Part 5/8:
A Lack of Permanent Inhabitants
Despite the region's strategic importance, evidence suggests that it was either uninhabited or only sparsely populated—primarily serving as a highway for armies moving east or west. While groups like the Northmen lived to the north of this area, they seemingly avoided settling in the region itself. Gondor, although dominant in Middle Earth for centuries, did not make significant attempts to colonize these lands but focused its resources further south.