thumb|400px|right|The [[United Nations geoscheme, created by the United Nations Statistics Division. For statistical consistency and convenience, each country or area is shown in one continental subregion only. For example, Russia (a transcontinental country in both Eastern Europe and Northern Asia) has been included in Eastern Europe only.]]

A subregion is a part of a larger geographical region or continent. Cardinal directions are commonly used to define subregions. There are many criteria for creating systems of subregions; this article is focusing on the United Nations geoscheme, which is a changing, constantly updated, UN tool based on specific political geography and demography considerations relevant in UN statistics.

United Nations subregions

The Statistics Division of the United Nations (UN) is in charge of the collection, processing, and dissemination of statistical information for the UN. In 1999, it developed a system of macro-geographical (continental) regions, subregions, and other selected economic groups to report advances towards achieving numerous Millennium Development Goals worldwide. These statistical divisions were devised for statistical purposes and is used for carrying out statistical analysis. The division's first publication was the book World's Women 2000: Trends and Statistics in 2000.

According to the UN, the assignment of countries or areas to specific groupings is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories.

Subregions by landmass and continent

The following is a non-exhaustive list of subregions, arranged alphabetically by region (i.e., by continent); in the UN geoscheme, higher-level, macro-geographical regions are arranged to the extent possible according to continents.

Sequence used in the list (not all criteria are applied to each continent):

  • by the UN Statistics Division's geoscheme
  • by geography
  • by physiography
  • by geopolitics
  • by human geography
  • by economics
  • by culture
  • by language
  • by religion
  • by biogeography
  • by historical division
  • by geology

Afro-Eurasia

Afro-Eurasia is a continental landmass comprising the continents of Africa, Asia, and Europe.

Africa

  • by the United Nations Statistics Division's geoscheme (see also: UN geoscheme for Africa):
  • Northern Africa
  • Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Eastern Africa
  • Middle Africa
  • Southern Africa
  • Western Africa
  • by geography:
  • North Africa (Also known as Saharan Africa)
  • Maghreb (AKA Northwest Africa, also including Mauritania, which most geographers consider as a part of West Africa; some geographers consider Libya as a part of Northeast Africa and Western Sahara as a part of West Africa)
  • Northeast Africa (including Egypt, the Horn of Africa, and the Sudans; some geographers consider Egypt, Libya, and the Sudan as Northeast Africa instead)
  • Sub-Saharan Africa (AKA Tropical Africa)
  • Central Africa (AKA Congo, Equatorial Africa or Middle Africa)
  • East Africa (AKA Nile)
  • Northeast Africa (including Egypt, the Horn of Africa, and the Sudans; some geographers consider Egypt, Libya, and the Sudan as Northeast Africa instead)
  • Horn of Africa
  • Southeast Africa (also including Botswana, Eswatini and Lesotho, which most geographers consider as part of Southern Africa)
  • Southern Africa (AKA Kalahari)
  • West Africa (AKA Niger)
  • Guinea (region)
  • Sudan (region)
  • by physiography:
  • Congo Basin
  • Kalahari Basin
  • Kalahari Desert
  • Namib
  • Nile Basin
  • Sahara
  • Sahel
  • Sudanian savanna
  • East Sudanian savanna
  • Sudd
  • West Sudanian savanna
  • by economics:
  • African Monetary Union (AMU)
  • Arab League (including some West Asian countries)
  • Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
  • Common Monetary Area (CMA)
  • Community of Sahel–Saharan States (CEN-SAD)
  • Council of Arab Economic Unity (GAFTA) – including some West Asian countries
  • Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS)
  • Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
  • EMEA (including Europe and the Middle East)
  • Southern African Customs Union (SACU)
  • Southern African Development Community (SADC)
  • Union for the Mediterranean (including most Southern European countries and some West Asian countries)
  • by biogeography:
  • Macaronesia
  • by historical division:
  • Negroland
  • by geology:
  • Kaapvaal craton
  • Zimbabwe Craton

Eurasia

Eurasia is a continental mainland comprising the continents of Asia and Europe.

