The Geoscheme of the United Nations

The United Nations Geoscheme, a tool widely utilized by organizations and governments, promotes a detailed worldview by fragmenting continents into more manageable portions. Although initially designed for statistical purposes by the United Nations Statistics Division, its application has extended beyond this original intent. The Geoscheme also serves as a reference point for the Universal Periodic Review, a process that has witnessed some countries pressuring others into alignment - a concerning trend. To further grasp this tool's significance, one must first review and understand the Geoscheme's inner mechanics, then consider a few comparisons with other methods, and last, take note of its use cases and capacity for impact. Click here for a quick view of the table: All countries organized by Geoscheme classification.

The UN Geoscheme And Other Classification Systems

The UN Geoscheme is one of many systems that observe the world's continents and territories. It categorizes countries and regions based on geographic and geopolitical criteria, providing a framework for statistical analysis. Other methods, such as the CIA World Factbook, offer a different approach.

The CIA World Factbook is more comprehensive and provides detailed information on various topics, offering a broader understanding of each country. It includes facts about their geography, demographics, government, economy, and more. Produced by the CIA, an agency of the United States government, its information may have a particular perspective or emphasis.

The World Bank regional classification is another widely used method for categorizing countries and regions. It is used mainly in the context of economic and development analysis, and it may not encompass all geopolitical or cultural considerations. 

The UN Geoscheme, instead, is part of the M49 system, a classification system that provides a standard framework for categorizing and organizing countries and regions worldwide. Assigning numerical codes and acronyms, it offers a more scientific approach focused on its primary statistics purpose.

Impact Of Geoscheme On International Politics And Economy

The UN Geoscheme is used in statistical case studies to provide a standardized framework for organizing and analyzing data at regional and global levels, from providing advice on climate change challenges to ensuring consistency and interoperability in reporting and analysis to enabling all kinds of comparisons between territories. The UN Geoscheme can also contribute to regional cooperation and collaboration in addressing human rights issues. Policymakers and stakeholders can use this information to identify similarities and differences in human rights practices, policy approaches, and challenges between regions.

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) actively employs the UN Geoscheme as a differentiation between regions and subregions during the periodic confrontations of policymakers; it is created and maintained by the United Nations. Its impact, though, is not always achieved fairly. The troubling trend of Western countries using the UPR system to pressure other regions and countries to change their laws is a recurring problem. During the review, countries are compared to others to determine the next step in implementing a standard line in policymaking. In some cases, Western countries put pressure on developing countries to align and change their laws on complicated topics such as abortion, human rights, and SOGI (UN acronym for LGBTQ+) freedom. However, these aforementioned countries, such as the United States, are still in the process of determining their own stances on these topics, so their influence could push sensitive issues either way.

The UN Geoscheme can have a significant economic impact. This standard system has influenced Australia, Israel, Türkiye, and Russia. It plays a crucial role in trade, investment, and development cooperation and can affect their economic ties and partnerships with neighboring nations. Similarly, for countries spanning multiple regions like Türkiye or Russia, the UN Geoscheme classification plays a role in influencing their economic policies, access to markets, and overall economic development.

How Regions And Subregions Are Grouped

The UN Geoscheme groups areas into regions and subregions based on continental boundaries and geographical proximity, aligning regions with the continents of Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. Also, it takes into account existing regional groupings and organizations. It considers regional initiatives, alliances, and organizations that countries participate in. This criterion reflects the geopolitical and collaborative dynamics among nations within a specific region. Interestingly some subregions are furtherly divided into intermediate regions. For example, Sub-Saharan Africa hosts four intermediate regions: Eastern Africa, Middle Africa, Southern Africa, and Western Africa.

Additionally, cultural, historical, and political factors can influence the classification of areas. Countries with shared cultural or historical backgrounds, linguistic connections, or affiliations may be grouped. Economic integration and trade patterns between countries that engage in significant regional trade or are part of economic integration agreements can also influence the classification. For trivia, Antarctica is the only geographical region comprising no sub-regions or country-level areas (despite attempts at territorial claims from various countries).

Ultimately, the UN Geoscheme balances geographic, geopolitical, and socio-economic factors in defining regions and subregions. Some of these factors are dynamic and might need adjustments in the future to reflect evolving situations.

Transcontinental Countries

The UN Geoscheme classifies some areas and countries into specific subregions or regions despite them spanning multiple continents. Also, political dynamics and historical affiliations can contribute to the transcontinental classification. These countries that straddle more than one continent are known as transcontinental or intercontinental, despite their categorization as one-or-the-other. Transcontinental countries can be contiguous or non-contiguous. They are contiguous when they span directly over more than one continent, and they are non-contiguous when a portion of the territory is separated by a body of water or by other countries. For example, Egypt occupies a part of Asia despite being classified only as African. The Russian Federation, Türkiye, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan all span both Asia and Europe; for Russia, it is considered as part of Eastern Europe for statistical simplicity. Furthermore, Panama, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela are both contiguously and non-contiguously over the North America and South America boundary.

The UN Geoscheme provides a standardized system for organizing and analyzing data, facilitating statistical reporting, and regional analysis. Many organizations use it as their standard classification system to investigate the world and differentiate its regions. While it does not directly impact geopolitics or policymaking, it indirectly influences these areas through the UPR. However, it is essential to recognize that the geopolitical landscape is complex and multifaceted, and the UN Geoscheme is just one tool among many used to understand the diverse dynamics of our world.

All Countries And Areas Organized By The Regions, Sub-Regions, And Intermediate Regions Of The UN Geoscheme