The Sword Coast is a geographical region on the continent of Faerûn that lies along the The Sea of Swords, representing most of the western shoreline of the continent. The Sword Coast ranges several thousand miles north to south from the Sea of Moving Ice in the north to the Nelanther Islands in the south. While referred to as a "coast," the region extends approximately 400 miles inland to the east.
The Sword Coast is an expansive tract of wilderness largely unsettled and undeveloped save for isolated independent city-states that dot the land. Outside of the areas within a few miles of settlements, the landscape is dominated by roaming monsters, wild animals, and roving bands of brigands and war parties of every sentient species. The inhabitants of the rest of Faerûn consider the Sword Coast to be backward, dangerous, and largely uncivilized, where life is short, nasty, and brutish.