The GTA 5 map is the state of San Andreas, loosely modelled on Southern California: the city of Los Santos, a parody of Los Angeles, in the south, and Blaine County, with its desert, farmland, mountains and small towns, in the north. Before release, Rockstar told Game Informer the map was bigger than GTA IV, San Andreas and Red Dead Redemption combined. Two places the story and GTA Online visit lie outside it: North Yankton and the island of Cayo Perico.
| Area | What is there |
|---|---|
Los Santos | The city: 28 districts in five parts, from Downtown to the Port of Los Santos |
Blaine County | Towns: Sandy Shores, Paleto Bay, Grapeseed, Harmony and Stab City. Landmarks: Mount Chiliad, Mount Gordo, Fort Zancudo, Alamo Sea and Grand Senora Desert |
North Yankton | Outside San Andreas, the snowbound setting of the prologue |
Cayo Perico | An island outside the main map, reached in GTA Online for the Cayo Perico Heist |
Los Santos fills the southern part of the map. The grouping below follows the most common fan grouping, with real-world matches in the last column; the best-known districts, from Rockford Hills and Vinewood Hills to Strawberry, Davis, Chamberlain Hills and Rancho, appear under the same names in every list.
| Part of the city | Districts | Real-world match |
|---|---|---|
Downtown | Legion Square, Mission Row, Pillbox Hill, Textile City | Downtown Los Angeles |
North Los Santos | Vinewood, Vinewood Hills, Mirror Park, Rockford Hills, Richman, Morningwood, Pacific Bluffs | Vinewood is Hollywood, Rockford Hills is Beverly Hills |
West Los Santos | Del Perro, Vespucci Beach, Vespucci Canals, Little Seoul, La Puerta, Puerto Del Sol | Del Perro is Santa Monica, Vespucci Beach is Venice Beach |
East Los Santos | Cypress Flats, El Burro Heights, La Mesa, Murrieta Heights | Boyle Heights, Vernon and the Arts District |
South Los Santos | Davis, Chamberlain Hills, Rancho, Strawberry, Banning, Los Santos International Airport, Port of Los Santos | Davis is Compton, Strawberry is Crenshaw |
Everything north of the city. Its towns are Sandy Shores, Paleto Bay, Grapeseed, Harmony and Stab City, and its landmarks include Mount Chiliad, Mount Gordo, Fort Zancudo, Alamo Sea and Grand Senora Desert, Fort Zancudo being the military base.
Rockstar has never published a figure. What it did say, to Game Informer before the September 2013 release, is that the world was bigger than GTA IV, San Andreas and Red Dead Redemption put together, a comparison VideoGamer and NBC News reported at the time. Fan measurements disagree, from about 29 to about 49 square miles depending on whether water counts, so we do not print one. For what comes next, our GTA 6 map page covers the size estimates for Leonida, and our RDR2 map the five states of Red Dead Redemption 2.
North Yankton is not part of San Andreas: it is the snowbound town of the prologue, and home to one of the game's best-known easter eggs, the frozen alien under the ice. Cayo Perico is an island off the main map, reached in GTA Online for the Cayo Perico Heist; what it pays after the July 2026 update is on our GTA Online heists page.
The UFOs are the classic map hunt: one above Fort Zancudo between 3am and 4am, one above the Beam Me Up in Sandy Shores, one above Mount Chiliad at 3am in stormy weather, and one underwater north of Paleto Bay. The rest, from the Mount Chiliad mural to the ghost on Mount Gordo, are on our GTA 5 easter eggs page.
Getting around faster: the fastest cars in GTA Online and the armed aircraft. Skipping the drive: the GTA 5 cheat codes spawn vehicles on the spot. The 69 story missions and the game page cover the rest.