Which newspaper invented the fictional island nation San Serriffe in 1977?

The Guardian invented the fictional island nation of San Serriffe in 1977.

The British newspaper published a seven-page April Fools’ supplement on 1 April 1977, presenting San Serriffe as a real country with geography, politics, tourism and commercial advertisements. The elaborate format imitated the special country reports that newspapers published for readers and advertisers.

Many of the invented names were jokes about typography. “San Serriffe” sounds like “sans serif,” a typeface category, while other places and characters referred to fonts, printing terms or punctuation. The island was even drawn in the shape of a semicolon, reinforcing the newspaper’s typographic theme.

The hoax fooled some readers, who wrote to The Guardian about their supposed visits or contacted travel companies. San Serriffe was later revived in additional newspaper jokes, becoming one of the most famous press hoaxes associated with April Fools’ Day.