Provinces of Tamriel Content . The Empire of Tamriel encompasses the nine Imperial provinces : Skyrim , High Rock , Hammerfell , Summerset Isle , Valenwood , Elsweyr , Black Marsh , Morrowind , and the ancient Imperial province itself , Cyrodiil . Morrowind was among the last of the provinces to be integrated into the Empire , and because it was added by treaty , and not by conquest , Morrowind retains exceptional power to define local law by reference to ancient Great House precedents . Skyrim , also known as the Old Kingdom or the Fatherland , was the first region of Tamriel settled by humans from the continent of Atmora : the hardy , brave , warlike Nord s , whose descendants still occupy this rugged land . Though more restrained and civilized than their barbarian ancestors , the Nords of the pure blood still excel in the manly virtues of red war and bold exploration . Hammerfell is primarily an urban and maritime province , with most of its population confined to the great cities of Sentinel and Stros M ' Kai and to other small ports among the islands and along the coast . The interior is sparsely populated with small poor farms and beastherds . The Redguard love of travel , adventure , and the high seas has dispersed them as sailors , mercenaries , and adventurers in ports of call throughout the Empire . High Rock encompasses the many lands and clans of Greater Bretony , the Dellese Isles , the Bjoulsae River tribes , and , by tradition , the Western Reach . The rugged highland strongholds and isolated valley settlements have encouraged the fierce independence of the various local Breton clans , and this contentious tribal nature has never been completely integrated into a provincial or Imperial identity . Nonetheless , their language , bardic traditions , and heroic legends are a unifying common legacy . The Summerset Isle is a green and pleasant land of fertile farmlands , woodland parks , and ancient towers and manors . Most settlements are small and isolated , and dominated by ruling seats of the local wizard or warlord . The Isle has few good natural ports , and the natives are unwelcoming to foreigners , so the ancient , chivalric high culture of the Aldmer is little affected by modern Imperial mercantilism . Valenwood is a largely uninhabited forest wilderness . The coasts of Valenwood are dominated by mangrove swamps and tropical rain forests , while heavy rainfalls nurture the temperate inland rain forests . The Bosmer live in timber clanhouses at sites scattered along the coast and through the interior , connected only by undeveloped foot trails . The few Imperial roads traverse vast dense woodlands , studded with tiny , widely separated settlements , and carry little trade or traffic of any kind . The Khajiit of the southern Elsweyr jungles and river basins are settled city dwellers with ancient mercantile traditions and a stable agrarian aristocracy based on sugarcane and saltrice plantations . The nomadic tribal Khajiit of the dry northern wastes and grasslands are , by contrast , aggressive and territorial tribal raiders periodically united under tribal warlords . While the settled south has been quick to adopt Imperial ways , the northern nomadic tribes cling to their warlike barbarian traditions . Most of the native Argonian population of Black Marsh is confined to the great inland waterways and impenetrable swamps of the southern interior . There are few roads here , and most travel is by boat . The coasts and the northwestern upland forests are largely uninhabited . For ages the Dunmer have raided Black Marsh for slaves ; though the Empire has made this illegal , the practice persists , and Dunmer and Argonians have a long - standing and bitter hatred for one another . Morrowind , homeland of the Dunmer peoples , is the northeastmost province of the Tamrielic Empire . Most of the population is gathered in the high uplands and fertile river valleys of central Morrowind , especially around the Inland Sea . The island Vvardenfell is encircled by the Inner Sea , and is dominated by the titanic volcano Red Mountain and its associated ash wastelands ; most of the island ' s population is confined to the relatively hospitable west and southwest coast . Cyrodiil is the cradle of Human Imperial high culture on Tamriel . It is the largest region of the continent , and most is endless jungle . The Imperial City is in the heartland , the fertile Nibenay Valley . The densely populated central valley is surrounded by wild rain forests drained by great rivers into the swamps of Argonia and Topal Bay . The land rises gradually to the west and sharply to the north . Between its western coast and its central valley are deciduous forests and mangrove swamps .