Springfield is the fictional city in which the American animated television series The Simpsons is set. Springfield is a mid-sized city in an unknown state. The town of Springfield acts as a complete universe in which characters can explore the issues faced by modern society.

The geography of Springfield and its surroundings are flexible, changing to address whatever an episode’s plot calls for. In The Simpsons' universe, Time magazine is said to have done a cover story on Springfield entitled "America's Worst City;" Newsweek is said to have characterized the city as "America's Crud Bucket". The city's location is unclear.

Fans have tried to determine its location by taking the town's characteristics, surrounding geography, and nearby landmarks as clues, but the show has been deliberately evasive on the subject, even providing contradictory information. For example, in The Simpsons Movie, Ned Flanders points out from elevated ground on the outskirts of the city that Nevada, Ohio, Kentucky, and Maine are all visible from there; two of those states are over 2000 miles apart, with several other states in between. In one episode Lisa Simpson says that the location is a mystery and instructs the audience that if certain clues are followed, it can be figured out.

Springfield was founded in 1796 by a band led by Jebediah Springfield (a.k.a. Hans Sprungfeld), that, after misinterpreting a passage in the Bible, left Maryland, trying to find "New Sodom." After Jebediah Springfield refused to found a town where men were free to marry their cousins, half of the band broke away to do just that. They named their town Shelbyville, after fellow pioneer Shelbyville Manhattan, and the rivalry between the two towns persists to this day. Springfield reached its pinnacle in the mid-20th century, when it became the home of the world's first Aquacar factory; one half of the U.S. was said to wear Springfield galoshes and Springfield's streets were literally paved with gold.

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