The True Size of Westeros(Possible Spoilers)

[Maester Saramello]

I am obsessed with this series and have been reading everything I possibly can. I am particularly disappointed when it came to the size of Westeros. There was one from Huffpost that made westeros smaller than Europe, which I don't like. There was another that took Martin's claim that Westeros is the size of South America and mistook it for the Seven Kingdoms being the size of south america, which understandably caused some ridiculously inflated estimations. So now I'm gonna take a shot at it.

As GRRM said Westeros is the size of South America. I won't fault that. South America is approx 6.888 million square miles according to Google Maps(I love it so much). Now, what we must not forget is that Westeros does NOT equal the Seven Kingdoms. Westeros is the continent, the seven kingdoms is the country on the continent. Westeros also includes everything beyond the wall, which Martin said is the size of Canada. Canada is 3.855 million square miles(google maps again). Thus, 6.888 mill - 3.855 mill = 3.033mill.

Now you might be thinking that I'm obviously crackpot for thinking that there is more land north of the wall than south. It appears to be true. Just look at the World of Ice and Fire Map in the World Book. Or this https://atlasoficeandfireblog.wordpress.com/2016/12/20/geographic-map-1-the-known-world/. which is based off the map given in the World Book. This is only for size though. 

I know this is not exact, as GRRM was probably not thinking of decimals and stuff, so this is a rough estimation. Now I will go just one step further. Calculating the distribution of this 3.033 mill upon all 7 kingdoms would be an enormous pain in the butt. BUT(ha) I will do one of them for you(the easiest, obviously). The North is described(By Robert Baratheon) to be as large as the other six(*cough eight *cough) kingdoms put together. *edit according to Worldbook this is an exageration, roughly 30%, but since, again this id medieval... Thus, the north is 1. something.....this is too specific. ROUGHLY 1 million square miles(while looking at map about to scold me, remember to include Skagos, Bear Island, and the Neck.) The other six...I'm not so good at math but PLEASE use these calculations instead of those crazy ones we see on the internet. Or, even better, prove me wrong if you can. I am just as interested as you(more so mayhaps) to find out the true size of Westeros(something even GRRM has admitted he isn't exactly sure of.

 

Please comment. 

[Universal Sword Donor]

I take his SSM on the size of westeros at face value and do not delve too deeply.

[Free Northman Reborn]

There is a scale bar provided with which you can measure it all. It is the Wall, which is 300 miles long.

Last time I checked, Westeros south of the Wall covered around 2.9 million square miles, with the North covering around 38% of that total, or around 1.1 million square miles. A bit less if you exclude the Gift. So about a million square miles for the part ruled by the Starks.

[Illyrio Po'Marties]

I really don't think GRRM thought it through that much

[Ferocious Veldt Roarer]

9 hours ago, Maester Saramello said:

Now you might be thinking that I'm obviously crackpot for thinking that there is more land north of the wall than south. Well, tough luck pal, its true. Just look at the World of Ice and Fire Map in the World Book. Or this https://atlasoficeandfireblog.wordpress.com/2016/12/20/geographic-map-1-the-known-world/ . 

Is it suited at all for comparing surface areas? What projection is it drawn in? Conformal, equal-area, equirectangular, azimuthal equidistant, other (and there are dozens of others, some taking a little bit of this, a little bit of that)? There's quite an amount of math to be considered before "just looking at the map" and drawing definite conclusions from it. Math I'm pretty convinced didn't exist in the creator's head, and therefore can't be applied to the creation.

[Maester Saramello]

Thats....true. But GRRM said Westeros is the size of South America and everything beyond the wall is the size of canada so I just subtracted one from the other... all the other stuff you said is definitely true. I have not the slightest clue about conforma/equal-area,eqirectangular etc. 

[Tom Cruise]

I'm assuming the maps we get (which are supposed to be REAL in world maps) are about as accurate as a map created in medieval Europe...  Which is to say, by today's standards, not very accurate.

[Damon_Tor]

Imagine Europe.

Now fill in the English Channel with land.

Now draw a narrow sea splitting France in half.

Congratulations, you have graduated from the GRRM school of map making.

(Also, erase Scandinavia)

[Universal Sword Donor]

2 hours ago, Damon_Tor said:

Imagine Europe.

Now fill in the English Channel with land.

Now draw a narrow sea splitting France in half.

Congratulations, you have graduated from the GRRM school of map making.

(Also, erase Scandinavia)

and the channel islands become floating cities.