Where is The Witcher set? Is the Continent based on Earth, what are the four Kingdoms - and world map

Netflix fantasy series The Witcher is based on five fantasy novels published in the 1990s. The show has proved very popular since landing on Netflix in 2019, following on the heels of Game of Thrones, which came to an end that year.

The sprawling fantasy epic follows Geralt of Rivia, a mutated monster-hunter for hire, who travels through a dangerous world, killing dangerous beasts and dealing with equally dangerous people.

The final episodes of season three arrived on Netflix today, and will mark Henry Cavill's last appearances as Geralt before he is replaced by Liam Hemsworth in season four.

Season three takes fans deeper into the mysterious Continent, the large landmass where the action takes place. But where is The Witcher set and what is the Continent? This is everything you need to know:

Where is The Witcher set?

The Witcher is set on a land mass referred to as the Continent - it is on the northern hemisphere of a fictional planet known as the World, Earth, or Globe. The Witcher planet is not another version of our Earth, which does in fact exist in the extended Witcher universe.

The northern hemisphere of the World contains around 90% of the landmass, most of which is The Continent, whereas the southern hemisphere is mostly covered by a vast ocean. Very little is known about the land in the southern hemisphere.

The Continent is home to the Four Kingdoms of the Northern Realms - Redania, Kaedwen, Aedirn, Temeria, as well as the Nilfgaardian Empire. There are several large mountain ranges on the Continent. Leaders of these kingdoms have been introduced throughout the Netflix series - King Foltest of Temeria and King Virfuril of Aedirn appeared in the first season.

Other regions on the Continent include the Korath desert which lies beyond the Tir Tochair mountains, Haakland, home to infamous horse warriors, and Zerrikania, an exotic human realm. To the west of the Continent are the Skellige Isles, an archipelago known for producing infamous sailing ships. 

A western continent across the Great Sea was discovered by the explorer Fabio Sachs and has been partially colonised.

The lands of the southern continent are only known to those in the northern hemisphere through myth, travellers tales, and speculation. Lands believed to exist in the south include   Barsa, Hannu, Ofir, and Zangvebar.

The most coveted location in The Witcher map is the historic kingdom of Cintra, which was ruled by Ciri's grandmother, Queen Calanthe. After Nilfgaardian forces took Cintra, Calanthe went down with her kingdom, and Ciri escaped.

What countries is the Continent based on?

Unlike George Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire novels, set in the land of Westeros and based on mediaeval Europe, the inspiration for many parts of the Witcher world are up for debate as they have not been confirmed by the author of the original novels, Andrzej Sapkowski.

Sapkowski said that he had initially planned for the Witcher world to be a prehistoric planet Earth, in the same way that Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings takes place on Earth in the distant past, but changed his mind and instead set the story on a different planet.

However, we do know that the Nilfgaardian Empire is inspired by the Kingdom of Prussian which covered modern day northern Poland from the 1500s to the end of the First World War. 

Additionally, Sapkowski is Polish and filming for the show took place in Poland, as well as across Hungary, Spain, and the UK.

Does planet Earth exist in The Witcher?

Yes, a fictional version of Earth exists in the Witcher multiverse, though it has not yet appeared in the Netflix series. The humans on the Continent are believed to have originated from Earth, which was the cradle of humanity, but humans destroyed the Earth with their own hands.

Earth has more fantasy elements in the Witcher universe, as the planet used to be inhabited by dragons.