Mormon does not state if the long dimension of the narrow strip of wilderness extends north to south, from the land of Zarahemla on the north to the land of Nephi on the south, or if its long dimension extends west to east, from the sea west to the sea east.

Nearly all models of Book of Mormon geography depict the long dimension of the narrow strip of wilderness as stretching from west to east. This west to east (horizontal) orientation might be a more natural expectation when considering the words narrow and strip, rather than a north to south (vertical) positioning. But a west to east horizontal orientation is not based on any direct description or statement within the Book of Mormon account.

We can logically calculate, however, that the narrow strip of wilderness has its long dimension oriented north to south and not east to west. Indeed, it can be shown that a north to south orientation is the only rational option given all that is known of Book of Mormon geography from the record itself. This conclusion is based on the geographical implications of actual travel times of recorded journeys through the narrow strip of wilderness by Alma, Zeniff, Ammon and others (See The Scale of the Book of Mormon Lands in our main article, An Approach to the Book of Mormon Geography and the analysis of these 13 journeys below). For example, one can calculate the north to south length of the narrow strip of wilderness to be approximately 200 miles. This is based on the time-span of Alma’s discontinuous journey from the waters of Mormon in the land of Nephi, at the southern end of the narrow strip of wilderness, to the land of Zarahemla on the northern border of this same wilderness. Alma’s group travelled north eight days from the waters of Mormon to the land of Helam (Mosiah 23:3) and then some years later travelled one day from the land of Helam to the valley of Alma and the next day journeyed north an additional 12 days to the land of Zarahemla (Mosiah 24:20-25). These three sequential journeys totaled 21-days travel through the narrow strip of wilderness. At an average speed of 9-10 miles per day, the south to north length for the narrow strip of wilderness calculates to some 200 miles. The relatively slow speed of the combined journeys is required for the movement of families, supplies and belongings, and their flocks and herds of animals through a challenging wilderness landscape.

Calculating the west to east distance of the narrow strip of wilderness is not as straightforward. One would first need to ascertain the ratio of width to length for this land feature. Based on the reality of a north to south distance of some 200 miles, this ratio would then allow us to calculate the approximate distance from west to east. Unfortunately, this ratio is not known and can only be inferred. We do know, however, that in order to be a narrow strip the breadth of the landform has to be less than its length. But is this a ratio of width to length of 1:3, 1:4, 1:5. or even 1:8 or more?

Starting with a 1:4 ratio, which creates a reasonable, strip-like shape, we can calculate the area in square miles of such a landform when oriented with its long length north to south. We can then calculate the area of a same-shaped strip when oriented with its long length east to west. In both orientations the north to south distance would need to remain constant at the calculated length of 200 miles, the approximate 200-mile journey of Alma, through the narrow strip of wilderness, from the land of Nephi to the land of Zarahemla.

A north to south oriented narrow strip of wilderness with a width to length ratio of 1:4, and a length of 200 miles north to south, would produce a width of 50 miles east to west. This yields an area enclosing some 10,000 square miles (50 x 200).

If we rotate the orientation of the narrow strip of wilderness 90 degrees, placing its longest dimension extending from the sea west to the sea east, but with the same fixed north to south distance of approximately 200 miles, and with the same width to length ratio of 1:4, we create a west to east extent that lengthens significantly from only 50 miles to some 800 miles.

This yields a shape enclosing some 160,000 square miles (200 x 800) and creates an area some 16 times larger than a shape with the same ratio of width to length, but with a north to south orientation. An area this large is far beyond the scale of the Book of Mormon lands within almost any Book of Mormon model. And, surprisingly, an area of 160,000 square miles is nearly as large as the combined areas of the seven countries within Central America (some 202,000 square miles). A narrow strip of wilderness with these dimensions would leave insufficient space for the other sizable Book of Mormon lands such as the land of Nephi, the land of Zarahemla, the land of Bountiful, the narrow neck of land and the land of Desolation.

An area this extensive would completely engulf the state of New York (54,555 square miles) or all the area of Baja California, and most areas proposed as the Book of Mormon lands. And even if we reduce the ratio to 1:3 (a shape with a ratio less than this would be difficult to claim as a strip) it still yields an area of 120,000 square miles. But if the ratio is set higher, say, 1:20, it creates a formidable strip of land, with a width of 200 miles and a long dimension of 4,000 miles, extending west to east, and enclosing some 800,000 square miles, equaling one-quarter of the area of the contiguous United States.

Based on the above analysis, we maintain that the narrow strip of wilderness would have to have its long dimension extending north to south between the land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla and its shorter width between the two seas, the sea west and the sea east. This orientation also conforms with the scale of all the lands described in the Book of Mormon account and matches the proposed wilderness area of Baja California.