Highgarden

The Known World
"A Map of The Known World" by George R. R. Martin
A Song of Ice and Fire location
Created by	George R. R. Martin
Genre	Novel/Television
Type	Fantasy world
Notable locations	Westeros Essos Sothoryos Ulthos

Westeros
A map of the Westeros continent
A Song of Ice and Fire location
Created by	George R. R. Martin
Genre	High fantasy
Type	Continent
Notable locations	King's Landing, Seven Kingdoms
Notable characters	Tyrion Lannister, Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, Eddard Stark, Catelyn Stark, Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, Bran Stark, Cersei Lannister, Jaime Lannister, Theon Greyjoy
First appearance	A Game of Thrones

The fictional world in which the A Song of Ice and Fire novels by George R. R. Martin take place is divided into several continents, known collectively as The Known World.

Most of the story takes place on the continent of Westeros and in a large political entity known as the Seven Kingdoms. Those kingdoms are spread across nine regions: the North, the Iron Islands, the Riverlands, the Vale, the Westerlands, the Stormlands, the Reach, the Crownlands, and Dorne. A massive wall of ice and old magic separates the Seven Kingdoms from the largely unmapped area to the north. The vast continent of Essos is east of Westeros, across the "Narrow Sea". The closest foreign nations to Westeros are the Free Cities, which is a collection of independent city-states along the western edge of Essos. The lands along the southern coastline of Essos are called the Lands of the Summer Sea and include Slavers Bay and the ruins of Valyria. The latter is the former home of Westeros' Targaryen kings. To the south of Essos are the continents of Sothoryos and Ulthos, which in the narrative are largely unexplored.

The planet experiences erratic seasons of unpredictable duration that can last for many years. At the beginning of A Song of Ice and Fire, Westeros has enjoyed a decade-long summer, with many fearing that an equally long and harsh winter will follow.

George R. R. Martin set the Ice and Fire story in an alternative world of Earth, a "secondary world", such as J. R. R. Tolkien pioneered with Middle-Earth. Martin has also suggested that world may be larger than the real world planet Earth. The Ice and Fire narrative is set in a post-magic world where people no longer believe in supernatural things such as the Others. Although the characters understand the natural aspects of their world, they do not know or understand its magical elements. Religion, though, has a significant role in the life of people with the characters practicing many different religions.

A Game of Thrones, the first installment of the A Song of Ice and Fire series, has two maps of Westeros. Each new book has added one or two maps so that, as of A Dance with Dragons, seven maps of the fictional world are available in the books. Martin said in 2003 that complete world maps were not made available so that readers may better identify with people of the real Middle Ages who were uneducated about distant places. He also did not "subscribe to the theory put forth in The Tough Guide To Fantasyland ... that eventually the characters must visit every place shown on The Map." He conceded, however, that readers may be able to piece together a world map by the end of the series. He was intentionally vague about the size of the Ice and Fire world, omitting a scale on the maps to discourage prediction of travel lengths based on measured distances. A new map artist was used in A Dance with Dragons so that the maps are available in two versions by James Sinclair and Jeffrey L. Ward, depending on the book. The old maps were redone to match the style of the new ones.