George R.R. Martin has said that Westeros is "about the size of South America". From the Lands of Always Winter to the southern coast of Dorne the continent runs roughly 3,000 miles; the Seven Kingdoms south of the Wall cover about 2,000 of those. At its widest, across the North, it is around 900 miles from the Sunset Sea to the Shivering Sea.
Because the shape was inspired by Great Britain, many readers picture something the size of Britain. In fact the Wall alone is longer than England is wide, and the North by itself would swallow France, Germany and Poland together.
| Distance | ||
|---|---|---|
| Length of Westeros (north to south) | ≈ 3,000 miles / 4,800 km | Similar to the distance from Norway to the Sahara. |
| Width at the widest point | ≈ 900 miles / 1,450 km | About the width of Texas and New Mexico together. |
| The Wall | 300 miles / 480 km long, ≈ 700 ft / 210 m tall | Four times the length of Hadrian's Wall. |
| Winterfell to King's Landing | ≈ 1,500 miles / 2,400 km by road | Farther than London to Moscow; about New York to Dallas. |
| King's Landing to Casterly Rock | ≈ 830 miles / 1,340 km | About Paris to Rome. |
| The North alone | Nearly as large as the other eight regions combined | Roughly the area of Western Europe. |
| Beyond the Wall | Comparable to Canada | Most of it has never been mapped. |
| Whole continent | Comparable to South America | Martin's own comparison. |
Westeros compared to Europe
Lay Westeros over Europe and the Wall would run across northern Scandinavia while Dorne reached the Sahara. The Seven Kingdoms alone, from the Wall to Sunspear, span about the distance from Edinburgh to Gibraltar and back. The Narrow Sea is closer in scale to the Mediterranean than to the English Channel.
Westeros compared to the United States
The continent is roughly as long as the United States is wide: a ride from the Wall to Sunspear is about the same as driving from Seattle to Miami. The North on its own is about the size of the western United States from the Pacific to the Rockies.
Why does travel seem faster in the show?
The television series compresses journeys that take weeks in the books into single scenes. In the novels, King Robert's progress from King's Landing to Winterfell takes over a month each way, and the Kingsroad is almost 2,000 miles from Storm's End to Castle Black.