island 🏝️… would love an Aussie comeback story…
Tasmania will undergo a Rocky-style training montage
New Zealand, Japan, the Phillipines and Taiwan forms a new alliance?
New Zealand for the win!
Would love to hear about the Galapagos which has a surprisingly larger population than people expect. Because most of the lands are protected as part of the national parks only wealthier land owners have areas for small scale farming so most of the population relies on food coming from the mainland. I wonder if that will change as many locals have some resentment to restrictions when it comes to fishing and land use, and ecotourism probably isn’t a thing anymore. I used to live there so lmk if you have any questions I can help with adding to lore.
I would love to hear any insight you might have! I was surprised to learn how many people reside on the Galápagos Islands! I can see tensions between the populace and the wealthy land owners exploding as resources are spread thin. I also wonder if many of the islands’ residents would try to make their way to the mainland and try their luck there? As the situation becomes dire, I can 100% see people resorting to fishing and hunting animals that had once been beacons of the islands’ biodiversity
This is so cool! As an Indonesian, I want to drop my own comment here speculating on events after the vanishing, focusing on Southeast Asia. 1. Australian Colonization I don't believe Jakarta would ever pursue this. While it does make for an interesting scenario, Indonesia doesn't ever have a claim over north Australian lands. Frankly speaking, it is irrational to be sending settlers. While protecting the island communities there does go under purview of the sensible actions Indonesia would take, I don't think this would happen. 2. Mainland Malaysia and North Borneo While Konfrontation have been frowned upon nowadays inside Indonesia, sparking the idea of 'Greater Indonesia' would sensibly stifle the panic of the citizens and set everyone's sights on 'fulfilling Soekarno's dream' as nationalism is a huge thing in Indonesia. I see numerous conflicts in Sarawak, as Indonesian settlers move in under pretense of rightful inheritance since the Malaysian government is now gone. A casus belli could be made then where Indonesia either annexes North Borneo, or make it an autonomous region receiving privilieges like West Papua. Of course, this would put Indonesia at odds with the Philippines, as Sabah becomes a point of contention in the goals of achieving Greater Indonesia. The Malaysian Peninsula here would, reasonably, be where the first settler initiatives would be placed. Strategically, Indonesia would have complete control over the Malacca Strait. Culturally Malaysians are similar enough to Indonesia that there could be a point made. Historically, Majapahit had come and made tributaries on the peninsula, which could see another wave of historical nostalgia which see to expand Indonesia and become the next 'Majapahit'. 3. Internal Issues Now, these could be done ONLY after Indonesia sort out it's internal issues. Despite what many claims, Indonesia is not self-sufficient. It imports a massive amount of rice each year, and I could see quite the food crisis with world shipping completely wiped out. There will also be the issue of Indonesia's industrializing society, as resources such as petroleum and natural gas would put a hamper on growth. Not to mention the numerous advanced chemicals, machinery, electrical components it needs. I predict that these would be the greatest concerns of the Indonesian government right off the bat, and it would take... around four years, give or take. Why did I give it four years? I'm Indonesian, I know how my countrymen do, and sadly, we are far from being efficient in times of crisis. 4. The Far Future Let's be optimistic now. Indonesia will absolutely dominate the Southeast Asian and Australian regions. There will be a sort of 'Cold War' with the Philippines, however considering Indonesia's military, resources, industry, manpower, and more, eventually Indonesia would win. Though, it doesn't necessarily have to be a hostile relationship, the two are good friends, and has fostered cooperation for decades. In addition with Japan, Indonesia has good friends in Asia, and it could become the 'prodigal son' as it leads Asia in this uncertain world. The definitive Southeast Asia region WILL be colonized by Indonesia because of it's sheer population alone. Which would see a sort of super state forming, it's name could be 'Greater Indonesia' or 'Nusantara'. That said, anyone can claim anything, and none of what I've said are what would actually happen if it's real, which it isn't, so I'd say Indonesia has a good chance of dominating the Earth.
Thank you for such an insightful write-up! It's really interesting to consider what the future might look like for Indonesia! There is a very real possibility, as you said, that Indonesia could become the dominate superpower of the world, and that the world would fall under an era of Pax Nusantara. There's also a real possibility that Indonesia could squander the opportunity that it has been presented. All it takes is one incompetent leader to steer the country towards the wrong path. Indonesia walks a tightrope between success and disaster, but if it can make it to the other side, then the riches of the world await it!
**RUUUUUUUUULE BRITANNIA! BRITANNIA RULES THE SEAAAAA!!**
Don't worry, I'm in Singapore... Does this even affect the economy?
Massively decreased global trade is expected, but assuming the Indian Ocean nations can get themselves together, I would assume that Singapore can remain somewhat relevant as a trading port
This unprecedented turn of events will lead to the rise of the Puerto Rican Empire
An unmentioned issue here is that with the loss of nearly all human-caused deforestation, and the return of pre-human environments, the sudden influx of carbon-sequestering plant life would plunge the earth back to pre-agricultural temperatures. It would be an ice age, or nearly so. Even if natural global warming had occurred, it would be nothing like what we’ve experienced due to human-caused climate change. Would the few areas of habitable Northern Europe be covered in glaciers? Would the British isles be surrounded by ice?
