What Are The Seven Kingdoms In Game Of Thrones?

In light of the upcoming “Game of Thrones” spinoff series, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” it’s worth looking back and reminding ourselves what exactly these seven kingdoms are. Most casual viewers are familiar with the North of course, and they probably remember Dorne as the sexy Kingdom led by Pedro Pascal, but what’s going on with the others? And why is it that, when one looks at a map of Westeros, it sure seems like there are nine kingdoms, not seven?

“Game of Thrones” and “House of the Dragon” have both shed some light on the history of Westeros, but probably the most helpful source here is “Fire & Blood,” the fictional history book (published by Martin in 2018) that details the first 150 years of House Targaryen rule over the nation. The book, which was criticized as a bit of a cash grab when it first came out, has now become a beloved, popular book in its own right. It’s not just a surprise page-turner, but it helps clarify that the dynamics between the seven kingdoms are even more complicated and dynamic than the original series made them seem. Let’s get into it!

When Aegon the Conquerer showed up in Westeros, he arrived in Dragonstone, a stormy island on the east coast of Westeros. Dragonstone was his base as he went about conquering all the kingdoms, although he soon began setting up shop on the mainland. He established a fort near Blackwater Bay, and during his conquest, a town had sprouted up around it. Aegon named it King’s Landing and made it the new capital of his conquered kingdoms, and the area’s population has grown more and more ever since. 

The Crownlands are basically like Washington D.C. in America, but much bigger. It’s not a Kingdom, but it is the region that rules over the other seven kingdoms. In the process of founding the Crownlands, Aegon basically annexed large swaths of land from the kingdoms that were already there. (See below for those.)

As for the climate of the Crownlands? Well, it’s a little surprising that King’s Landing wasn’t already around in some form pre-Aegon, considering that its location (with its natural harbors and its warm climate) seems perfect for a major city. The downside to King’s Landing (and most of the Crownlands outside of Dragonstone) is that it’s a little too hot, as we see the poor Stark family have to endure during the early books of the main series. 

Although this world doesn’t have the same season lengths as our world, it does seem to largely stick to our world’s other weather patterns. The west coast of Westeros has milder seasons in general, whereas the eastern coast has larger temperature swings. So a place like King’s Landing will get very hot in the summer, but it can still get pretty cold in the winter. 

What’s the best Crownland city to live in? Honestly, I’d say Duskendale, which is a little to the north of King’s Landing. Yes, it’s no longer the hot cultural/economic hub it was pre-Aegon, but that just means the rent’s lower and it’s less likely to be held under siege. 

South of the Crownlands and north of Dorne, the Stormlands are known for being hot, stormy, and surprisingly not that densely populated. It’s odd given how close they are not only to the Crownlands but to major cities in Essos that they could presumably trade with. Of course, the Stormlands are still not to be trifled with, boasting the birthplace of major “GoT” players like the Baratheons (from Storm’s End) and Brienne (of Tarth, a small island east of Storm’s End and north of Cape Wrath.) 

In the Stormlands, a bastard is given the surname Storm. (In the Crownlands it’s Waters, in the Reach it’s Flowers, in the Westerlands it’s Hill, in the North it’s Snow, in Dorne it’s Sands, in the Vale it’s Stone, in the Riverlands it’s Rivers, and in the Iron Islands its Pyke.) Some of the Stormlands’ biggest exports are wine, mead, timber, and fur. Its main trade port is Weeping Town, which seems like one of the safer areas in Westeros to spend a vacation in. 

Best Stormlands city to live in? I for one am fond of Tarth; it’s a place the main series has never gone to, but its southern island status implies that it’s got a consistently warm, mild climate. If wet and dreary Dragonstone is like London, then Tarth must be more like one of the Canary Islands. It also helps that it’s been out of the action throughout the series, so it seems like a great place to go if you don’t want to get wrapped up in a civil war. That said, if the good people of Pentos or Tyrosh ever try to invade Westeros, Tarth residents should brace themselves because they’ll be one of the first cities attacked. But as long as most of the problems of Westeros come from within, Tarth seems like a good, stable place to live a life. 

At first glance, the Reach just feels like southern California. It’s arguably got the best climate in all of Westeros, with warm summers and winters that stay mild in all but the most extreme circumstances. Oldtown, the beautiful city where people study to become maesters, is easily one of the best places to live in all of Westeros. Not only does the ocean wind keep the weather stable, and not only is it peaceful and forward-thinking, but there are no major land masses to the west that can pose a threat. People on the east coast of Westeros will always have to worry about a surprise Essos invasion, but the west coast knows that if such a thing were to happen, they’d be hit last. 

