Geography Exceptions to the Rule

A running list of geography odd situations and special cases that we come across in EMu

Standardized administrative subdivisions grouped by geographical region

The primary (state/province-level) and secondary (county-level) administrative subdivisions of the following countries have been standardized. This list also includes the county-level suffix term, when applicable. Asterisks indicate regions that have not yet been thoroughly addressed.

North America*

United States: Co. following term, exceptions:

    Alaska: name only, no suffix
    Louisiana: “Parish” following name
    Virginia: includes independent cities in addition to counties, noted as “(Independent City)” following city name
    Nevada: includes one independent city in addition to counties (Carson City), noted as “Carson City (Independent City)”

Mexico: Mun. following name

[Bermuda: no county-level list]

[Saint-Pierre et Miquelon: no county-level list]

Central America

Belize: Mun., Town, City following name

Costa Rica: (Canton) following name

El Salvador: Mun. following name

Guatemala: Mun. following name

Honduras: Mun. following name

Nicaragua: Mun. following name

Panama: (Distr.) following name

West Indies

[Anguilla: no county-level list]

[Antigua and Barbuda: no county-level list]

[Aruba: no county-level list]

[Bahamas: no county-level list]

[Barbados: no county-level list]

[Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba: no county-level list]

[Cayman Islands: no county-level list]

Cuba: Mun. following name

[Curaçao: no county-level list]

[Dominica: no county-level list]

Dominican Republic: Mun following name

[Grenada: no county-level list]

Guadeloupe: Comm. following name

Haiti: Arrondissement following name

[Jamaica: no county-level list]

[Martinique: no county-level list]

[Montserrat: no county-level list]

Puerto Rico: Barrio following name

[Saint Barthélemy: no county-level list]

[Saint Kitts and Nevis: no county-level list]

[Saint Lucia: no county-level list]

[Sint Maarten: no county-level list]

[Saint Martin: no county-level list]

[Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: no county-level list]

[Turks and Caicos Islands: no county-level list]

[Virgin Islands (U.K.): no county-level list]

Virgin Islands (U.S.): (Subdistrict) following name

South America

Argentina: (Dept.) following name

Bolivia: (Prov.) following name

Brazil: Mun. following name

Chile: (Prov.) following name

Colombia: Mun. following name

Ecuador: Canton following name

[Falkland Islands: no county-level list]

French Guiana: Comm. following name

Guyana: name only

Paraguay: (Distr.) following name

Peru: (Prov.) following name

Suriname: name only

[Trinidad and Tobago: no county-level list]

Uruguay: Mun. following name

Venezuela: Mun. following name

Asia

Afghanistan: (Distr.) following name

[Armenia: no county-level list]

[Azerbaijan: no county-level list]

[Bahrain: no county-level list]

Bangladesh: (Distr.) following name

Bhutan: Gewog following name

[British Indian Ocean Territory: no county-level list]

Brunei: Mukim following name

Cambodia: (Distr.) following name

China: (Prefecture), (City) following name

[Cyprus: no county-level list]

India: (Distr.) following name

Indonesia: (Regency) following name

Iran: (Co.) following name

[Iraq: no county-level list]

Israel: (Subdistr.) following name

Japan: -shi (city or branch admin), -gun (counties) after name

Jordan: (Sub-distr.) following name

Kazakhstan: (Distr.) following name

[Kuwait: no county-level list]

Kyrgyzstan: (Distr.) following name

Laos: (Distr.) following name

Lebanon: (Distr.) following name

Malaysia: (Distr.) following name

[Maldives: no county-level list]

Mongolia: (Distr.) following name

Myanmar: (Distr.) following name

Nepal: (Distr.) following name

North Korea: (Co.), (City), (Distr.) following name

Oman: (Distr.) following name

Pakistan: (Div.) following name

Palestine: (Governorate) following name

Philippines: Mun. following name

[Qatar: no county-level list]

Saudi Arabia: (Gov.) following name

[Singapore: no county-level list]

South Korea: (Co.), (City), (Distr.) following name

Sri Lanka: (Div.) following name

Syria: (Distr.) following name

Taiwan: Co., Special Mun., Mun. following name

Tajikistan: (Distr.) following name

Thailand: (Distr.) following name

Timor-Leste: (Subdistr.) following name

Türkiye (formerly Turkey): (Distr.) following name

Turkmenistan: (Distr.), (Admin. Distr.) following name

[United Arab Emirates: no county-level list]

Uzbekistan: (Distr.) following name

Vietnam: (Distr.), (Urb. Distr.), (Isl.), (Twnshp.) following name

Yemen: (Distr.) following name

Oceania*

American Samoa: Co. following name

[Christmas Island: no county-level list]

[Cocos (Keeling) Islands: no county-level list]

[Cook Islands: no county-level list]

Federated States of Micronesia: (Mun.) following name

Fiji: (Prov.) following name

French Polynesia: (Commune) following name

[Guam: no county-level list]

[Heard Island and McDonald Islands: no county-level list]

[Kiribati: no county-level list]

Marshall Islands: (Mun.) following name

[Nauru: no county-level list]

