<P> The Lost City of Z is the name given by Col. Percy Harrison Fawcett, a British surveyor, to an indigenous city that he believed had existed in the jungle of the Mato Grosso region of Brazil . Based on early histories of South America and his own explorations of the River Amazon region, Fawcett theorized that a complex civilization once existed in the Amazon region and that isolated ruins may have survived . </P> <P> Fawcett found a document known as Manuscript 512 (links to non-English page), held at the National Library of Rio de Janeiro, believed to be written by Portuguese bandeirante João da Silva Guimarães . Da Silva wrote that during 1753, he had discovered the ruins of an ancient city that contained arches, a statue, and a temple with hieroglyphics . He described the city ruins in great detail without giving its location . Manuscript 512 was written after explorations made in the sertão of the province of Bahia (see Fawcett's own book Exploration Fawcett). Fawcett intended to pursue finding this city as a secondary goal after "Z". </P> <P> He was preparing an expedition to find "Z" when World War I broke out and the British government suspended support . During 1920 Fawcett undertook a personal expedition to find the city, but withdrew after suffering from fever and having to shoot his pack animal . During a second 1925 expedition, Fawcett, his son Jack, and Raleigh Rimell disappeared in the Mato Grosso jungle . </P> <P> David Grann wrote a 2005 article, "The Lost City of Z", on Fawcett's expeditions and findings, published in New Yorker . He expanded and developed it into a full - length book of the same title, published in 2009 . That work was adapted as a movie of the same name and released in April 2017 . </P>

What does z stand for in lost city of z