Before the Dark Days war, District 13 specialized in nuclear technology and mining graphite. It was also the Capitol's weapons manufacturer until the rebellion. During the Dark Days, they were one of the major forces of the rebellion. Near the end of the Dark Days they managed to take control of the nuclear arsenal. District 13 was supposedly bombed and destroyed before the first annual Hunger Games at the end of the Dark Days war, but it was hinted in Catching Fire that they had survived, and in Mockingjay it is confirmed that District 13 had become, literally, an underground district when the population retreated to bunkers. After the Capitol and District 13 agreed to leave each other alone under the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction, the Capitol spread the story that District 13 had been destroyed; District 13 had control of the primary nuclear weapons stockpile and the Capitol did not want a nuclear war. This underground district maintains concealed livestock and vegetable farms in order to survive after the Capitol destroyed everything above ground, so as not to arouse the suspicion of the other districts. This was a risk that, according to Katniss, the Capitol had underestimated. District 13 is a week away from District 12 on foot.
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