The downside of no countries to the West is that the Reach is slightly limited as a global trade hub. If you took its pleasant fertile landscape and switched its location with the Stormlands, the Reach would be the unquestioned economic powerhouse of Westeros, possibly the whole world. Of course, the kingdom still does well for itself — the Tyrells of Highgarden are very rich, thanks to the sheer quantity of grains, wines, fruits, and vegetables they can trade with the other kingdoms. The Reach, especially from Highgarden and further westward, is a land where winters rarely come. 

Since I’ve already declared Oldtown the best place to live in the Reach, I’d like to shout out what I think is the worst place to live there: Tumbleton, a market town in the Reach’s northeast. Not only does this town lose most of the weather advantages that come with living near the western coast, but its location (so close to the other kingdoms) makes it a terrible place to live if you don’t want to get swept up in a war. The Tumbleton residents learned this the hard way during the Dance of the Dragons, where most of their buildings were burned to the ground with Dragonfire. It’s never been the same since. 

If the Reach is Southern California, the Westerlands are everywhere from NoCal to the Pacific Northwest. It’s colder than the Reach, sure, but the weather’s still fairly pleasant and mild. Like the Reach, the Westerlands are located a little awkwardly for the purposes of major trading, but they make up for it thanks to their massive quantities of gold near Lannisport. This is what’s helped Lannisport be one of the biggest, most important cities in Westeros, as well as what’s made the Lannister family so rich and powerful. 

The big downside to living in the Westerlands, at least historically speaking, is its proximity to the Iron Islands. Not only are the Iron Islanders fond of raiding small towns on the coasts of Westeros, but they’re fond of rebelling and invading Westeros for no apparent reason. (They did this about 15 years before “A Game of Thrones” began, and they started doing it again the moment civil war broke out at the end of the first book/season.) If you’re in the well-protected Casterly Rock or Lannisport, you should be fine from Iron Island shenanigans, but I wouldn’t feel too comfortable if I were a peasant in one of the smaller towns. 

Best place to live in the Westerlands? I would definitely say Lannisport, AKA the San Francisco of Westeros. It’s a major global trading hub with a good fishing market, and it’s far enough away from any borders that it’s rarely attacked in war, and it’s well-defended in the rare case it does. And if your goal is to stay safe from those pesky white walkers, it’s good to live in a place with decent access to ships that can help you flee to Essos. 

A string of islands on the northwest of Westeros, the climate of the Iron Islands is a little confusing. The weather there’s similar to Ireland’s in its winter (and the Iron Island scenes were filmed in Ireland), but the Westeros map shows the Iron Islands are not that far away from Westerlands, which has far better weather. I guess there’s some sort of cold current coming in that messes with the Iron Islands because the place sure seems oddly bleak compared to its much happier neighbors. 

Of course, some of that misery is not the result of temperature, but landscape. The grounds of the Iron Islands aren’t particularly fertile, which means most of their economy is based around fishing and pillaging. The bright side to all this is that Iron Islanders are usually tougher and more hardcore than their neighbors; the downside of course is that they’re less educated and they’re prone to making terrible decisions. Staging two rebellions within 20 years is incredibly foolish behavior, and as we see in “A Feast for Crows” it’s not just Balon who behaves so brazenly. The Iron Islands is just an ultimate bad-vibe kingdom.

Best place to live here? Well if you’re a woman I’d say don’t even bother, because the misogyny here seems to be bad even by Westerosi standards. (Yara Greyjoy deserved the Iron Throne purely for surviving childhood there in one piece.) Granted, the Iron Islands are terrible for men too, given the Islands’ custom of drowning and resuscitating them as a ritual to honor their Drowned God. There’s a big fan theory that the reason the Iron Islanders are so dumb is because many of them straight-up have brain damage from the drowning ceremony, and this would certainly explain a lot.

That said, the best place to live in this kingdom is probably Harlaw, an eastern isle that is implied to be the wealthiest and most successful area of the Iron Islands, with the most fertile ground. If you must live in this wretched place, best to take your chances there.

The Riverlands and the Iron Islands used to be part of one kingdom, but Aegon the Conqueror separated them. He did this for a couple of apparent reasons: the first was to separate one large faction into two weaker factions, for the sake of easier control. The second came down to geography: the Iron Islands are in a pretty distinct area from the Riverlands, after all, so it feels right for them to be two separate kingdoms. The third is that this provided Aegon an easy PR win after his failure to conquer Dorne, the actual seventh kingdom. Dorne was the only kingdom to successfully resist Aegon’s invasion, but splitting up the Riverlands and the Iron Islands allowed Aegon to still call himself the ruler of the seven kingdoms.

