The North

Terrain
Harsh, large and unforgiving like many a mother-in-law, the North is known for it's massive size making up half of the entire continent of Westeros. It houses vast empty plains in most of the Kingdom, with dense forests like the Wolfswood and mountainous terrain in the north-west. If one wishes to leave or enter the North by foot into the other kingdoms they will have to pass through the Neck, a region in the south of the kingdom completely covered in dense marshes with the narrow King's Road that leads through it. Even further north the massive ice structure known as The Wall stands to guard the realms of men. With this in addition to the Neck, The North can be considered one of the most isolated kingdoms second only to the Vale. Highly defensible with both it's terrain and castles like Moat Cailin, the Dreadfort and Winterfell, the North has never been truly conquered. Not that Northerners themselves would ever allow that to happen as they can be as cold and brutal as the kingdom they inhabit.

Economy
Even though the North makes up a large part of the continent, it is not considered a wealthy kingdom. Crops have a hard time growing in the northern climate and the plains don't offer alot of game for hunting. Fishing villages are a far more important factor of income but the entire westcoast has a history of being an easy target for Ironborn Raiders. Most wealth gained from trading finds its origin in Whiteharbor, the only city in the region and the only place where any type of fleet can be gathered. The agricultural incapabilities of the North are what really hold back the region's economy and rulers can find trouble financing their armies. This alongside the Bolton Banditry make it a good place to defend, but economically unwise to attack from.

Political Climate and History
For thousands of years the North has been ruled by the Great House of Stark and this continued after the ascension of Bran Stark the Broken as ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, when his sister Sansa Stark declared the North independent and she became Queen in the North. But as is common in history: power often attracts the very people that try to distance themselves from it. This is how it came to be that the North came back into the fold near the end of King Bran's reign under Keira Lynne Stark. She would later lead the North into battle against the Trident Union during the First Clash and peacefully declared the region to King Jon Arryn II.

The Second Clash is really where things took a strange turn for the region. With Lord Haatack Stark leading the North and others into open rebellion against the Great Council, it was do or die. Sadly, it turned out to be die for Lord Haatack Stark who had his only daughter and heir marry Balon Greyjoy II just before he passed away from a mysterious illness. This put the entire North under the juristiction of the Greyjoy family of the Iron Islands, making it a joined kingdom. This merging became an official fact after Stannis II defeated the rebellion against the council and became King. Instead of making the Boltons who had helped him the new rulers of the North, he chose the union of the house Stark and Greyjoy to rule, declaring the Boltons traitors which reorganized themselves into the Bolton Banditry.

Then came Urri Greyjoy, the first ruler in the North to hold the family name of Stark and Greyjoy. He oversaw both regions during the Third Clash without much incident, being a boy of 14 who chose not to meddle in the wars of the so-called Clash of Chaos. He wanted to make an effort in dealing with the Bolton Banditry but ultimately nothing came of this, as his advisors kept him focused on the uprising in King's Landing. To this day the dual kingdom remains, still overseen by a Lord literally born alongside it.