- "District 13 makes our nukes and guns that our nation has. Including land mines. This nation wouldn't be a nation without the 13th district of Panem."
- —Katniss Everdeen, on District 13's creation and destruction.[src]
District 13 is the last of the thirteen districts of Panem and was thought to be destroyed by the Capitol during the first rebellion. It's said to be uninhabitable, the ruins still smoldering from the nuclear bombs dropped on it. However, the District is actually fully operational but underground, and in a treaty of peace with the Capitol to remain independent and in exchange, not to start a nuclear war with Panem. Its industries were mining graphite and nuclear science/technology. The Capitol had agreed to leave the people of District 13 alone, therefore they do not participate in the Hunger Games. The Capitol demolished the visible remains of the district and cut off all access from the outside.
In Catching Fire, Bonnie and Twill from District 8 tell Katniss Everdeen about the mockingjay that has repeatedly been seen flying across the corner of the screen when the Capitol is supposedly televising new footage of District 13. The ruins are always smoldering and the same news reporter is talking in front of the rubble. This reveals that the Capitol never actually shows the current state of the district, but instead always replays old footage. Bonnie and Twill believe that there is a civilization living underground. At the end of Catching Fire, Katniss learns that District 13 is being used as a base for the new rebellion.
District 13's leader is President Coin. It is unclear where District 13 is located.
Jobs
- Nuclear weapons maker
- Soldier
- Doctor
- Healer
- Cook
- Hovercraft/Warplane pilot
- Hackers
- Hunters
- Teachers
- Farmer
- Spy
- Human Maker
- Weapon Tester
- Nuclear Engineer
Everyday life
On the temporary tattoo the District 13 citizens get every morning, it shows what that person needs to do. It shows the specific activity, and the time showed in 24-hour time. Certain activities that are scheduled every morning are breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Other activities are the Command, where citizens of District 13 write down what they want changed or added to the schedule. The schedule also depends on the age. If you are under 14, you go to school where you study classes on history or other subjects. During the day, you are arranged a strict 30 minute down time with family. People are not allowed to have outside pets, as a precaution. Although in a deal established by Katniss Everdeen, she asked for permission for her younger sister, Primrose Everdeen, to keep the small tom cat named Buttercup she took care of in District 12. Buttercup is let outside to find food, but his comings and goings are strictly controlled, and if he causes any problems, he will be shot on sight. Katniss also requested special hunting time. President Coin accepted, but stipulated that she could only hunt within a strict quarter-mile radius for a time span of two hours and had to use the game that they, she and Gale, caught for the kitchen in District 13. They each had a tracking device attached to their ankle.
History
In the book, Mockingjay, it is revealed that District 13 was never destroyed, but that they moved underground due to a non-aggression pact with the The Capitol: if District 13 stayed hidden underground with no contact anywhere else, playing dead, the Capitol wouldn't bother them. The reason that the Capitol was willing to agree to this pact is that District 13 specialized in nuclear weapons, and District 13 had trained their nuclear missiles on the Capitol, threatening to destroy them.
When District 13 gained independence from Panem, it also gained a valuable asset in nuclear weapons, and had a non-aggression pact with the Capitol, ensuring its safety. When District 13 relocated underground, they began developing and manufacturing new types of weaponry and later did so for the rebel armed forces during the 2nd rebellion. It is also mentioned that there was a pox outbreak that spread through District 13, lowering the population and making most of the survivors infertile. For that reason, District 13 was eager to accept refugees as "breeding stock" and unsurprisingly there were very few children in the district.
Weddings are conducted as a couple signs a paper and moves into a compartment together.
After the third Quarter Quell, the survivors were taken there, along with the refugees from the bombing of District 12. The tributes of the Quarter Quell were cared for and trained for the rebellion. Beetee from District 3 built specialized weaponry, Katniss became the Mockingjay symbol, Finnick narrated propos, and so on.
Trivia
- It is stated that District 13 is in the Northeast region. The only major deposit of graphite in North America is near Lake Huron in Canada.
- District 13 is the only district to never take part in a Hunger Games event.
- Districts 2 and 13 are the only districts with dual industries, though no other district knew about its second industry. District 12 also has dual industries but only after the second rebellion.
- District 13 is the only known district to be underground, though it wasn't originally underground.
- District 13 was the starting point of the first rebellion and in a couple ways of the second.
- District 13 is one of the three known districts to be bombed during the rebellion (District 8 and 12 were also bombed).