How many Ministries are there in the superstate Oceania in the novel "1984"?

"1984" is a dystopian social science fiction novel and cautionary tale written by the English writer George Orwell. Thematically, it centres on the consequences of totalitarianism, mass surveillance and repressive regimentation of people and behaviours within society.

Oceania, where our story takes place, is run by the Party whose ideology is Ingsoc (English Socialism). London is the capital and the skyline is dominated by four pyramid-like structures, home of the Ministries: The Ministry of Truth (MiniTrue), Ministry of Love (MiniLuv), Ministry of Peace (MiniPax) and Ministry of Plenty (MiniPlenty). They are bright white concrete and rising 300 meters into the air. On the front are the three slogans of the Party: “WAR IS PEACE”, “FREEDOM IS SLAVERY” and “IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH”.

The world is ruled by three superstates:

• Oceania covers the entire continents of America and Oceania and the British Isles, the main location for the novel, in which they are referred to as ‘Airstrip One’.

• Eurasia covers Europe and (more or less) the entire Soviet Union.

• Eastasia covers Japan, Korea, China and northern India.

Orwell, a democratic socialist, modelled the totalitarian government in the novel after Stalinist Russia and Nazi Germany. More broadly, the novel examines the role of truth and facts within politics and the ways in which they are manipulated.