The Pale is located in the central northern area of Skyrim and extending to the northern coast where Dawnstar is situated. The hold borders Hjaalmarch to the west, Whiterun to the south, and Winterhold and Eastmarch to the east. Most of the region is treacherously cold, with almost the entire hold being snowy winter tundra. Only the southernmost part of the hold towards Whiterun becomes grassy plains.
The Pale may take its name from the area surrounding Dublin, Ireland during the medieval and early modern periods. The Pale was distinguished from the rest of Ireland because it was the center of English rule in Ireland and one of the few areas under direct English control for much of that time.
The version of the map of Skyrim in the image above labels the Pale as "White Shore"; this was presumably Bethesda's original name for the Hold. In the Russian localization, this Hold is still named "Белый Берег" (Beliy Bereg "White Shore").