It is a mess. That is the first thing you notice when you look at any version of the map of Gilead and America. It isn't a clean split. It isn't like the North and South during the Civil War where a single line divided two ideologies. Instead, it’s a fractured, bleeding collection of colonies, radioactive "waste" zones, and contested territories.
Margaret Atwood didn’t actually include a map in her original 1985 novel. She left the borders blurry. This was intentional. When you’re living in a totalitarian regime, you don't get a GPS or a copy of the National Geographic to see where the rebels are hiding. You just know what’s behind your own wall. But the Hulu adaptation changed that. It gave us visuals. It gave us geography. And honestly, it made the whole thing way more terrifying because you realize how little of "America" is actually left.
Where is America?
Basically, it's gone. Or at least, the America we recognize is a ghost. In the lore of The Handmaid’s Tale, the United States government didn't just vanish; it retreated. If you look at the map of Gilead and America from the perspective of the "Rump Government," the U.S. currently consists of exactly two states: Alaska and Hawaii.
That's it.
The flag has two stars. Anchorage serves as the capital. While the show occasionally mentions "Little America" in Toronto, that’s just a neighborhood of refugees. It has no sovereignty. The actual power of the former United States is concentrated in the Pacific, while the mainland is a patchwork of theocratic control and absolute chaos.
The Heartland is a War Zone
Most people assume Gilead is this monolithic block that covers everything from Maine to California. It’s not. The map of Gilead and America shows that the regime really only has a firm grip on the East Coast and parts of the Midwest. This is where the "Divisions" are most established.
Think of it like an ink blot. The darkest ink is in places like the Boston District (formerly Massachusetts) and the D.C. District. As you move further west, the ink fades. There are massive stretches of the Midwest—the "Colonies"—where the land is so toxic from nuclear or chemical warfare that it’s essentially a death sentence for anyone sent there to clean it up.
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Then you have the "Frontiers."
Texas is a great example. Texans, being Texans, didn't just roll over for the Sons of Jacob. The map shows Texas as a hotly contested rebel territory. There is constant fighting along the borders of what used to be the American South. You’ve also got the "Republic of Texas" vibes going on, where they are fighting Gilead but aren't necessarily taking orders from the U.S. government in Anchorage either.
Understanding the "Colonies" on the Map
We see the Colonies in Season 2 of the show, but where are they on the map of Gilead and America? Usually, they are depicted in the Southwest and parts of the Rust Belt. These aren't just "dirty" areas. They are environmental disasters used as penal colonies.
The geography here is bleak.
Very bleak.
The regime uses these radioactive zones as a buffer. If you’re a rebel trying to march on the Heartland, you have to cross a literal wasteland where the air will kill you. It’s a brilliant, if horrific, strategic use of geography. When you look at the map, these areas are often shaded in a sickly yellow or grey, separating the "Pure" Gilead from the "Wild" territories of the West.
The West Coast and the "California Problem"
California is a weird one. In many iterations of the map of Gilead and America, the West Coast is labeled as "Rebel Occupied" or "Contested."
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Gilead’s ideology is rooted in a specific brand of New England Puritanism. It doesn't travel well. While they managed to take the seat of power in D.C. through a coordinated coup, holding onto San Francisco or Seattle proved much harder. The geography of the West—the mountains, the distance from the command centers in the East—makes it a logistical nightmare for a new, unstable government to manage.
You’ll often see "The Baptist Rebels" mentioned in the South or "Remnant U.S. Forces" in the West. It turns out that when you try to turn a modern superpower into a 17th-century theocracy, people with guns tend to disagree with you.
Why the Map Matters for the Story
The geography isn't just world-building fluff. It drives the plot. June’s entire journey is dictated by the map of Gilead and America. The proximity of Boston to the Canadian border is the only reason anyone escapes. If the story took place in Ohio, the show would have ended in Season 1.
The "Underground Femaleroad" relies on these specific geographic gaps. There are "safe" corridors that run through the contested territories. When you see a map in the show—usually in the hands of a Commander or a Martha—you're looking at a blueprint for survival. The borders are porous. They are guarded by "Eyes" and Guardians, but because the United States was so large, Gilead simply doesn't have the manpower to guard every inch of the frontier.
The Logistics of a Theocratic Coup
How did they do it? How did the map of Gilead and America change so fast?
It wasn't a traditional war. It was a decapitation strike. By killing the President and most of Congress, the Sons of Jacob created a power vacuum. They used the "Emergency Powers" act to suspend the Constitution.
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- They froze the bank accounts of all women.
- They took control of the media.
- They rebranded the military.
But they couldn't rebrand everyone. The reason the map looks like a piece of Swiss cheese is that local military units often stayed loyal to the "Old Guard." A general in Florida might not care what a self-appointed "Commander" in D.C. says. This led to the fragmentation we see today.
Mapping the Future: The Testaments
Without spoiling too much for those who haven't read Margaret Atwood’s sequel, The Testaments, the map of Gilead and America eventually starts to shrink. Theocracy is expensive. It’s hard to maintain. Corruption eats away at the borders faster than any rebel army could.
The map we see at the height of Gilead’s power is its largest extent. Over time, those contested zones start to push inward. The "Colonies" expand because the regime can’t manage the environment. The "Rump Government" in Alaska starts gaining diplomatic leverage.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Researchers
If you’re trying to track the movements of characters or understand the geopolitical stakes of the series, keep these things in mind:
- Check the Source: There are fan-made maps and official production maps. The production maps used in the Hulu series are generally considered the "current" canon.
- Ignore the "Solid" Borders: No border in Gilead is solid. They are all "zones of influence."
- Watch the Water: Most of Gilead's power is land-based. The U.S. Navy largely remained loyal to the government in exile, which is why Hawaii and Alaska are safe.
- Follow the "Colonies": If a character is sent to the Colonies, they are likely in the Midwest or Southwest.
The best way to visualize this is to stop thinking of Gilead as a country and start thinking of it as an occupation. It is a group of people holding a map they can't quite fill in.
To get a true sense of the scale, you should look for the Season 2 production maps released by Hulu, which provide the most detailed breakdown of the "National Guard" rebel pockets versus the "Sons of Jacob" strongholds. These visuals prove that while Gilead looks invincible on TV, the geography tells a story of a regime that is spread dangerously thin and fighting a war on at least four different fronts.
Next Steps for Deep Research
Verify the geography by cross-referencing the "historical notes" at the end of the original Handmaid's Tale novel with the visual maps provided in The Art and Making of The Handmaid's Tale. This reveals the discrepancy between Atwood's original "blurry" vision and the show's more defined, tactical layout. Keep an eye on the shifting borders in the upcoming seasons of the show, as the maps shown in the "War Room" scenes are updated to reflect the ongoing loss of territory to rebel forces.