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United Nations geoscheme

U.N. region definitions

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  • 6 chapters

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The UNSD geoscheme was created for statistical analysis and consists of macro-geographical regions arranged to the extent possible according to continents. 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 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. This statistical definition also differs from United Nations Regional Groups.

Alternative groupings include the World Bank regional classification, CIA World Factbook regions and Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers regions.

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More in Continents and regions

United StatesCountry primarily in North AmericaIndiaCountry in South AsiaChinaCountry in East AsiaUnited KingdomCountry in Northwestern EuropeFranceCountry primarily in Western EuropeGermanyCountry in Europe