In Game of Thrones, “the Seven Kingdoms” is a historical name: originally there were seven independent realms in Westeros before Aegon’s Conquest, even though the later realm actually has nine regions.

Quick Scoop: The Seven Kingdoms (Lore Version)

When people ask “what are the seven kingdoms in GoT?”, they usually mean the seven original sovereign realms that existed before Aegon the Conqueror united Westeros.

Those seven were:

  1. The Kingdom of the North – ruled by House Stark from Winterfell.
  1. The Kingdom of the Mountain and the Vale – ruled by House Arryn from the Eyrie.
  1. The Kingdom of the Isles and the Rivers – Iron Islands plus Riverlands, ruled by House Hoare from Harrenhal.
  1. The Kingdom of the Rock – roughly today’s Westerlands, ruled by House Lannister from Casterly Rock.
  1. The Kingdom of the Reach – ruled by House Gardener from Highgarden (later by the Tyrells).
  1. The Storm Kingdom (Stormlands) – ruled by House Durrandon from Storm’s End (later Baratheon).
  1. Dorne – ruled by House Martell from Sunspear, stayed independent the longest.

But wait, why do we see nine regions?

In the time of the show/books, the “Seven Kingdoms” realm is divided into nine administrative regions:

  • The North
  • The Vale (of Arryn)
  • The Westerlands
  • The Riverlands
  • The Iron Islands
  • The Reach
  • The Stormlands
  • Dorne
  • The Crownlands (King’s Landing and surrounding areas)

The extra two (Riverlands and Crownlands) were carved out later, but the old name “Seven Kingdoms” stuck as a traditional title.

So: lore answer = the seven pre‑conquest kingdoms listed above. TV-map answer = nine modern regions, still collectively called the “Seven Kingdoms.”

TL;DR: The Seven Kingdoms are the North, Vale, Isles and Rivers, Rock (Westerlands), Reach, Stormlands, and Dorne —a historical seven realms that later became a nine-region realm under one crown.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.