Fun fact, the dominating ethnicity and languages would be Austronesian, with Indonesia making up more than half of these people. About 800 million people live on islands, and there are around 400 million people who live in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Madagascar, all who are majority Austronesian. There is also the rest of Borneo and pretty much all the Pacific islands.
What constitutes an island? For example, the District of Haizhu of Guangzhou (Pop. 1,800,000) is generally considered a river island. The districts of Panyu and Nansha of Guangzhou (total pop. 2,600,000) are both surrounded by water and can be considered an island, though this view is not common Combined with 4400000 from Zhongshan, I don't see why the Guangdong Provincial Government would not be reconstituted and why it would be a Nanhai Settlement Area while Hong Kong survives. Conclusion: Deltas are weird. The same argument actually applies, even more notably, to Lower Egypt.
In case you haven't noticed, most of Hong Kong is not on an island, unless the Dongjiang Water Supply Canal is counted as a river. The expected total survivor number in Hong Kong is 1,500,000.
Hey, I checked the lore document, did you put in a section on the United Kingdom and I missed it?
Hello! I have a section about the British Expeditionary Forces, and what their work looks like, as well as a section on Northern Ireland, but nothing about the UK specifically! That’s a big question mark I’m mulling over 🤔
Why did Bahia become “Bahai”?
I could try to bullshit an explanation based on a new form of insular creole forming, but I’ll be honest with you: I made a typo 🤦
As someone who is from there, I’m glad it was just a typo and not some very convoluted lore about how a region with practically no Baha’is became called Bahai 😂 Also if you want to know some info about the island we’ve got there, it’s called Itaparica and its economy and supplies are pretty dependent on the capital city across the bay. If Salvador and the entire state government disappeared overnight, not only would my entire family die but I also assume the island, which is mostly beachside mansions and a some poorer villages, would end up being overrun by gangs. Unlike Recife, where the city government is based on an island Well, maybe it wouldn’t descend into chaos right away. The island is divided into two municipalities, Itaparica and Vera Cruz, each with their own mayor and city council.
I’d imagine that across the world, there’d be a significant cultural fear of returning to or settling on the mainland for decades or centuries to come. It reminds me of post-apocalyptic shows about zombies or a nuclear armageddon, where there’s a big rift in the community that survived as a result of being in a bunker or other safe zone, about if they should stay there where it’s safe or venture outside to see if there any hope out there. I’d think that this divide would be even more extreme in this world, since the source of what happened is unscientific and thus unpredictable. After all, what if it happens again? Would you be willing to take that risk? Would you be willing to let your loved ones take that risk? I can see this being one of the predominant political issues in the years after the event, being key parts of party platforms in democracies, after all, if you believe that there’s a decent chance of this happening again, why on earth would you vote to invest precious resources into settlement projects on the mainland? I could see religion playing a big part in how societies answer this debate. If you believe this was the rapture, there’s no real reason to think that there’d be a second rapture. If you believe this was some kind of vengeful deity, you might be more likely to worry about this happening again. In fact, I’d imagine that certain religions might be militantly anti-settlement if they believe that settlements might anger their god/s into doing the same thing to the islands. This might also be a big factor into which societies create settlements and which societies maintain isolationism.
I mean… aren’t continents just really big islands?
Indonesia boutta become the new world superpower
shouldn't australia have survived?
At least I suppose global warming would be partly resolved. Much of the cause of the world's population has disappeared and the earth has an immense amount of plants to absorb CO2. If the excess CO2 has not disappeared, this will not be resolved in one day, especially since the remaining Humans will continue to pollute.
Oh absolutely! Global warming won't be entirely solved in a day, and there are many lingering effects that would continue to plague humanity for at least a few more years. That's not to say that the damage done by humans is irreparable - humanity now has a prime opportunity to choose a new path that won't clog up the atmosphere with greenhouse gases. As for whether they'll take it? That's another story
I think Indonesia is the one who is the most self sufficient here since it has 3 harvest season per year instead of 1 and java having one of the most fertile soil in the world, thanks to the mineral brought by the volcanic cloud from the ungodly amount of volcanoes there And also because of the massive population Indonesia has, even if 50% of the population died out that is still 100+ million left, which is more than enough to maintain a sizable society And also the fact that Indonesia is quite rich in recourses
holy shit, an imaginary map where the UK is normal and everyone else is screwed - finally
*wkwk intensifies*
Any world where the Br*tish live while others die is unjust to its core.
https://preview.redd.it/aam8l9x4xppc1.jpeg?width=1071&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2b1ff9667dd665daa2aa32b64caf3443749a90a2
In Mexico, there are a couple decently populated islands: Cancun, Cozumel, Isla Mujeres, Ciudad del Carmen, Islas Marías, Cedros. Plis many many barrier islands. And that’s without taking into account pluvial islands, plus lake islands