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Important update effective June 2024:
In collaboration with our partners at the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration (INSDC), we are changing the name of the GenBank qualifier “/country” to “/geo_loc_name” to better represent the diversity of sample collection location types. This change is being made to provide clarity to submitters and users as location types for sequence data may include geographic features, such as islands, oceans, or seas, in addition to country names. Read more: https://ncbiinsights.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2023/12/14/update-genbank-qualifier/

INSDC Geographic Location List

The /country qualifier

The /country qualifier is used to indicate the geographic location of the collected sample.

The text below outlines the format and the present list of allowed countries

Qualifier       /country=
Definition      locality of isolation of the sequenced sample indicated in
                terms of political names for nations, oceans or seas, followed
                by regions and localities
Value format    "<country_value>[:<region>][, <locality>]" where
                country_value is any value from the controlled vocabulary at
                http://www.insdc.org/country.html
Example         /country="Canada:Vancouver"
                /country="France:Cote d'Azur, Antibes"
                /country="Atlantic Ocean:Charlie Gibbs Fracture Zone"
Comment         Intended to provide a reference to the site where the source
                organism was isolated or sampled. Regions and localities should
                be indicated where possible. Note that the physical geography of
                the isolation or sampling site should be represented in
                /isolation_source.

 Country List to be included in Feature Table Definition Document
 Authority:      INSDC
 Contact:        NCBI
 Scope:          /country=""

Geographical Location List

Based on information from: https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/ and http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49.htm

  • Afghanistan
  • Albania
  • Algeria
  • American Samoa
  • Andorra
  • Angola
  • Anguilla
  • Antarctica
  • Antigua and Barbuda
  • Arctic Ocean
  • Argentina
  • Armenia
  • Aruba
  • Ashmore and Cartier Islands
  • Atlantic Ocean
  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bahamas
  • Bahrain
  • Baltic Sea
  • Baker Island
  • Bangladesh
  • Barbados
  • Bassas da India
  • Belarus
  • Belgium
  • Belize
  • Benin
  • Bermuda
  • Bhutan
  • Bolivia
  • Borneo
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Botswana
  • Bouvet Island
  • Brazil
  • British Virgin Islands
  • Brunei
  • Bulgaria
  • Burkina Faso
  • Burundi
  • Cambodia
  • Cameroon
  • Canada
  • Cape Verde
  • Cayman Islands
  • Central African Republic
  • Chad
  • Chile
  • China
  • Christmas Island
  • Clipperton Island
  • Cocos Islands
  • Colombia
  • Comoros
  • Cook Islands
  • Coral Sea Islands
  • Costa Rica
  • Cote d'Ivoire
  • Croatia
  • Cuba
  • Curacao
  • Cyprus
  • Czechia
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo
  • Denmark
  • Djibouti
  • Dominica
  • Dominican Republic
  • Ecuador
  • Egypt
  • El Salvador
  • Equatorial Guinea
  • Eritrea
  • Estonia
  • Eswatini
  • Ethiopia
  • Europa Island
  • Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)
  • Faroe Islands
  • Fiji
  • Finland
  • France
  • French Guiana
  • French Polynesia
  • French Southern and Antarctic Lands
  • Gabon
  • Gambia
  • Gaza Strip
  • Georgia
  • Germany
  • Ghana
  • Gibraltar
  • Glorioso Islands
  • Greece
  • Greenland
  • Grenada
  • Guadeloupe
  • Guam
  • Guatemala
  • Guernsey
  • Guinea
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • Guyana
  • Haiti
  • Heard Island and McDonald Islands
  • Honduras
  • Hong Kong
  • Howland Island
  • Hungary
  • Iceland
  • India
  • Indian Ocean
  • Indonesia
  • Iran
  • Iraq
  • Ireland
  • Isle of Man
  • Israel
  • Italy
  • Jamaica
  • Jan Mayen
  • Japan
  • Jarvis Island
  • Jersey
  • Johnston Atoll
  • Jordan
  • Juan de Nova Island
  • Kazakhstan
  • Kenya
  • Kerguelen Archipelago
  • Kingman Reef
  • Kiribati
  • Kosovo
  • Kuwait
  • Kyrgyzstan
  • Laos
  • Latvia
  • Lebanon
  • Lesotho
  • Liberia
  • Libya
  • Liechtenstein
  • Line Islands
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Macau
  • Madagascar
  • Malawi
  • Malaysia
  • Maldives
  • Mali
  • Malta
  • Marshall Islands
  • Martinique
  • Mauritania
  • Mauritius
  • Mayotte
  • Mediterranean Sea
  • Mexico
  • Micronesia, Federated States of
  • Midway Islands
  • Moldova
  • Monaco
  • Mongolia
  • Montenegro
  • Montserrat
  • Morocco
  • Mozambique
  • Myanmar
  • Namibia
  • Nauru
  • Navassa Island
  • Nepal
  • Netherlands
  • New Caledonia
  • New Zealand
  • Nicaragua
  • Niger
  • Nigeria
  • Niue
  • Norfolk Island
  • North Korea
  • North Macedonia
  • North Sea
  • Northern Mariana Islands
  • Norway
  • Oman
  • Pacific Ocean
  • Pakistan
  • Palau
  • Palmyra Atoll
  • Panama
  • Papua New Guinea
  • Paracel Islands
  • Paraguay
  • Peru
  • Philippines
  • Pitcairn Islands
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Puerto Rico
  • Qatar
  • Republic of the Congo
  • Reunion
  • Romania
  • Ross Sea
  • Russia
  • Rwanda
  • Saint Barthelemy
  • Saint Helena
  • Saint Kitts and Nevis
  • Saint Lucia
  • Saint Martin
  • Saint Pierre and Miquelon
  • Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
  • Samoa
  • San Marino
  • Sao Tome and Principe
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Senegal
  • Serbia
  • Seychelles
  • Sierra Leone
  • Singapore
  • Sint Maarten
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Solomon Islands
  • Somalia
  • South Africa
  • South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
  • South Korea
  • South Sudan
  • Southern Ocean
  • Spain
  • Spratly Islands
  • Sri Lanka
  • State of Palestine
  • Sudan
  • Suriname
  • Svalbard
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Syria
  • Taiwan
  • Tajikistan
  • Tanzania
  • Tasman Sea
  • Thailand
  • Timor-Leste
  • Togo
  • Tokelau
  • Tonga
  • Trinidad and Tobago
  • Tromelin Island
  • Tunisia
  • Turkey
  • Turkmenistan
  • Turks and Caicos Islands
  • Tuvalu
  • Uganda
  • Ukraine
  • United Arab Emirates
  • United Kingdom
  • Uruguay
  • USA
  • Uzbekistan
  • Vanuatu
  • Venezuela
  • Viet Nam
  • Virgin Islands
  • Wake Island
  • Wallis and Futuna
  • West Bank
  • Western Sahara
  • Yemen
  • Zambia
  • Zimbabwe

Historical Country Names

  • Belgian Congo
  • British Guiana
  • Burma
  • Czechoslovakia
  • Czech Republic
  • East Timor
  • Korea
  • Macedonia
  • Micronesia
  • Netherlands Antilles
  • Serbia and Montenegro
  • Siam
  • Swaziland
  • The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
  • USSR
  • Yugoslavia
  • Zaire
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Last updated: 2024-03-11T17:24:10Z