Laputa
Gulliver's Travels location
Map of Laputa and Balnibarbi (original map, Pt III,Gulliver's Travels)
Created by	Jonathan Swift
Genre	Satire
In-universe information
Type	Flying island
Character	King

Laputa/ləˈpuːtə/ is aflying island described in the 1726 bookGulliver's Travels byJonathan Swift.^[1] It is about 4½ miles (7¼ km) in diameter, with anadamantine base, which its inhabitants can manoeuvre in any direction usingmagnetic levitation. The island is the home of the king ofBalnibarbi and his court, and is used by the king to enforce his rule over the lands below.

Laputa was located above the realm ofBalnibarbi, which was ruled by its king from the flying island. Gulliver states the island flew by the "magnetic virtue" of certain minerals in the grounds of Balnibarbi which did not extend to more than 4 miles (6.5 kilometres) above, and six leagues (29 kilometres) beyond the extent of the kingdom,^[2] showing the limit of its range. The position of the island, and the realm below, is some five days' journey south-south-east of Gulliver's last known position, 46° N, 183° E^[3] (i.e. east ofJapan, south of theAleutian Islands)^[4] down a chain of small rocky islands.^[3]

In Spanish translations of Gulliver's Travels, "Laputa" was renamed as "Lupata", "Laput", "Lapuda", and so on, to avoid similarities with the vulgar phrase "la puta" ("the whore").

• OnMars's largestmoon,Phobos, there is aregio,Laputa Regio, which is named after Swift's Laputa because of his'prediction' of the two then undiscovered Martian moons, which his Laputan astronomers had discovered.^[5]

• In the 1964 comedy filmDr. Strangelove, the primary target for theB-52 bomber crew is given as "theICBM complex at Laputa".

• The 1986 Japaneseanimated fantasy filmCastle in the Sky, directed byHayao Miyazaki, derives its name and basic premise from Swift's novel.^[6]

• From 1999 to 2006 in Japan,Mazda sold the Mazda Laputa, aRebadged version of theSuzuki Kei.

• Miyazaki, Hayao (2009) [1996].Starting Point: 1979–1996.Viz Media.ISBN 978-1-4215-6104-2.
• Napier, Susan J. (2018).Miyazakiworld: A Life in Art.Yale University Press.ISBN 978-0-300-22685-0.
• Swift, Jonathan (2008) [1726].Gulliver's Travels. Oxford World Classics. introduction by Claude Rawson, explanatory notes by Ian Higgins (reprint ed.).^{[ISBN missing]}
• Williams, Kathleen (1968). "Gulliver in Laputa". In Brady, Frank (ed.).Twentieth Century Interpretations of Gulliver's Travels: A Collection of Critical Essays. Prentice-Hall. pp. 60 & ff.ISBN 9780133715675.
• "Laputa Regio".Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.USGS. Retrieved29 May 2024.

• Page, Michael;Ingpen, Robert (1998).Encyclopedia of Things That Never Were. New York: Penguin Studio. pp. 94,150–1.ISBN 0-14-010008-3.

Wikisource has the text of the 1905New International Encyclopedia article "Laputa".

• Gulliver's Travels atProject Gutenberg

• Fictional elements introduced in 1726
• Fictional Asian countries
• Fictional city-states
• Fictional islands
• Gulliver's Travels locations
• Magnetic levitation
• Fictional aircraft
• Fictional floating islands

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use Hiberno-English from September 2013
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