New Caledonia: (Commune) following name

New Zealand: Distr. Following term

Niue: (Village) following name

[Norfolk Island: no county-level list]

[Northern Mariana Islands: no county-level list]

[Palau: no county-level list]

Papua New Guinea: Distr. following name

[Pitcairn Islands: no county-level list]

[Samoa: no county-level list]

Solomon Islands: Ward following name

[Tokelau: no county-level list]

Tonga: (Distr.) following name

[Tuvalu: no county-level list]

[United States Minor Outlying Islands: no county-level list]

Vanuatu: Area Council, Mun. following name

Wallis and Futuna Islands: (Distr.) following name

Africa

Algeria: (Mun.) following name

Angola: (Mun.) following name

Benin: (Commune) following name

Botswana: (Sub-distr.) following name

Burkina Faso: (Prov.) following the name

Burundi: (Commune) following name

Cabo Verde (formerly Cape Verde): (Parish) following name

Cameroon: Dept. following name

Central African Republic: (Sub-prefecture) following name

Chad: (Dept.) following name

[Comoros: no county-level list]

Côte d'Ivoire (formerly Ivory Coast): (Region) following name

Democratic Republic of the Congo: (Zone) following name

[Djibouti: no county-level list]

Egypt: Markaz following name

Equatorial Guinea: (Distr.) following name

Eritrea: (Subregion) following name

Eswatini (formerly Swaziland): following name

Ethiopia: (Zone) following name

Gabon: (Dept.) following name

Gambia: (Distr.) following name

Ghana: (Distr.) following name

Guinea: (Sub-prefecture) following name

Guinea-Bissau: (Sector) following name

Kenya: (Constituency) following name

Lesotho: (Council) following name

Liberia: (Distr.) following name

[Libya: no county-level list]

Madagascar: (Distr.) following name

[Malawi: no county-level list]

Mali: Cercle following name

Mauritania: (Dept.) following name

[Mauritius: no county-level list]

[Mayotte: no county-level list]

Morocco: (Prov.), (Prefecture) following name

Mozambique: (Distr.) following name

Namibia: (Constituency) following name

Niger: (Dept.) following name

Nigeria: (Local Government Area) following name

Republic of the Congo: (Distr.) following name

Reunion: (Commune) following name

Rwanda: (Distr.) following name

[Saint Helena no county-level list]

[São Tomé and Príncipe: no county-level list]

[Seychelles: no county-level list]

Senegal: (Dept.) following name

Sierra Leone: (Distr.) following name

Somalia: (Distr.) following name

South Africa: Distr. Mun./ Metro Mun. following name

South Sudan: Co. following name

[Western Sahara: no county-level list]

Sudan: (Distr.) following name

Tanzania: (Distr.) following name

Togo: (Prefecture) following name

Tunisia: (Delegation) following name

Uganda: Co. following name

[Western Sahara: no county-level list]

Zambia: (Distr.) following name

Zimbabwe: Distr. following name

Europe

Russia: (Distr.) following name

Mismatched Geography Hierarchy in EMu

Continents are geographically assigned (not politically)

• Canary Islands - Country: Spain, Continent: Africa (not Europe)
• Madeira - Country: Portugal, Continent: Africa (not Europe)
• Hawaii - Country: U.S.A, Continent: Oceania (not North America)
• Trinidad and Tobago - Continent: South America (not West Indies)
• Bermuda - Continent: North America (might be assumed to be West Indies) 

Important Hierarchical Variations To Note

• United Kingdom: Province/state level (primary administrative division) does not match Statoids provided list. Province/state Lookup List values consists of the four countries of the United Kingdom: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, which deviates from the primary administrative division list provided by Statoids (http://www.statoids.com/ugb.html). The primary administrative division list for the U.K. provided by Statoids (http://www.statoids.com/ugb.html) was incorporated as the secondary administrative division values in EMu, by country.
• Brazil: District/county Lookup List values (secondary administrative division) in EMu do not match Statoids provided "Microregions" (http://www.statoids.com/ybr.html). Microregions "...have no administrative function; they were defined by the federal government for purposes of convenience" (Law, 2007). Alternatively, the secondary administrative units (municipalities) were gathered from the Wikipedia page "List of Municipalities of Brazil," according to State (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_municipalities_of_Brazil).

Non-exhaustive list of historical country names related to present-day names

Abyssinia = Ethiopia

Annam = Vietnam (colonial French term)

Bohemia = Czech Republic

British Honduras = Belize

British Guiana = Guyana

British North Borneo = Malaysia

Burma = Myanmar

Ceylon = Sri Lanka

Formosa = Taiwan

French Indochina = Vietnam

Hispanola = divided politically into Haiti (west) and the Dominican Republic (east) 

Macedonia = North Macedonia

Moravia = Czech Republic

New Granada =  region consisting of Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela

New Holland = Australia

Northern Rhodesia = Zambia

Persia = Iran

Siam = Thailand

Southern Rhodesia = Zimbabwe

Yugoslavia = region consisting of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Slovenia

Zaire = Democratic Republic of the Congo