Emerald City - Definition and Overview

The Emerald City is the fictional capital of the Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's Oz books, first described in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. According to early books in the series, the Wizard built the city and named it after himself, but later books indicate that he may not have been its original founder, as some structures were there previously.

Baum may have been partly inspired in his creation of the Emerald City by the White City of the World Columbian Exposition, which he visited frequently, having moved to Chicago in anticipation of the event. W. W. Denslow, the illustrator of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was also familiar with the White City, as he had been hired to sketch and document the exposition for the Chicago Herald; Denslow's illustrations of the Emerald City incorporate elements that may have been inspired by the White City.

The Emerald City of Oz is the title of the sixth book in the Oz series.

Emerald City is also the nickname of Seattle, Washington and Eugene, Oregon.

Emerald City may also refer to:

• A unit in the Ozwald Maximum Security Prison in the HBO television series Oz
• A play and film about the Australian film industry by the popular Australian playwright David Williamson