What Is the UN Geoscheme?
- The UN geoscheme is a statistical classification system created by the UN Statistics Division (UNSD).
- Its main purpose is to provide a consistent framework for collecting, reporting, and comparing statistical data across the world.
- It divides the globe into a hierarchy of regions and subregions, not based on politics, but on geography.
The Structure
The scheme is organized in three tiers:
Macro-geographical regions (the broadest)
- Africa
- Americas
- Asia
- Europe
- Oceania
Subregions (the 22 “georegions” listed below)
- Example: Africa → Eastern Africa
- Example: Europe → Southern Europe
Other groupings (optional categories UNSD uses for certain data sets)
- “Least Developed Countries”
- “Small Island Developing States”
- “Landlocked Developing Countries”
Neutrality & Limitations
- The scheme is neutral: it does not imply political recognition or endorsement.
- Boundaries are not cultural or historical, but purely statistical convenience.
- Example: Cyprus is classified as Western Asia, though it’s often considered part of Europe in political or cultural contexts.
- Mexico is grouped in Central America, not “North America,” though in everyday use it’s often seen as part of North America.
Why It’s Useful
- Provides a standardized global reference for UN agencies, researchers, and governments.
- Makes cross-country data comparison possible without ambiguity.
- Simplifies large-scale reporting (e.g., “average GDP growth in Southern Asia”).
What It’s Not
- It’s not a political map.
- It’s not a cultural or civilizational division.
- It’s not immutable, the UNSD sometimes updates classifications as territories change.
Given this I thought it would be fun to imagine yourself as emperor of one of these regions, which would you pick?
Here’s a full list of all countries in each region:
A. Northern America (5 countries/territories)
- Bermuda (UK)
- Canada
- Greenland (Denmark)
- Saint Pierre and Miquelon (France)
- United States of America
B. Central America (8 countries)
- Belize
- Costa Rica
- El Salvador
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Mexico
- Nicaragua
- Panama
C. Caribbean (29 countries/territories)
Includes independent states + dependent territories:
- Anguilla (UK)
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Aruba (Netherlands)
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba (Netherlands)
- British Virgin Islands (UK)
- Cayman Islands (UK)
- Cuba
- Curaçao (Netherlands)
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- Grenada
- Guadeloupe (France)
- Haiti
- Jamaica
- Martinique (France)
- Montserrat (UK)
- Puerto Rico (US)
- Saint Barthélemy (France)
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Martin (France)
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Sint Maarten (Netherlands)
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Turks and Caicos Islands (UK)
- United States Virgin Islands (US)
D. South America (12 countries)
E. Northern Europe (10 countries + territories)
- Åland Islands (Finland)
- Channel Islands (UK Crown dependencies)
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Faroe Islands (Denmark)
- Finland
- Guernsey (UK Crown dependency)
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Isle of Man (UK Crown dependency)
- Jersey (UK Crown dependency)
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Norway
- Svalbard and Jan Mayen (Norway)
- Sweden
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
F. Western Europe (9 countries)
- Austria
- Belgium
- France
- Germany
- Liechtenstein
- Luxembourg
- Monaco
- Netherlands
- Switzerland
G. Southern Europe (15 countries)
- Albania
- Andorra
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Croatia
- Gibraltar (UK)
- Greece
- Holy See
- Italy
- Malta
- Montenegro
- North Macedonia
- Portugal
- San Marino
- Serbia
- Slovenia
- Spain
H. Northern Africa (7 countries)
- Algeria
- Egypt
- Libya
- Mauritania
- Morocco
- Sudan
- Tunisia
I. Western Africa (16 countries)
- Benin
- Burkina Faso
- Cabo Verde
- Côte d’Ivoire
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Liberia
- Mali
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Togo
- Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (UK)
J. Middle Africa (9 countries)
- Angola
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Congo
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Equatorial Guinea
- Gabon
- São Tomé and Príncipe
K. Eastern Africa (20 countries + territories)
- Burundi
- Comoros
- Djibouti
- Eritrea
- Ethiopia
- Kenya
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Mauritius
- Mozambique
- Réunion (France)
- Rwanda
- Seychelles
- Somalia
- South Sudan
- Uganda
- United Republic of Tanzania
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
- Mayotte (France)
L. Southern Africa (5 countries)
- Botswana
- Eswatini
- Lesotho
- Namibia
- South Africa
M. Eastern Europe (10 countries)
- Belarus
- Bulgaria
- Czechia
- Hungary
- Poland
- Republic of Moldova
- Romania
- Russian Federation
- Slovakia
- Ukraine
N. Western Asia (19 countries/territories)
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Bahrain
- Cyprus
- Georgia
- Iraq
- Israel
- Jordan
- Kuwait
- Lebanon
- Oman
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- State of Palestine
- Syrian Arab Republic
- Turkey
- United Arab Emirates
- Yemen
O. Central Asia (5 countries)
- Kazakhstan
- Kyrgyzstan
- Tajikistan
- Turkmenistan
- Uzbekistan
P. Southern Asia (9 countries)
- Afghanistan
- Bangladesh
- Bhutan
- India
- Iran (Islamic Republic of)
- Maldives
- Nepal
- Pakistan
- Sri Lanka
Q. Eastern Asia (6 countries + 2 territories)
- China
- China, Hong Kong SAR
- China, Macao SAR
- Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
- Japan
- Mongolia
- Republic of Korea
- Taiwan (Province of China)*
(*UN follows China’s designation for Taiwan.)
R. South-Eastern Asia (11 countries)
- Brunei Darussalam
- Cambodia
- Indonesia
- Lao People’s Democratic Republic
- Malaysia
- Myanmar
- Philippines
- Singapore
- Thailand
- Timor-Leste
- Viet Nam
S. Australia and New Zealand (3)
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Norfolk Island (Australia)
T. Melanesia (5)
- Fiji
- New Caledonia (France)
- Papua New Guinea
- Solomon Islands
- Vanuatu
U. Micronesia (8)
- Guam (US)
- Kiribati
- Marshall Islands
- Micronesia (Federated States of)
- Nauru
- Northern Mariana Islands (US)
- Palau
- United States Minor Outlying Islands
V. Polynesia (11)
- American Samoa (US)
- Cook Islands (NZ in free association)
- French Polynesia (France)
- Niue (NZ in free association)
- Pitcairn Islands (UK)
- Samoa
- Tokelau (NZ)
- Tonga
- Tuvalu
- Wallis and Futuna Islands (France)
Which would you live in?
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