6.7.20 - Incorrectly defined countries in the Middle Eastern region #23
Description
Azerbaijan and Georgia should not really be in the Middle East, but in a new South Caucasus Region, along with Armenia.
Azerbaijan and Georgia are not considered to be in the Middle East; they are countries located in the South Caucasus region, which lies at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia, bordering the Black and Caspian Seas. While sometimes associated with the broader region due to geopolitical and cultural overlaps, they are distinct entities with their own unique regional identity.
Suggest creating a new region, South Caucasus, and adding its three main countries located in the South Caucasus region, being Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia.
The following UNSD M49 Standard, which is the standard country or area codes for statistical use methodology (M49), located at https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/, might be a good start for an updated dataset. Per this site, I do note that it has a region known as Western Asia, which contradicts this issue and adds the 3 countries above into the same region as the Middle Eastern countries, but splitting this Western Asia region into the Middle East and South Caucasus regions would better represent these areas.
It would also be good to add 3 new regions as follows:
- LDC: Least Developed Countries
- LLDC: Land-Locked Developing Countries
- SIDS: Small Island Developing States
The above M49 standard lists which countries would fall into these regions.