The Iron Islands are small and rocky, swept by fierce storm winds, with poor soil and hardly any natural resources. Centuries before the War of Conquest, the Iron Islands did indeed rule much of the coast from the Arbor to Bear Island in the North, and at the time of the War of Conquest, they ruled the Riverlands. However, the entire western coast of the continent, from the Wall in the North to the Arbor in the extreme south of the Reach, are considered to be within range of far-reaching ironborn coastal raids. They are north of the Westerlands, west of the Riverlands, and southwest of the Neck and the North. The Iron Islands are located off the western coast of Westeros, in Ironman's Bay (an inlet of the Sunset Sea). For the three generations immediately preceding the Conquest, the ironborn also controlled the Riverlands, which they had in turn conquered from the Stormlands.īastards born in the Iron Islands are given the surname Pyke. Prior to the War of Conquest, the Iron Islands were a sovereign kingdom, along with the other " Seven Kingdoms" of Westeros. Although this edict was not always effectively enforced by the Iron Throne, Daenerys Targaryen reinstated it as a condition of the Iron Islands regaining independent rule nearly 300 years later. However, they were forced to stop these practices following the War of Conquest, or at least to stop raiding around Westeros itself. The ironborn also have a unique culture and religion, centered on maritime raiding and pillaging other peoples, that sets them apart from mainland Westeros. The islands are the smallest and one of the least-populous regions of Westeros, but the naval skills of their people, the ironborn, are unmatched and they enjoy great mobility due to their ships. The Iron Islands are ruled from the castle of Pyke by House Greyjoy.
They are a cluster of seven small, rocky islands off the western coast of the continent, in Ironman's Bay.
The Iron Islands is one of the nine constituent regions of Westeros. Map showing the location of the Iron Islands off the west coast of Westeros. " Where the North has its honor and the south its chivalry, the Iron Islands has its strength." ― Theon Greyjoy