How the map was made
The map is an original vector illustration. Coastlines, rivers, roads, mountains and borders were drawn by hand as a set of coordinates, following the geography described in the novels and the official maps published in The Lands of Ice and Fire. No copyrighted map images or third-party map data were traced or reused, which is why the coastline has its own style rather than matching the book maps line for line.
Every place is stored as a coordinate with a type, a region and a ruling house, and every label on the map is real text. That keeps the whole map under a few hundred kilobytes, makes it searchable and lets us translate it into eight languages without redrawing anything.
How accurate is it?
Relative positions of castles, rivers and regions follow the canon maps as closely as a stylised map can. Distances are calibrated so that the ride from Winterfell to King's Landing is about 1,500 miles by road, matching the books; other distances are estimates and are labelled as such. The lands north of the Frostfangs and the interior of Essos are simplified.
If you spot an error, please tell us. Corrections from readers are the best way to improve a fan map.
Sources
A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin; The World of Ice and Fire and The Lands of Ice and Fire (Bantam); A Wiki of Ice and Fire (awoiaf.westeros.org); and the Game of Thrones Wiki for television place names. Localised place names in each language follow the official book translations where they exist and the television subtitles where they do not.
Legal
This is an unofficial fan site. A Song of Ice and Fire and all place names are the creation of George R.R. Martin; Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon are trademarks of HBO. We are not affiliated with either. The map illustration itself is original work and may be used for personal, non-commercial purposes with attribution.