Definitions of world regions
Which countries make up the world regions commonly used in our charts?
Our World in Data
- Our team defines six world regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, and South America.
- Source: Click on “Download” → “Full data (CSV)” to download the list as a CSV file.
World Bank
- The World Bank defines seven world regions: East Asia and Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, North America, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
- Source: worldbank.org
World Health Organization
- The World Health Organization defines six world regions: Africa, Americas, Eastern Mediterranean, Europe, South-East Asia, and Western Pacific.
- Source: who.int
United Nations
- The United Nations' SDG framework defines eight world regions: Central and Southern Asia, Eastern and South-Eastern Asia, Europe and Northern America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, Northern Africa and Western Asia, Oceania, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
- Source: un.org
Maddison Project Database
- The Maddison Project Database defines eight world regions: East Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Middle East and North Africa, South and South East Asia, Sub Saharan Africa, Western Europe, and Western offshoots.
- Source: rug.nl
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