United Nations geoscheme

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22 geographical subregions as defined by the UNSD. Antarctica is not shown. United Nations geographical subregions.png
22 geographical subregions as defined by the UNSD. Antarctica is not shown.

The United Nations geoscheme is a system which divides 248 countries and territories in the world into six continental regions, 22 geographical subregions, and two intermediary regions. [1] It was devised by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) based on the M49 coding classification. [2] The creators note that "the assignment of countries or areas to specific groupings is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories". [2]

Contents

Usage

The UNSD geoscheme was created for statistical analysis and consists of macro-geographical regions arranged to the extent possible according to continents. [2] Within each region, smaller geographical subregions and sometimes intermediary regions contain countries and territories. Countries and territories are also grouped non-geographically into selected economic and other sets, such as the landlocked developing countries, the least developed countries, and the Small Island Developing States.

Antarctica is the only continental region which does not comprise any geographical subregions or country-level areas.

The UNSD geoscheme does not set a standard for the entire United Nations System, and it often differs from geographical definitions used by the autonomous United Nations specialized agencies for their own organizational convenience. For instance, the UNSD includes Cyprus and Georgia in Western Asia, yet the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and UNESCO include them in Europe. [3] [4] This "statistical" definition also differs from United Nations Regional Groups.

Alternative groupings

Other alternative groupings include the World Bank regional classification, [5] CIA World Factbook regions and Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers Geographic Regions. [6] [7] [8]

Africa

Americas

The Caribbean, Central America, and Northern America together form the geographical continent of North America. [2]

Asia

Europe

Oceania

Maps

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Europe</span> Subregion of the European continent

Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melanesia</span> Subregion of Oceania

Melanesia is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from New Guinea in the west to the Fiji Islands in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Europe</span> Northern region of the European continent

The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54°N, or may be based on other geographical factors such as climate and ecology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Europe</span> Southern region of Europe

Southern Europe is the southern region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Greece, Italy, Kosovo, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Portugal, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, southern France, Spain, Turkey, and Vatican City.

Europe, the westernmost portion of Eurasia, is often divided into regions and subregions based on geographical, cultural or historical factors. Since there is no universal agreement on Europe's regional composition, the placement of individual countries may vary based on criteria being used. For instance, the Balkans is a distinct geographical region within Europe, but individual countries may alternatively be grouped into South-eastern Europe or Southern Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Subregion</span> Part of a larger geographic region or continent

A subregion is a part of a larger region or continent. Cardinal directions are commonly used to define subregions. There are many criteria for creating systems of subregions; this article is focusing on the UN statistical geoscheme, which is a changing, constantly updated, UN tool based on specific political geography considerations relevant in UN statistics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Asia</span>

Geography of Asia reviews geographical concepts of classifying Asia, the central and eastern part of Eurasia, comprising 58 countries and territories.

The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), formerly the United Nations Statistical Office, serves under the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) as the central mechanism within the Secretariat of the United Nations to supply the statistical needs and coordinating activities of the global statistical system. The Division is overseen by the United Nations Statistical Commission, established in 1947, as the apex entity of the global statistical system and highest decision making body for coordinating international statistical activities. It brings together the Chief Statisticians from member states from around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations Regional Groups</span> Geopolitical regional groups of the United Nations

The United Nations Regional Groups are the geopolitical regional groups of member states of the United Nations. Originally, the UN member states were unofficially organized into five groups as an informal means of sharing the distribution of posts for General Assembly committees. Now this grouping has taken on a much more expansive and official role. Many UN bodies are allocated on the basis of geographical representation. Top leadership positions, including Secretary-General and President of the General Assembly, are rotated among the regional groups. The groups also coordinate substantive policy and form common fronts for negotiations and bloc voting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Indies</span> Island region of the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean

The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island countries and 19 dependencies in three archipelagos: the Greater Antilles, the Lesser Antilles, and the Lucayan Archipelago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations geoscheme for Africa</span> UN geographical categorizition of Africa

The following is an alphabetical list of subregions in the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, used by the United Nations and maintained by the UNSD department for statistical purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations geoscheme for the Americas</span> United Nations geoscheme for North America and South America

The United Nations geoscheme for the Americas is an internal tool created and used by the UN's Statistics Division (UNSD) for the specific purpose of UN statistics.

UN M49 or the Standard Country or Area Codes for Statistical Use is a standard for area codes used by the United Nations for statistical purposes, developed and maintained by the United Nations Statistics Division. Each area code is a 3-digit number which can refer to a wide variety of geographical and political regions, like a continent and a country. Codes assigned in the system generally do not change when the country or area's name changes, but instead change when the territorial extent of the country or area changes significantly, although there have been exceptions to this rule.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations geoscheme for Europe</span>

The following is an alphabetical list of subregions in the United Nations geoscheme for Europe, created by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). The scheme subdivides the continent into Eastern Europe, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, and Western Europe. The UNSD notes that "the assignment of countries or areas to specific groupings is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations geoscheme for Oceania</span>

The United Nations geoscheme for Oceania is an internal tool created and used by the UN's Statistics Division (UNSD) for the specific purpose of UN statistics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boundaries between the continents</span>

Determining the boundaries between the continents is generally a matter of geographical convention. Several slightly different conventions are in use. The number of continents is most commonly considered seven but may range as low as four when Afro-Eurasia and the Americas are both considered as single continents. An island can be considered to be associated with a given continent by either lying on the continent's adjacent continental shelf or being a part of a microcontinent on the same principal tectonic plate. An island can also be entirely oceanic while still being associated with a continent by geology or by common geopolitical convention. Another example is the grouping into Oceania of the Pacific Islands with Australia and Zealandia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations geoscheme for Asia</span> Alphabetical list of subregions in the United Nations geoscheme for Asia

The United Nations geoscheme for Asia is an internal tool created and used by the United Nations, maintained by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) for the specific purpose of UN statistics. The scheme's subregions are presented here in alphabetical order. Its subregions may not coincide with other geographic categorization schemes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Latin America and the Caribbean</span> Subregion of the Americas

The term Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is an English-language acronym referring to the Latin American and the Caribbean region. The term LAC covers an extensive region, extending from The Bahamas and Mexico to Argentina and Chile. The region has over 670,230,000 people as of 2016, and spanned for 21,951,000 square kilometres (8,475,000 sq mi).

References

  1. UNSD: Standard country or area codes for statistical use (M49) – Recent changes – Footnote 13
  2. 1 2 3 4 "UNSD — Methodology". United Nations Statistics Division. Retrieved 2019-06-17.
  3. United Nations Industrial Organisation p. 14
  4. UNESCO, Europe and North America, Retrieved: 10 May 2016
  5. Katrin Elborgh-Woytek; Monique Newiak; Kalpana Kochhar; Stefania Fabrizio; Kangni Kpodar; Philippe Wingender; Benedict J. Clements; Gerd Schwartz (20 September 2013). Women, Work, and the Economy:Macroeconomic Gains from Gender Equity. International Monetary Fund. p. 7. ISBN   978-1-4843-9529-5. Country groups are based on UN geoscheme and World Bank regional classification
  6. ICANN Geographic Regions
  7. ICANN Geographical Regions, Final Report by the ccNSO Regions Working Group, For Submission to the ICANN Board, 24 September 2007
  8. "World Bank Country and Lending Groups", the World Bank