New Regional Division of Countries
Tuesday August 8, 2006
As the official self-proclaimed "Geographer of the World," I have divided the 193 countries of the world into eight convenient regions. These eight regions provide a clear division of the world's countries. There will be no further need to argue about within which region a country belongs as my list solves everything. Enjoy the list and if, however, you wish to challenge this list, please post them as a comment below.
Comments
Hi Matt, I think your geography website is great and I often go to it.
I have my BA(1967) in Geography and all but thesis for Masters. After returning from an extended stay in Israel, in 1996, I began to study the disipline on my own. It slowed to a stall while I was doing a genealogy, but I am restarting again now. I have organized the countries in a different manner than you do. I am not challenging, but
want to give my opinion of what I believe to be improvement. The most important of which is to list the countries of each region by location and not alphabetical. This way, the student of geography learns location.Also, if you want to hire me
to make up questions for your quiz, I
would gladly submit a daily quiz, similar to your own. Mondays would be
an easy quiz and Fridays not so difficult. I would send you a months quizzes in advance. Keep up the great work. Ron
I dont know how you put Brunei into MENA when Malaysia & Indonesia (also muslim countries and its neighbour) is in Asia.
Also how does Pakistan & Iran come in MENA when Afghanistan is in Asia.
And why Mauritania, Mali and Sudan in Africa when their culture is more Arabic than African.
Your list is more a politico-social division rather than geograhical. If it was purely geographical, Europe wouldn’t be a continent at all, just a peninsula of Asia, like India (which has as much if not more diversity, ethnic types, languages, etc as Europe).
I’m sure the people of Vladivostok would be intrigued to know they live in Europe!
Don’t see the Turks and Caicos on your Caribbean list?
So we’re back to the myth that the UK is one country, typically American!
There are hundreds of reasons for separating out England, Wales and Scotland as individual countries - cultural, social, sporting etc.
But why bother trying to explain it again?
Best wishes from and Englishman!
Hi Matt,
I’m not sure what you mean by, “*Israel may be located in the Middle East but it is certainly an outsider and perhaps better belongs attached to Europe, like its seaward neighbor and European Union member state, Cyprus.” I can’t think of why Israel wouldn’t be a Middle Eastern nation, both plate-wise and sociopolitically.
Russia is so vast that it should comprise a realm all its own.
I also think that placing Pakistan and Afghanistan in different groups is hard to defend geographically.
Guyana and Suriname face the Atlantic Ocean and are clearly in South America.
Matt,
Morocco is missing from the Africa list!
Your website is wonderful. Thanks for making geography enjoyable for all of us!
Regards,
Shri
************
Matt:
Un grato saludo desde Valparaíso en Chile.
Excelente sitio que veo cada mañana.
Greating from Chile
Matt:
While I agree with some of the above comments concerning, Israel, Sudan, Mali etc, I also have a question on Armenia which is not geographically nor culturally European, other than Orthodox Christian and a remote connection to Indo-European languages? Afterall, Hindi, Bengali, Farsi, Urdu etc are also Indo-European languages. I salute your attempt but regions are in fact constructs and there will always be arguments as to why a state is included in this or that region. Keep challenging us.
Wonderful to see how many bright lights are fans of your site Matt. Any comments re: the comments/corrections??
PEACE regardless of REGION
Hey Matt
It would be interesting to see this list actually displayed as a map (unless I missed this somewhere on the site) why not make a GIS map out of your new region list?
To my surprise Puerto Rico was not included in the list of countries of the Caribbean.
We are the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and a territory of the United States. We have our own Constitution and government. Please check
Hey Matt, Good Job, but I disagree a little with the assignation. Why do you have Suriname and Guyana not included in South American list? (I do understand why the French Guyana is not there).
But if you say “countries occupy this continent that stretches from the equator to nearly the Antarctic Circle”, so you should not include Venezuela (not touching Equator Line)and put it also in the Caribbean, we can say almost the same for Colombia.
I would keep on checking if I have more comments.
Anyway I am still a big fan of your site!!!!
Thanks.
Love you site and appreciate all the hard work involved. I would love to hear your rationale for the population of each grouping.
Hi Matt, I have been a subscriber to your site for a couple years and enjoy it very much (I wrote to you once before), and also found this list to be very informative. However, I’m at a loss, as I assume a previous writer was, as to why you called Israel “..certainly an outsider..”. The purpose of the list was to put countries in geographical categories, which you did, including Israel. Was the “outsider” remark an indication that Israel is not accepted by most of it’s Arab neighbors? Certainly no argument there, but the list, I thought, was simply about location.
