From Kalimdor to Northrend: Chart Your Own Path Through the Regions of Azeroth

Tags author-riley-silverman D&D: World of Warcraft

With D&D: World of Warcraft®, you’ll be able to explore Azeroth where your choices shape every battle, every alliance, and every legend.

In this article, we provide a quick primer on the major regions of this beloved realm, including adventure hooks and the status of major factions, to help you kick off your adventures and bring Azeroth to your table.

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Kalimdor

Bayard Wu Kalimdor

A broken, scarred land with ancient intrigue

Kalimdor

The land now known as Kalimdor is the western remnant of a much larger continent destroyed during the Great Sundering.

Night elves protect ancestral cities in the north, while the Horde has laid claim to the vast majority of the territory, especially through central and southern Kalimdor, which features the capital of the Horde’s power—Orgrimmar.

Ruins of lost civilizations dot the barrens, grasslands, and forest, while factions wage skirmishes over unatamed regions they’re not even sure they have the will or resources to maintain, but fear letting them slip into rival hands.

Factions and inhabitants

  • Horde. Dominates the most land within Kalimdor.
  • Night Elves. Though officially aligned with the Alliance, a vocal minority within the night elves would prefer both factions leave their ancestral home regions alone.
  • Cenarion Circle. The Druids of the Moonglade vale maintain a neutral, communal settlement.

Notable Sites

Location Description
Ashenvale A forest that serves as a tense border region between the night elves and Horde loggers.
Durotar A Horde-claimed badlands region that includes the Horde capital city of Orgrimmar. It stations the orcish military and serves as a haven for citizens of the Horde.
Desolace Despite the name, this region has grown increasingly verdant and fertile in recent years. It’s a zone of contention between not only the Horde and Alliance, but other factions as well.
Silithus A blazing desert home to a literal wound in the world, struck by a titan’s sword. The lifeblood of Azeroth seeps to the surface as a mineral called Azerite.
Teldrassil The remains of a World Tree burned during a war between Horde and Alliance. The night elves make efforts to restore life and community to the area.

Eastern Kingdoms

PETER LEE Eastern Kingdoms

A region shaped by conflicts both ancient and recent

Eastern Kingdoms

The eastern remains of the once-massive continent that included Kalimdor. The Eastern Kingdoms are a close-knit series of three landmasses: Lordaeron, Khaz Modan, and Azeroth, the last of which shares its name with the planet itself. Before the Great Sundering, it was home to the Amani and Gurubashi troll empires.

The Eastern Kingdoms have served as the primary battlefields in the wars between the Alliance and the Horde, now spanning four decades. As such, the land is rife with the fresh scars of those conflicts. Though an armistice is currently in place, peace is tenuous and a cold war could become heated again at any moment.

Factions and Inhabitants

  • Alliance. Human, elven, dwarven, and gnomish civilizations maintain strongholds and cultural centers in the Eastern Kingdoms.
  • Horde. The Dark Portal that first brought the orcs to Azeroth sits within the Eastern Kingdoms. The Horde only maintains two major power centers and scattered holdings.

Notable Sites

Location Description
Duskwood A land cursed by darkness and teeming with undead. Those who live here do so out of stubbornness and a sense of fealty to the kingdom of Stormwind.
Alterac Mountains The Crushridge ogre clan struggles to claim control of this resource-heavy mountain range. They fight not the Alliance, but a human criminal organization known as the Syndicate.
Elwynn Forest This lush, wooded region is home to the heart of human civilization in this age, the Kingdom of Stormwind and its communities,Stormwind City and Goldshire.
Hinterlands Gryphon-training Wildhammer dwarves and high elves clash with undead Forsaken and Revantusk trolls over the control of this land.
Swamp of Sorrows The Dark Portal sits near this marshy land, which means it's one of the few regions of the Eastern Kingdoms where Horde settlements are in fairly equal number to those of the Alliance.

Northrend

BLIZZARD ARTIST Northrend

An unforgiving frozen wasteland at the tip of the world

Northrend

The northern part of the former Kalimdor continent, Northrend is an icy wasteland littered with titan ruins. It was here that the Lich King rose up and raised his Scourge to assail the rest of Azeroth.

Though that foe has been vanquished, the remnants of his power keep Northrend hostile towards travelers seeking to uncover its frozen secrets.

The Scourge’s greatest strongholds are still in Northrend, though it is now more ravaging mob than disciplined army, and lingering evil remains in Icecrown.

Factions and Inhabitants

  • Alliance and Horde. Both major factions have strongholds and settlements within Northrend, but sit in an uneasy stalemate since neither has the resources to conquer or hold much more than they currently claim.
  • Scourge. A once near-apocalyptic undead army, the Scourge has devolved into marauders since the destruction of their creator, the Lich King.

Notable Sites

Location Description
Borean Tundra The primary entry point to the continent, both the Alliance and Horde are headquartered here for the region. Both watch each other cautiously alongside Scourge remnants and other monsters.
Crystalsong Forest An ancient magical accident crystallized the flora and fauna of this forest. Now crystalized creatures like satyrs and dryads, as well as undead, plague those who try to create settlements within the region.
Dragonblight An expansive graveyard that holds the bones of countless dragons from ages past.
Sholazar Basin Magical pylons from antiquity create a region with warm, green jungles, and keep out the undead. As such, multiple communities have settled here, though so have a variety of beasts.
Zul’Drak The sprawling remains of a temple-city from the ancient troll empire of Drakkari. Undead and the broken minded last of the Drakkari trolls stalk this icy, snow-laden expanse.

Islands and Isles

BLIZZARD ARTIST Islands and Isles

A disconnected series of islands, each with their own legends, and threats

Islands and Isles

The islands and isles of Azeroth are spread across the Great Sea, a vast tempestuous ocean expanse that sits between the surviving continent remnants, and over what was once the majority of the Kalimdor continent.

Isolated civilizations, pirate armadas, and naga strongholds dot the horizon for those who brave the open waters. What will you find if you set sail?

Factions and Inhabitants

  • Goblins. Though prevalent throughout Azeroth, goblins originated in the island region known as Kezan and the Lost Isles. They still control the region today.
  • Naga. The chain of Broken Isles is where naga were first created, and they maintain a major presence there, and in undersea cities in the Great Sea.
  • Kul Tiras. A human kingdom that has a treaty with the Alliance, following a long period of isolation.
  • Pandaren. Their homeland Pandaria was previously hidden behind a veil of mists. Now, the pandaren are recovering from an invasion by the Thunder King that overwhelmed their land.

Notable Sites

Location Description
The Broken Isles Home to a litany of once-powerful night elf strongholds and druidic lands, the chain of Broken Isles has fallen under much corruption. The Tomb of Sargeras was the site of the demonic Burning Legion’s passage into Azeroth.
Khaz Algar The small Isle of Dorn sits atop the surface, but beneath this is the vast, subterranean expanse spreads the rest of Khaz Algar. Long forgotten, recent attempts to explore it have led to disappearances, furthering its intrigue.
Jade Forest A rainforest full of bamboo and ancient ruins within the borders of Pandaria. Both the Alliance and the Horde have a heavy presence here, and villages' allegiance are split across the region.
Zandalar When trolls dominated the world, this was the heart of the Zandalari Empire. Much of the land is now sunken and ruined. The Zandalari capital, known as the City of Gold, still remains, and is the oldest city in Azeroth.
Nazjatar Not an island, but an underwater city in the Great Sea. It is the center of naga power.

What Quests Will You Set Out On?

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