The Terminal - Krakozhia

Krakozhia (Кракозия or Кракожия) is a fictional country created for the film, that closely resembles a former Soviet Republic. The Krakozhian language is very similar to Bulgarian. From January 16, 2004 to November 2004, the country experienced a civil war. When the war began, the President of the country was held hostage and a new regime installed, leading to Viktor finding his passport and visa useless. Consequently, Viktor must stay in the airport terminal for nine months, as the United States refuses to recognize the new Krakozhian government, after which peace is declared in Krakozhia and he is able to return home.

The exact location of Krakozhia is kept intentionally vague in the film, keeping with the idea of Viktor being simply Eastern European or from a former Soviet Republic. However in one of the scenes, a map of Krakozhia is briefly displayed on one of the airport's television screens during a news report on the ongoing conflict. The country's borders and location are those of the Republic of Macedonia. Throughout the film, it is learned that the Krakozhian language is mutually intelligible with Russian, and that the Krakozhian national anthem is musically close to that of Albania (or the tune of Vajacki marš). Little else is known about Krakozhia, except that there was a lot of fighting which made the international news. The film mentions that rebels have taken the "northern area" of Krakozhia. The cover of the passport that Viktor shows to the customs officer in one of the initial scenes of the film closely resembles a Soviet passport. His driver's license is Belarusian. One can see the words Вадзіцельскае пасведчанне (Vadzicielskaje pasviedczannie), which means driver's license in Belarusian and the name of the Belarusian city of Homel.

The language which Hanks' character speaks in the film, "Krakozhian", is actually slightly-accented literary Bulgarian. Tom Hanks' wife, Rita Wilson, whose father is a Bulgarian, is reported to have coached Hanks in Bulgarian in the course of the shooting of the film. In the same line the name of Viktor's father is Dimitar Asenov Navorski, shaped after the Bulgarian three-section pattern and contains one name popular among contemporary Bulgarians—Dimitar (Димитър). The patronymic Asenov derives from one Bulgarian medieval dynasty and was borne by several Bulgarian Tsars, Ivan Asen II for example.

Krakozhia's name was inspired by one of Spielberg's favorite cities – Kraków in Poland.

The film presents a reasonably accurate picture of the process of naturalistic second language acquisition, according to professional linguist Martha Young-Scholten.

John Williams, the film's composer, also wrote a national anthem for Krakozhia.

Read more about this topic:  The Terminal