The narrow strip of wilderness divided the land of Zarahemla, held by the Nephites, from the land of Nephi to the south, held by the Lamanites. It ran from the sea east to the sea west, along the borders of the seashore and through the borders of Manti by the head of the river Sidon, and is named as the line that separated the two peoples (Alma 22:27). The text gives no measurements, and the term ‘wilderness’ indicates uninhabited or uncultivated land.
Travelers crossed the strip in movements between the two lands. Going from Zarahemla to the land of Nephi is consistently described as going “up,” and returning to Zarahemla as coming “down,” indicating that the land of Nephi lay at a higher elevation (Mosiah 7:2–4; 8:2; 9:3; Alma 17:8; Omni 1:13).