Most of the main mines and strongholds are located in this large area. The largest and most notable extends from the headwaters of the Tumblestone down to the Lesser Mander, and from just east of Casterly Rock to the headwaters of the Blackwater Rush. There are several distinct highland areas.
However, the hills are large enough where the River Road crosses the highlands into the Riverlands to form a significant bottleneck, where the Golden Tooth is located. The Westerlands are much easier to traverse, as the hills and gradients are less severe. The Westerlands are dominated by a series of highlands, hills and mountains, but these are not unified in large chains like the Red Mountains of Dorne or the Mountains of the Moon in the Vale. They can also field the second-largest (but easily the best-equipped) army, with a strong emphasis on heavy cavalry, pikes and crossbowmen. The Westerlands are roughly estimated as being home to between five and six million people, making them the second-most populous region of the Seven Kingdoms, behind only the Reach to the south. The riches of the Westerlands made them a tempting target for ironborn raiders in the years before the Conquest, and during both the Red Kraken’s reign of terror and the Greyjoy Rebellion the Westerlands suffered significant raids and loss of life before the ironborn were defeated. More vicious still are the Westerlands’ relationship with the Iron Islands, located less than a hundred miles off the north-west coast. The Westerlands measure roughly 300 miles from east to west (with the Kayce Peninsula adding another 140 or so miles to that) and about 550 miles from north to south. The eastern and southern borders are somewhat flexible, resulting in frequent and long-standing border wars with the Riverlands and the Reach in ancient times, although since the Targaryn Conquest the borders have been settled.
The region’s borders to the east are formed by the headwaters of the Red Fork of the Trident and to the south by the headwaters of the Lesser Mander* and the northern plains of the Reach. The Westerlands occupy a stretch of the west coast of the continent, with Ironman’s Bay located to the north and the Sunset Sea to the west. The Westerlands in 297 AC (click for a larger version).
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