Page "Wheel of Time locations" Paragraph 1

Robert Jordan is very clear that the world before the Breaking was much different geographically, and thus physical descriptions must first differentiate between the planet ’ s appearance in the Age of Legends or “ The World Since the Breaking ” ( after insane male Aes Sedai and the Dark One's minions shattered the world, drastically altering it geographically ).

At the time of the books ( the Third Age: 3, 000 + years since the Breaking ), the planet consists of the following: two major oceans ( with associated seas and small islands ), a northern and southern ice cap, the " Main Continent " ( also called the Eastern Continent ), the Seanchan continent and a continent to the southeast ( Land of Madmen ).