Cartographically Speaking – British Columbia as Westeros

For an enlarged version of the map click here

Fantasy fiction mostly takes place is vast and fantastical imaginary geographies. The settings of these stories help shape the narrative almost as much as any characters. Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones and others have these creative geographies as central components to their stories.

This map (see enlarged version here) tries to parallel the geography from Game of Thrones in the context of British Columbia. The comparisons between the real (British Columbia) and fictional (Game of Thrones) cities are tongue-in-cheek generalizations that are vaguely supposed to represent characteristics of each. The map is also a celebration of British Columbia’s varied landscape. The goal was to illustrate that the same types of fantastical social and physical settings can be found in our own backyard.

All place names are intellectual property of A Song of Ice and Fire Copyright George RR Martin.

British Columbia Base data comes from The Ministry of Energy and Mines.

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Andrew Cuthbert is studying regional and environmental planning at the University of Calgary. In addition he works as a GIS Analyst in environmental consulting. When not working Andrew can most likely be found on his bike taking in the sights and fresh air.