The game world is big. Clearly bigger than Gothic 2 and according to the publisher only a bit smaller than Morrowind. It´s separated into zones to minimize loading and you won´t see a loading screen when you enter a building. At the beginning you´re near one of at least three big cities. There are more, but it´s unclear of what size they are. Entering the first city is not trivial - it takes a few quests and a detour through the canals until you´re in and you can easily spend ten hours exploring it.