Azeroth is an Earth-like planet in the fictional Warcraft Universe, inhabited by a diverse array of species. Most of the action of the Warcraft games takes place on this planet.

History

Long ago, Azeroth consisted only of a massive continent, surrounded by a seemingly endless ocean. This landmass was called Kalimdor, meaning "the land of eternal moonlight", by the Night Elves, a nocturnal humanoid race that inhabited it. However, a group of magic-addicted elves triggered a huge invasion of demons from the Twisting Nether. After an epic battle, the land around the portal sank and the sea rushed in, thus the one large continent became four separate ones. The location of the destroyed portal is even nowadays marked by a fierce counter-clockwise spinning stationary storm and vortex, known as the Maelstrom.

This encyclopedia assumes both the equator and the prime meridian pass through the center of the Maelstrom.

Naming Conventions

Nowadays, it is common to refer to the continents of Azeroth and Lordaeron together as The Eastern Kingdoms, to avoid confusing the landmass with the whole planet. Similarly, the Kingdom of Azeroth is often called the kingdom of Stormwind, after its capital city.

Locales of Azeroth

The Eastern Kingdoms

Azeroth

From the snowy plateau of Dun Morogh to the volcanic wastes of the Burning Steppes, Azeroth is a landmass of diverse geography. It is mostly located south of the Equator and east of the Prime Meridian, with parts of the Wetlands and northern Loch Modan jutting into the northern hemisphere. The northern end of the continent closely approaches the southern shores of Lordaeron. The narrows are spanned by the Thandol Span, a dwarven-engineered twin bridge, of which the western span is currently in ruins.

• Badlands - Red rock region, south of Loch Modan
• Blasted Lands - Red rock region, site of the former Dark Portal
• Burning Steppes - Volcanic wasteland north of Elwynn Forest, covered by ash
  • Blackrock Spire - Volcano; Orcish fortress during the First War
• Deadwind Pass - Haunted mountain pass between Duskwood and the Swamp of Sorrows
• Dun Morogh - Snow-covered plateau with numerous mountain ranges, home to the Dwarves
  • City of Ironforge - Dwarven underground capital city
• Duskwood - Haunted forest south of Elwynn
• Elwynn Forest - Fertile temperate forestland, home to Humans and human farms
  • City of Stormwind - Human capital city
• Loch Modan - Highland forest region, south of the Wetlands, east of Dun Morogh
• Redridge Mountains - Mountains east of Elwynn
• Searing Gorge - Volcanic region north of Blackrock Spire, south of Dun Morogh and Loch Modan
• Stranglethorn Vale - Tropical rainforest south of Westfall, encompasses a large peninsula jutting out to the south
• Swamp of Sorrows - Forbidding swamp north of the Blasted Lands
• Westfall - Once fertile fields west of Duskwood; its farms are now abandoned and under control of thieves and looters.
• Wetlands - Marshland north of Loch Modan at the northern end of the continent

Lordaeron

Connected to Azeroth by the Thandol Span, this smaller continent was much more suitable for farming and had a much larger Human population than Azeroth until recent times, when the Plague of Undeath was set loose by renegade mage Kel'Thuzad. Nowadays, it is home to the Forsaken, the Undead led by Sylvanas Windrunner, the Dark Lady. Much of this once lush landmass is now plagued by blight and the curse of the dead.

• Alterac Mountains - Snowy peaks north of the Hillsbrad Foothills
• Arathi Highlands
• Eastern Plaguelands - Once fertile land, plagued by blight
• Hillsbrad Foothills - Lightly forested region south of the Alterac Mountains
• The Hinterlands
• Silverpine Forest
• Tirisfal Glades
  • The Undercity - Underground fortress of the Forsaken under the ruins of Lordaeron's capital.
• Western Plaguelands - Once fertile land, plagued by blight

Kalimdor

The vast western landmass in Azeroth was only recently discovered by Easterners. It was Medivh, the Last Guardian, who was able to convince Orc Warchief Thrall to journey beyond the vast Great Sea and seek refuge from the imminent invasion of the Burning Legion. Thrall and the Orcs landed in the hostile Dustwallow Marsh, and from thereon ventured into the depressing Barrens, thus getting a false image of Kalimdor's true nature. Most of northern Kalimdor is covered by forest, such as Ashenvale. Central Kalimdor's landscape is dominated by the Barrens and harsh lands such as Durotar and Dustwallow Marsh. The sandy desert of Tanaris, the lush jungle of the Un'Goro crater, and the massive uncharted wasteland of Silithus are the main regions that make up southern Kalimdor.

• Ashenvale Forest - Enchanted forest, watched over by the Night Elves
• Azshara
• The Barrens - Large savannah in Central Kalimdor
• Darkshore
• Desolace
• Durotar - Harsh land, home of the Orcs
  • City of Orgrimmar - Capital of Durotar, the Orc Empire in Kalimdor
• Dustwallow Marsh - Forbidding swamp south of Durotar, east of the Barrens
• Felwood - Norhwest portion of Ashenvale, corrupted by the Burning Legion before the Battle of Mount Hyjal
• Feralas
• Moonglade
• Mount Hyjal - Site of the deciding battle of the Third War.
• Mulgore
  • City of Thunder Bluff - New home of the Tauren
• Silithus
• Stonetalon Mountains
• Tanaris
• Teldrassil - The new World Tree, forms an island off the northwestern coast of Kalimdor
  • City of Darnassus - The Night Elves' capital city, amongst the branches of Teldrassil
• Thousand Needles
• Un'Goro Crater

Northrend

The arctic landmass of Northrend is a comparatively small continent, and almost all of it is either tundra or permanently covered by ice. Northrend has had a small human population in ages past, but ever since Ner'zul, the Lich King, was banished there and made it his base of operations, the humans have been turned into Undead. The most well-known inhabitants of Northrend are the spiders, Nerubians. The subterranean arachnid kingdom of Azjol-Nerub was a prosperous one, until the Lich King experimented on the spiders with his plague of undeath. Undead Nerubians were incorporated into the vast undead army christened The Scourge, and they became the Crypt Fiends and Crypt Lords. Amongst the fallen ones was Anub'Arak, the king of Azjol-Nerub, and with him, his whole kingdom had fallen. Northrend is currenly the base of operations for Arthas. Northrend will not appear in the retail version of World of Warcraft, but some of the locations that were mentioned in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and Warcraft III Expansion: The Frozen Throne are:

• Drak'Tharon Keep - Undead stronghold which Arthas besieged to take revenge upon dreadlord Mal'Ganis whose tactics forced Arthas to slaughter the human citizens of the city of Stratholme in order to prevent them from turning into Undead
• Icecrown Glacier - Site of the Frozen Throne, where Arthas (and formally Ner'zul) resides
• Azjol-Nerub - Great subterranean spider kingdom, now in ruins
• The Great Dragonblight - Place where the dragons would voluntarily go to die

Inhabitants of Azeroth

Races native to the world of Azeroth:

Major Races

• Humans
• Dwarves
• High Elves
• Night Elves
• Naga
• Tauren
• Trolls (many varieties)
• Pandaren
• Nerubians
• Gnomes
• Dryads

Minor Races

• Satyrs
• Harpies
• Kobolds
• Gnolls
• Mountain Giants
• Centaurs
• Sasquatch
• Hydra
• Magnataurs
• Tuskarr
• Murlocs
• Mur'gul
• Quillboars
• Furbolgs

Foreign Races

Races which migrated to Azeroth from Draenor:

• Orcs
• Ogres
• Goblins