So, how is the Riverlands? Well, it’s a lovely place to live when Westeros is not at war. But when it is at war, as we see throughout the main series, it tends to get hit hardest of any of the kingdoms. It’s located right in the middle of so many other big kingdoms, which means the smallfolk here have it especially rough. Sure, they’re lucky to have the Tullys ruling the kingdom, as Edmure is one of the few lords to actually look out for his smallfolk, but they also have to deal with the Freys in the north who are nowhere near as noble. There’s also Harrenhal in the middle, a haunted castle where tragedy constantly strikes. 

The best place to live in the Riverlands? Probably Riverrun (where the Tullys reign) or Maidenpool, with its nice location at the Bay of Crabs. In peacetime during the summer, however, most of the Riverlands are a great place to live, thanks to how warm and fertile the land is. If not for the constant petty skirmishes between the minor lords in the area, the Riverlands would be one of the more powerful kingdoms of Westeros.

If you can stand a bit of wind and you’re not scared of heights, the Vale is one of the more peaceful kingdoms in Westeros. Defined by the mountainous terrain that makes it hard to invade without a dragon, the Vale is a prosperous, stable kingdom. Yes, there are some scary mountain clans you’ll have to look out for if you’re trying to travel (and thanks to Tyrion they’re well-armed now), but if you can find a stable job in the Eyrie or Gulltown or Old Anchor, you can live a decent life even if you’re not a lord. 

Unfortunately, the main series shows that the years of stable Vale leadership may be coming to an end. Not only is Lysa Arryn a little insane, but as of “A Feast For Crows” the region has been tricked into the control of Peter Baelish, AKA Littlefinger, who does not have the kingdom’s best interests at heart. It’s not clear how the Vale’s situation in the books will differ from the show’s, but at least the kingdom’s fairly safe for the average Joe. 

Best place to live in the Vale? I’d go with Gulltown, in part because from there it’s a quick boat trip to the city of Braavos, a non-Westerosi city that’s the best place to live in this universe overall.

The coldest and largest of the Seven Kingdoms, the North is known for being honorable, even towards its smallfolk. The downside is that, well, the reason they’re so honorable is because they have to be. They’re plagued by horrible winters half the time, so they understand that their sense of honor is often all that keeps things in order. That’s a lesson the summer children from the Crownlands don’t always need to learn.

In times of peace and summer, the North seems like a lovely place to hang out. And even in winter, the North seems like a stable place thanks to the Stark house’s centuries of dependable rule. In the main series, unfortunately, it seems like a disaster to live in. As of “A Dance With Dragons,” the Starks are seemingly all but extinct and the evil Boltons are in charge of nearly everything. And when the Others inevitably attack in the books (any day now I’m sure), the North is the kingdom that’ll certainly be hit the first, and the hardest. 

Best place to live in the North? As for “ADwD,” I’d say White Harbor. A beautiful harbor city run by the dependable House Manderly, White Harbor is the real economic and cultural powerhouse of the North, not Winterfell. Plus it’s several hundred miles south of Winterfell, which helps a lot with easing winter’s sting. 

The southernmost and warmest of the Seven Kingdoms, Dorne often feels like a paradise throughout the main series. In a world that’s otherwise defined by the slowly encroaching winter, Dorne’s climate is still bright and sunny even by the end of “A Dance with Dragons,” when it’s already started snowing in King’s Landing. Sure, you can argue that it’s a little too hot with its desert climate, but there are areas in the kingdom (the Red Mountains in the northern section, the fertile Torentine Valley, and the eastern coastline) where the weather’s a bit more comfortable. 

The best part about Dorne is how progressive it is. Bastards aren’t looked down upon here, and women enjoy a bit more freedom and respect. It’s also relatively peaceful, tending to stay out of most conflicts within Westeros, and its large swaths of harsh desert terrain make it harder to invade. That’s why the Targaryens struggled for a long time to actually conquer the seventh kingdom of Dorne, only officially winning them over through a marriage proposal 200 years after Aegon first tried to beat them in battle. 

As for the best place to live in Dorne? I would have to say Sunspear, the Kingdom’s capital that’s located nicely on the eastern coast. We only see the city a few times throughout the later books and seasons, but from what little we see it sure seems like paradise. Dorne wouldn’t be my favorite kingdom to live in (the Reach reigns supreme in basically every metric), but it’s definitely in the top three.