The Shining South lay to the south of the regions around the Sea of Fallen Stars, being somewhat isolated by the Lake of Steam in the west, and the vast length of the Shaar. It was bordered along the south by the Great Sea, to the west by the Chultan peninsula region, and in the east by Luiren. The south included:
- The Border Kingdoms: An area of ever-changing mini-nations and fluctuating borders.
- Dambrath: This nation has exchanged sovereignty between humans and the halfdrow Crinti, and back again over course of a half-millennium.
- The Great Rift: This giant canyon that cleaved the area in half was the ancestral home of the hill dwarves.
- Halruaa: The nation of wizards was full of unique magic and well-guarded against foreigners.
- The Lake of Steam region: Many races and species made up the populations of the independent city-states around the southern shore of the lake.
- The Shaar: A vast, rolling grassland home to nomadic Shaaran tribes, wemics and centaurs.