However, I do enjoy your column very much! Thanks!
the Virgin Islands, Aruba, and Puerto Rico are missing from the list.
Matt–valiant effort –but I must agree with the last sentence of #2..Anil Koshy.. and the entire view of #7 Steve Pierce-The United Nations already has a very workable system—please see the link below— The only change I would consider making is that the Russian Federation should count as a region all to itself .http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm
Hello Matt,
I’m a newbie, so if these islands are considered in others mentioned on your list…I apologize. I was wondering where the Tahitian Islands and Canary Islands belong?
Thanks for all of your hard work and for keeping it interesting and thought provoking.
Brandy
People, people,
Please don’t bother Matt with stupid comments or question about the new list. Please verify your comments before sending it!!!!!!
Puerto Rico, Aruba, Virgin Islands?????? Be aware of the facts of the worlds. GOD!!!!!
G’day Matt, keep up the good work , you can’t please everybody. With Oceania , you forgot New Caledonia , French Polynesia ( Tahiti) , Easter Island
and the fact that Samoa is divided into Western and
American Samoa. Also the Romans named their North African provinces AFRICA roughly 2000 years ago. Keep going dude.
Hmmm, why would you put Armenia in the European group? Is it because they are basically Christian?…..because Turkey is closer to Europe and does a lot of trading with Europe. I see Azerbaijan is in the Middle Eastern group. Azerbaijan and Armenia are next door to each other. Armenia’s culture is much closer to Middle Eastern countries than to European countries. I used to be married to an Armenian so I know a little bit about Armenia.
Hi Matt,
Your site is really wonderful. As well as your country regions classification. But why you put Armenia and Georgia in Europe? They should be where Iran and Turkey are! I was born in Bulgaria and I do believe that if some of these countries have to be in Europe it’s Turkey. The Caucas people have nothing in common with europeans!
On November 27, 1953, shortly after establishment of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the General Assembly of the UN approved Resolution 748, removing Puerto Rico’s classification as a non-self-governing territory under article 73(e) of the Charter of the United Nations. This resolution has not been revoked by the UN.
Puerto Rico has its own representatives in international beauty pageants including Miss World and Miss Universe. Puerto Rican beauty queens have won the Miss Universe pageant five times (1970, 1985, 1993, 2001, 2006), second only to Miss USA.
Puerto Rico has an Olympic team in the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics, as well as international representation in many other sporting events including the Pan-American Games, the Central American and Caribbean Games, and the Caribbean World Series.
PUERTO RICO IS A COUNTRY SO IT SHOULD BE INCLUDED AS SUCH
Pitcairn Islands anybody?
Gibralter?
Great idea.
Oh, and England is not an independent country, it is the UK which is ! I am British, not English and Never will be, nor will the millions of Scots or Welsh!
being 74 years old my first question is how many will there be tomorrow?
#2 - Agreed on Brunei - definately not in MENA!
#3 - Russia should best listed in both Asia and Europe with an asterisk since it is the largest nation on both continents
– What you have listed as Middle East and North Africa is better listed as “Southwest Asia and North Africa” - “Middle east” is colonial and out dated
#4 - because Turks and Caicos and #13 on Puerto Rico- colonies or territories, neither are countries -#17 ditto Aruba
#5 - because the country is “The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland” with 4 regions in a unique relationship
#6 agreed absolutely
#8 - because it is in North Africa - where it belongs physically and culturally
#20 - I want to agree on his ‘please verify your facts before posting’ - however, it could have been done MUCH more nicely!
Great publication -I have read from it with great interest and appreciation for a long time- Thank you for your work!
Hi folks! Many are suggesting that non-countries be added to the list (such as Puerto Rico). For a listing of the 193 countries of the world, see my list of the countries of the world.
Matt
If Puerto Rico is not a country then
your criteria is different than the one used by the United Nations. As you know the United Nations is an international organization which is the global association of governments.
The Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States (1933) states that the criteria for statehood are that an entity should possess the following qualifications: (a) a permanent population; (b) a defined territory; (c) government; and (d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states. Therefore, dependencies and colonies, such as Pitcairn and New Caledonia, should not be included.
G’day Matt,
Brunei as part of Middle East & North Africa !?!?! How can you even contemplate such a thing?!
Turkey not in Europe ?
