State of Leonida

Grand Theft Auto VI has identified five counties within Leonida: Vice-Dale, Kelly, Leonard, Ambrosia, and Mariana. The disclosed places in Vice-Dale County are Vice City, Vice Beach, and Hamlet. Mariana County contains Key Lento and Watson Bay; Kelly County includes Port Gellhorn; Ambrosia County includes Ambrosia; and Waning Sands is in Leonard County.

Only a limited number of Leonida’s cities and towns have been named. Vice City and Vice Beach had both appeared by name in earlier Grand Theft Auto titles, while the other listed communities are associated with GTA VI’s Leonida. No trailer timestamps, screenshot locations, prices, vehicle classes, manufacturers, variants, modifications, or technical bugs are identified for the state.

Leonida’s northern edge runs along Mount Kalaga National Park. The park places the state in the Mount Kalaga region and may meet the neighboring State of Gloriana, although that adjoining border is not established as certain.

Kelly County has been linked to a prison complex seen in the September 2022 GTA VI leaks. Its apparent real-world model is Augusta State Medical Prison near Augusta, Georgia. The leak connection supports Georgia as an influence on Leonida’s northern landscape rather than treating the state as a direct one-for-one recreation of Florida.

Leonida is chiefly modeled on the U.S. state of Florida. Its name appears to derive from Juan Ponce de León, the Spanish conquistador who led the first European expedition to the Florida peninsula.

Georgia also informs the setting, particularly its terrain and the inclusion of Mount Kalaga National Park. The Kelly County prison comparison provides a further Georgia reference. These influences distinguish Leonida from a purely Florida-based setting while keeping Florida as its principal real-world basis.

Earlier Grand Theft Auto continuity used Florida as the state containing Vice City. Florida and Floridian locations were mentioned more than once across the series, and Florida remained the setting-state for Vice City in the 3D Universe.

Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto V still briefly referred to Florida, but GTA VI instead establishes Leonida as Vice City’s state in the HD Universe. Florida consequently belongs to the 3D Universe canon rather than the HD Universe version of Vice City.

This change is compared with another series naming revision involving San Andreas. The original 1997 game treated San Andreas as a city; Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City used that name for real-world San Francisco. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas later made San Andreas the state, while the city became San Fierro. A related shift changed recurring advertisement references from Hollywood actors in Grand Theft Auto III to Vinewood actors in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Leonida’s state seal takes inspiration from Florida’s real seal. Its distinctive image shows a person being eaten by an alligator.

The state is also associated with moon-landing conspiracy theorists and with the Leonida Man social-media phenomenon. These references sit alongside the named counties and settlements as part of Leonida’s stated identity.