Geography of Gilead

“

The Republic of Gilead knows no bounds. Gilead is within you.

”

— Aunt Lydia to the Handmaids in the Red Center .

See also:

Gilead (Series)

Gilead (Novel)

Gilead (Film)

Geography of Gilead
"Where the edges are we aren't sure, they vary, according to the attacks and counterattacks" (Offred in II Shopping)
Description	A political map of Gilead presented during an event for the season 2 finale

While the actual Gileadean sphere of control remains vague in the novel, the show gives some details on Gilead's geography. Currently, Gilead is fighting an unnamed war with various factions, one of which remains the United States government, exiled in Anchorage.

Known Maps

A map presented during an event for the season 2 finale revealed the full extent of Gilead. It has largely taken control of most of what was the United States with the eastern, northeastern, and mid-western parts of the country being in Gilead hands (as evident with these particular areas being in a shade of blue on the map), but anti-Gilead/pro-US forces have retained control of the entire West Coast and the Gulf Coast including most of Texas and all of Florida. Rebel forces also control a large tract of territory along the Canadian border and the upper peninsula and part of lower Michigan along with an enclave in New England centering around Vermont, New Hampshire, and parts of Maine and New York state.

Map of Gilead as seen in the The Word

As shown in the map in the season two finale, it can be implied that the zones highlighted in blue are territories controlled exclusively by Gilead. This falls in line with the limited details in the novel and the fact that most of the action in the novel took place on the East Coast and because Washington, D.C. was the first to "fall" given the attacks on Congress, the White House, and the Supreme Court.

Geographic Information from the Storyline

Maps in Commander MacKenzie's study

In the TV series, a scene from the Holly episode inside the MacKenzie household shows three maps along the wall. When searching for the car keys to Commander MacKenzie's 1975 Camaro, maps can be found behind June on the wall which show the opening, middle and later stages of the civil war between the remnant US and Gilead. The end result being American forces largely pushed off the lower 48 states.

Offred mentions in her inner monologue in Episode 2 that "Guardians of the Faithful and American soldiers still fight with tanks in the remains of Chicago", confirming that a war is still ongoing. There are several mentions of an ongoing war in Florida within the first few episodes.

Flag of the remnant United States government, with only two stars filled in, and the rest only outlines.

In addition to this, the official United States government operating out of Anchorage has total control over Alaska and Hawaii. Their level of influence over the rebel-held areas of the former US, such as California and Texas, remains to be seen.

Areas euphemistically termed "the Colonies" exist, which have been ecologically contaminated - apparently due to a mixture of industrial pollution, chemical/radiological accidents, and chemical/possibly nuclear warfare. The Colonies are located in what was once the American Midwest and Southwest. Gilead condemned criminals and "Unwomen" to slave labor on cleanup projects in the Colonies, which is essentially a death sentence.

Map Details

The states that make up Gilead in complete occupation are: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois (except for Chicago), Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.

Regions in the West and Midwest indicated in yellow on the map props from the show's production are referred to as the Colonies. Within these regions are two large sites in Arizona and Missouri that are marked as radioactive, presumably the sites of the Colonies where Unwomen are sent to work. These sites along with two in rebel-occupied regions of California (one south of San Francisco/Bay area and the other spanning Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego counties) correspond to one or more nuclear reactors according to a map from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This appears to hint at the idea that one or more of these reactors were compromised in some way following the rise of Gilead.

Zones in the dark red and pink, located in both the West, Midwest, and South, are sites of active war between the military forces of the United States of America (along with rebel groups and unorganized citizen militia units loyal to the United States) and the Guardians of the Faith—the army of the Republic of Gilead. In addition to the mentioned rebel areas, there is a large American rebel stronghold located in New England and centered in Vermont and parts of New Hampshire, Maine, and New York State, but it is unknown whether this territory is controlled by a separate entity or by American aligned forces. An opposition radio station (Radio Free America) airs in that region but is broadcasted from somewhere in Canada.

The number of states in which the former United States of America was divided into has also been reduced in favor of larger districts and wider boundaries.

In the 4th season, it is clear that the former US Military strategic city of Colorado Springs is very much under the control of Gilead. Commander Mackenzie and family relocated to Colorado Springs^{[citation needed]}.

According to Alma, the state of Texas seceded from both America and Gilead as she refers to it as "the Republic of Texas". Alma also makes an interesting distinction, stating that the Republic of Texas welcomes former Americans and current Gilead citizens seeking refuge. Whether Texas is a nation operating independently of Gilead remains to be seen in the series, yet as previous maps indicate, Texas (under “rebel occupation”) is still largely at war with Gilead. If Alma is correct, then Texas is largely independent, though they have lost large territory up north. June herself expressed doubt over those facts, saying “Do you really want to go that far based on a rumor?”

Notes

The "rebel occupied territory" in Michigan could correspond to the details in the novel, as Offred mentions Detroit being fought over in Gilead. While Offred also mentions Baptists in Massachusetts and in the Appalachian Mountains, the map doesn't show any conflict over the region, it instead being centered on the Gulf coast. But due to the South's heavy Baptist presence, and because Gilead doesn't tolerate any other Christian sect, the rebels in the south could be Baptist militias, but it isn't stated.

Gallery

Season 3 preview: The Washington Monument is now a giant cross