Harad

In J. R. R. Tolkien's universe of Middle-earth, Harad (Sindarin: South, in Quenya: Hyarmen) was the name for the immense lands south of Gondor and Mordor. The men of Harad were called Southrons or Haradrim ("South-multitude").

Geography and Climate
Harad lied between the lands of Umbar to its west and Khand north east and was divided into two main provinces. Near Harad, which was the closest to both Mordor and Gondor and Far Harad, which was nearest to the land Umbar.

Harad could be divided into four distinct regions, with a host of sub-regions claimed and warred over by nomadic tribal groups. The first of these was Harondor, otherwise known as South Gondor. It was a buffer zone between the lush, verdant grasslands on the Gondorian side of the Anduin and the inhospitable dunes of sand to the far south.

Harondor was most likely a semi-arid grassland, much like its neighbor Khand to the northeast. Not much life would survive here, save for the skeleton of a long-dead tree or the few shrubs that managed to eke out a living. Its boundaries extended roughly from the Anduin to the western flank of Mordor and stopped around an imaginary line protruding horizontally from the bay of Umbar.

The second region was Umbar and the adjacent bay area. The great city of yore, built brick by brick at the hands of the Numenoreans across the sea, was a regional hub of trade well after the noble blood of the seafarers was spent as its inhabitants fell into darkness.

The third and fourth regions were Near and Far Harad. There is an ill-defined boundary between the two, as most of the land is a sea of sand that shifts with the incessant breath of the winds. Caravans of mumakil and other beasts of burden traverse the badlands like ships.

Overall it was a dry and arid land which may have had deserts especially in Near Harad, while in Far Harad it was also warm with possible deserts but in the far south it was closer to more forested lands.

Peoples

 * See Main article Haradrim

Harad's tribes were divided - at least in the minds of the men of northwestern Middle-earth - into those of Near and Far Harad, although there were many tribes of the Haradrim, often mutually hostile. Those of Near Harad were brown-skinned, with black hair and dark eyes, whereas the people of Far Harad had black skin.

Second Age
After the First Age, the men of these lands were amongst the lesser men that were instructed by the voyaging Númenóreans in the basic arts of civilization. This went on for sometime until the middle of the Second Age when the Númenóreans turned their back on wisdom and became their overlords.

From the latter part of the Second Age, many of the Men of Harad were dominated by the Númenóreans, as were many other peoples whose lands included a coastline. Shortly before the War of the Last Alliance, two Númenórean lords, named as Herumor and Fuinur, "rose to great power amongst the Haradrim", but their ultimate fate is not recorded.

Third Age
For many centuries of the Third Age, many Haradrim were still ruled by Black Númenóreans Lords, or further north by the Kings of Gondor, but ultimately, the Harad fell under the influence of Mordor, for much of the Age.

Much of Far Harad was a jungle, although there also was a desert. In Far Harad lived the gigantic mammoth-like animals known as Mûmak or Oliphaunts by hobbits and other simple folk, which were used by the Haradrim as moving war towers.

Near Harad later formed an alliance - or maybe even a coalition of some sort - with the Corsairs of Umbar, and was involved in a series of continual battles with Gondor over South Gondor or Harondor. Anciently its northern border was held to be the river Harnen, but by the time of the War of the Ring all the land south of the river Poros was under the influence of the Haradrim. Chief of the mumakil riders at the time of the War of the Ring bore a standard of a black serpent on a red field, and was slain by Eomer of Rohan at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields in TA 3019.

After the revival of Reunited Kingdom of Gondor and Arnor in the Fourth Age, much of the Harad may have again fallen under the rule of Gondor.