Westeros /

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. Most of the story takes place on the continent Westeros, which consists of the Seven Kingdoms and an unmapped area to the north, separated by a massive wall of ice. Two other continents share the world in which Westeros resides. The vast continent of Essos lies to the east, across the narrow sea. The closest foreign nations to Westeros are the Free Cities, a collection of independent city-states along the western edge of this eastern continent. The lands along the southern coastline of the eastern continent, collectively called the Lands of the Summer Sea, include Slavers Bay and the ruins of Valyria, the former home of Westeros's Targaryen kings. To the south of Westeros lies the continent of Sothoryos. Little is known about the continent save that it is inhabited by dark-skinned people and is "jungly, plague-ridden and largely unexplored". The story of A Song of Ice and Fire takes place mainly on the continent of Westeros. It is roughly equivalent in area to South America.