Vana'diel

Vana'diel is the name of the world in which the inhabitants of Final Fantasy XI live. Vana'diel has a long and great history.

Geography

The three major continents currently available for adventurers to explore are Quon, Mindartia and Aradjiah.

The Republic of Bastok and the Kingdom of San d'Oria are located on the western continent of Quon; southwest of Quon is Zepwell Island, part of the Kuzotz region, a land mass is home to the arid Altep Desert. While the Federation of Windurst is situated on the eastern continent of Mindartia and the thick jungles of the Elshimo regions lie to the southeast of Mindartia.

These two continents are closely connected at a point and several great bridges span that divide, allowing adventurers to travel and trade between the two; Atop of these bridges sits The Grand Duchy of Jeuno.

The continent of Aradjiah is situated to the east of Mindartia beyond the seas of the Gugru Blue. This land encompasses the Empire of Aht Urhgan. Upon it's western shores, often referred to by adventurers as The Near East, lies the city of Al Zahbi.

Unknown Regions

For other information, see The Wide World of Vana’diel

There are a number of continents that are unexplored by most adventurers. The known areas adventurers from the Middle Lands have yet to explore are the Far East (which has some connections with the Tenshodo), the Mithran homeland of the Far South, the Far North, and the elusive Far West. These include:

• The empire(s)s far to the east (Home to the Samurai, Ninja, Tenzen, Gessho, many items, and many Vana'dielen holidays). The nation in which Tenzen originates from may be the Phoenix symbol found on his kote.
• The Island of Tsahya, far to the south, possibly home to the Mithra (there are also other countires in the Far South according to the Taffeta Cloth item).
• The Orcish Empire to the north.
• The island(s) which the Gigas tribes originate from, far to the north.
• The Far Western continent, origin of the Bison Armor Set -- as well as the exorcists Gertrude, Brian and Roger, who featured in the The Dark Lilies game for Harvest Festival! 2006.
• The southern continent, origin the Igqira Armor Set.

The currently mapped world is estimated to be one fourth to one half of Vana'diel. Since airship travel is controlled by the Grand Duchy of Jeuno, there is little travel outside of these known lands. There are still recipes and items associated with these lands, so trade may take place while travel remains restricted. Also, the Marquisite of Tavnazia once traded with the Near East, Far South, and the Far West.

Population

Distribution of main job levels:
We conducted research on the main job levels of over 1,550,000 characters belonging to over 500,000 registered users. Please note that the following numbers exclude level 1 characters, which are generally known as "mules" or "storage characters." Such characters are used mainly for item storage, synthesis, or gardening. These level 1 characters comprise a sizable 41% of the total number of characters in FINAL FANTASY XI. Assuming that a character's highest-level job is his or her "main job," we have compiled the data below.

Excluding level 1 storage characters, characters up to level 20 comprise around 55% of the total population. Compared to last year, there has been a 1% increase in the number of level 30 characters, which can be attributed to the effect of level-restricted areas in the Chains of Promathia, and also to players attempting to quest for extra jobs. The number of characters of level 50 and above has increased dramatically to 24% from 15% last year, while characters of level 71 and above have increased by almost 5% to 9% this year.

Population Level Distribution

Regions

The continents are divided into regions. While some regions are typically associated with the three nations, the introduction of Conquest allows any region to shift control from one nation to another. Beastmen may also take control of regions away from the three main cities.