Might be a popular thought for a few European Union’s inhabitants but you won’t make too many friends in Turkey !
If Armenia is in Europe, so must be Turkey.
Sorry Matt but this list is just too…
challenging for my taste!
Cheers
X
Hi Matt,
Great site - but it’s for geography not politics - right? So Israel is in the Middle East - if it weren’t what would happen to the great Middle East Conflict?
Writing from Jerusalem, which I believe is still in the Middle East.
Just one query: Somalia? Not a part of sub-Saharan Africa? Are you sure it is more culturally tied to North Africa than to the sub-Saharan region?
This goes against most classifications of the country.
Matt
Regardless of how other lists and organization categorizes Israel I think it should firmly remain Middle East-ern in your list (and whether they are considered outsiders by some due to some criteria). What if outsider Quebec secede from Canada? Would it be considered European?
It’s really appreciable that you have tried incorporating almost all countries.But Sri Lanka is never found on the list.
Hi Preetam! Sri Lanka has always been listed under Asia.
Hi nice work matt
1) Assuming this is primarily a geographic grouping, with historical/culural rationales as a secondary consideration, i would put the 6 African countries back into Africa.
2) East Timor seems to me to be clearly a part of Asia, both geographically and culturally
3) Pakistan belongs in Asia, again, both geographically, and culturally. After all it was once part of India.
4) Debatable, but i would p[ut Turkey in Europe (it might one day be part of the EU). along with Russia, it needs an asterisk to denote that the bulk of its territory is in Asia
5) Armenia and Azerbaijan are the trickiest, but i would have them both in Asia.
Reult:
Asia
Besides religion Pakistan is no way culturally connected to the other Middle Eastern countries and Middle Easterners shun them just as much as they shun “Israelis.”
In fact, the people from Pakistan are Indians with a culture identical to the Indian culture. You have no idea what you are talking about.
Pakistan is South East Asian - you’re ridiculous
Who said Pakistan is in South-East Asia? Can’t see anywhere.
Anyway…
The listing is not really “geographic” based. It is more of cultural and historical based.
For one, if it is geographically based, then Russia should have been referred to by two groups - (1) The European part of the Russia “Country” is in Europe; (2) The Asian Part of Russia “Country” which is commonly called as “Serbia” is in Asia.
As an Asian, it is taught to us that the largest land mass of Russia (USSR or modern Russia) is “Serbia” and is part of Asia. So for us, “North Asia” refers to Serbia (fyi: Mongolia is considered as Central Asia).
Regardless, all these groupings will soon be cleared out once supra-groupings and regional groupings become a daily life knowledge.
For example, East Asia Community or EAC. It was formerly called ASEAN+3+3 = 10-member ASEAN states +3 (China, Japan, Korea) +3 (Australia, New Zealand, India).
Pakistan, Mongolia, and Russia (yes Russia) are now observers, and seeking membership with the EAC grouping, with backing from other EAC members. Sooner or later, it will become ASEAN+3+3+3 (simply EAC).
Once the lastest “3″ are accepted, and other supra-regions like the South American Union (SAU) are all well established, daily life grouping will be based on those, much like how we refer to EU and NA (North America) groupings.
Anyway… that’s just my PoV.
And I really wish EAC accepts Russia…
It’s Asian’s time… EAC’s time 
I meant “Siberia” not “Serbia”.
Apologies for not reading everything but
1. I agree about Puerto Rico
2. Where or what is Greenland then?
3. I’m English but I’m perfectly happy about being in both the UK and GB (nice to see you made the distinction between UK and GB … many don’t). England, Scotland and Wales are separate countries, yes but we’re all British and those that say we aren’t need to go and live somewhere else … live together, die alone [name that quote for bonus points]
I’m curious that you placed Pakistan in the Middle East, but not Afghanistan. Culturally, Afghanistan is much more a Middle Eastern country than is Pakistan. I realize that they are both Muslim countries, which is probably the driving factor for your classification, but if you are going to include Pakistan in your listing, you may want to consider including Afghanistan as well.
Great resources, BTW. I’m learning a lot about the world!
Matt,I believe that Puerto Rico should be also included with the caribbean list it is a caribbean island and everyone who travels to the caribbean considers it a caribbean Island. One of the most beautiful wonders of the world.
We are debating Greenland as part of Europe or North America, I don’t see it on either list?
Indeed, Greenland is not a country, it is a territory of Denmark and thus is not on the list. -Matt
hi there..
you forgot Singapore under Asia list of coutries….