ENCYCLOPEDIA.

WESTEROS !

          Westeros is one of the four known continents in the known world, the others being Essos, Sothoryos, and Ulthos. Most of the area of Westeros is covered by a political entity known as the Seven Kingdoms, while the far north beyond the Wall includes the free folk. The closest foreign nations to Westeros are the Free Cities, a collection of independent city-states across the narrow sea in western Essos. To the south of Westeros lie the Summer Isles.

          The continent of Westeros is long and relatively narrow, extending from Dorne in the south to the lands beyond the Wall. In the far north are the frozen Lands of Always Winter, where a large amount of land remains uncharted due to the extremely cold temperatures.

          According to semi-canon sources, Westeros is similar in size to South America. Although no scale appears on the maps in the books themselves, George R. R. Martin has stated that the Wall is a hundred leagues long, or three hundred miles.Thus the continent stretches for about 3,000 miles from north to south and for some 900 miles at its widest point east to west.

          Westeros's eastern coast borders on the narrow sea; across those waters lies the eastern continent of Essos and the island chain known as the Stepstones. To the south is located the Summer Sea, and within it the Summer Isles.

          The northern lands of Westeros are less densely populated than the south despite their roughly equivalent size. The five major cities of Westeros are, in order of size: King's Landing, Oldtown, Lannisport, Gulltown, and White Harbor.

          Westeros was divided into several independent kingdoms before the start of Aegon's Conquest. After this war and the eventual incorporation of Dorne, all the regions south of the Wall were united under the rule of House Targaryen into a nation known as the Seven Kingdoms, which consists of nine provinces.

Beyond the Wall