Remnant

Remnant is the high fantasy, magitech world of RWBY, with airships, gadgets, high-tech weaponry and a form of natural energy called Dust, existing side by side.

Geography
Vytal is the name of the continent in which the region and city of Vale (where the majority of RWBY takes place) is located. Other known regions include Mistral, Atlas and Vacuo. Reference is made to four kingdoms, of which Vale is one, but it is not known if these four kingdoms and the named regions are the one and the same. Additionally, during the opening narration, four settlements on three different continents are visually highlighted. Several other landmasses are known to exist, but their identity remains unknown.

History
According to information provided in Episode 1, darkness used to cover all the land. Mankind was born from dust and had to battle against creatures of darkness, known as the Grimm. According to the legend, darkness at first was intent on wiping out mankind's brief existence, but man discovered a power that would help them combat the forces of darkness. Man named their new weapon Dust, after that which they were formed from.

Armed with Dust, described as "Nature's Wrath," mankind managed to force the darkness away. In the absence of darkness, man was able to create civilization and spread throughout the world. Currently, the world is in a state of peace, but the Grimm may return any day. To fend off the Grimm, and any other threat to peace, academies such as Signal and Beacon were created to train people to become Huntsmen and Huntresses.

Huntsmen and Huntresses, as the names imply, "hunt" these threats down and eliminate them using a combination of powerful weapons, Aura and ample supplies of Dust.

Four areas on the map have been highlighted with castles in the intro. After a comment by Professor Port regarding Vale and "the other three kingdoms" in The Badge and The Burden, these castles can be assumed to be representations of the four kingdoms of Remnant.

Professor Port's lecture also indicated that, despite the discovery of Dust, Remnant remains a dangerous world. According to Professor Port, most things in the wild zones outside the territory of the Four Kingdoms would be likely to react to a human by trying to tear them to pieces. However, it does emphasize that Remnant is not a particularly welcoming world to humans.

World Map
The world map of RWBY was created by Monty Oum in 2012. It was based off of ketchup smears made on a napkin he was using while at IHOP.

Monty revealed his design in Rooster Teeth's 191st podcast on November 14th, 2012. He reveals and explains his first drafts of the map starting at around 9:00 in the video. His creation of the map started with him going to IHOP and squirting ketchup on a napkin then randomizing the blots to form the continents, which he then scanned and edited via Photoshop as a base for the world map.

Known Locations

 * Vytal
 * Snowy Forest
 * Forever Fall
 * Beacon Cliffs
 * Vale
 * Mistral Region
 * Emerald Forest
 * Menagerie
 * Vacuo
 * Atlas
 * Moon

Known Landmarks

 * Beacon Academy
 * Signal Academy
 * Cliffside Altar
 * White Castle
 * The Club
 * Railway line (Forever Fall)
 * From Dust Till Dawn
 * Vale Port
 * The Abandoned Temple
 * Fort Castle
 * Sanctum

Trivia

 * Monty stated that he textured the World Map by taking different pictures of food. The different foods he used included mashed potatoes, steaks, ice cream, bread, corn, cereal, ramen, shrimp, tacos, pizza, lettuce, and possibly bacon.
 * An interesting note, two of the landmasses in the final version of the map closely resemble dragons (both Eastern and Western styled), having serpentine-like bodies with what resembles wings, horns and jaws.
 * The world of RWBY may have a long, rich history that has been lost to the current inhabitants, hinted at by the quote, "Legends. Stories scattered through time. Mankind has grown fond of recounting the exploits of heroes and villains, forgetting so easily that we are remnants, byproducts, of a forgotten past".
 * In Episode 2, Jaune mentions a war that his great-great-grandfather fought in, which may or may not be the conflict described in the prologue.
 * The name Remnant may stem from the fact that the world, and those who live in it, are considered to be "by-products, Remnants, of a time long forgotten."