Asia
  • by the United Nations Statistics Division's geoscheme (see also: UN geoscheme for Asia):
  • Central Asia
  • Eastern Asia
  • Southeast Asia
  • Southern Asia – the UN geoscheme includes Afghanistan and Iran in this subregion
  • Western Asia – the UN geoscheme includes Cyprus, the South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia), and Turkey in this subregion
  • by geography:
  • Central Asia
  • East Asia
  • Greater China
  • China
  • Hong Kong (some geographers consider it as a part of Northeast Asia)
  • Macau (some geographers consider it as a part of Northeast Asia)
  • Mainland China (some geographers consider it as a part of Northeast Asia)
  • North China (Eastern Inner Mongolia is also a part of Northeast China)
  • Northeast China (AKA Manchuria) – also a part of Northeast Asia
  • Southeast China (excluding Central China)
  • East China (some geographers include Taiwan Island, Penghu, Kinmen, the Matsu Islands, Socotra Rock, Parangcho, and the Senkaku Islands in this subregion)
  • South Central China
  • Central China
  • South China (including Hainan Island and the South China Sea Islands, some geographers also include Hong Kong and Macau in this subregion)
  • Western China
  • Northwest China (some geographers consider Qinghai and Xinjiang as part of Central Asia)
  • Southwest China (some geographers consider Tibet as a part of Central Asia)
  • South China Sea Islands (some geographers consider them as part of Northeast Asia)
  • Paracel Islands
  • Pratas Island
  • Spratly Islands
  • James Shoal (undersea feature)
  • Taiping Island
  • Zhongzhou Reef
  • Zhongsha Islands
  • Macclesfield Bank
  • Walker Shoal
  • Scarborough Shoal
  • Taiwan (some geographers consider it as a part of Northeast Asia)
  • Mongolia (some geographers consider it as a part of Central Asia or Northeast Asia)
  • Northeast Asia
  • China
  • Eastern Inner Mongolia
  • Northeast China (AKA Manchuria)
  • Japan
  • Daitō Islands
  • Mainland Japan
  • Hokkaido
  • Honshu
  • Kyushu
  • Shikoku
  • Nanpō Islands
  • Ryukyu Islands
  • Korea
  • North Korea
  • South Korea
  • Russian Far East (also a part of North Asia, but not a part of East Asia)
  • Outer Manchuria
  • North Asia (AKA Siberia)
  • Russian Far East (also a part of Northeast Asia)
  • Outer Manchuria
  • South Asia
  • Eastern South Asia
  • Northern South Asia
  • Northwestern Indian subcontinent
  • Southern South Asia
  • India
  • Andaman and Nicobar Islands
  • Lakshadweep
  • Mainland India
  • Central India
  • East India
  • Northeast India
  • North India
  • Northwest India
  • South India (AKA Peninsular India, including the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep)
  • Western India
  • Southeast Asia
  • Mainland Southeast Asia
  • Malay Peninsula
  • Peninsular Malaysia
  • Southern Thailand
  • Tanintharyi Region
  • Maritime Southeast Asia
  • Borneo (including Labuan)
  • Brunei
  • East Malaysia
  • Labuan
  • Sabah
  • Sarawak
  • Kalimantan
  • West Asia (AKA Southwest Asia)
  • Anatolia (AKA Asia Minor)
  • Arabia
  • Eastern Arabia
  • Hejaz (AKA Western Arabia)
  • Najd (AKA Central Arabia)
  • South Arabia
  • Levant
  • Southern Levant
  • Mesopotamia
  • South Caucasus (AKA Transcaucasia)
  • by physiography:
  • Anatolian Peninsula
  • Arabian Peninsula
  • Central Plateau
  • Indian Ocean Coast
  • Persian Gulf Coast
  • Red Sea Coast
  • Bahrain Island
  • Caucasus Mountains
  • Greater Caucasus
  • Lesser Caucasus
  • Daitō Islands
  • Eurasian Steppe
  • Fertile Crescent
  • Mesopotamia
  • Hainan Island
  • Himalayas
  • Eastern Himalaya
  • Western Himalaya
  • Siachen Glacier
  • Indian subcontinent
  • Deccan Plateau
  • Indochinese Peninsula
  • Indo-Gangetic Plain
  • Indus Valley
  • Iranian Plateau
  • Japanese Archipelago
  • Hokkaido
  • Honshu
  • Kuril Islands
  • Kyushu
  • Ryukyu Islands
  • Okinawa Island
  • Sakhalin Island
  • Shikoku
  • Jeju Island
  • Junggar Basin
  • Kolyma
  • Korean Peninsula
  • Leizhou Peninsula
  • Liaodong Peninsula
  • Malay Archipelago (including New Guinea)
  • Indonesian Archipelago
  • Maluku Islands
  • Sunda Islands
  • Greater Sunda Islands
  • Borneo
  • Java
  • Sulawesi
  • Sumatra
  • Lesser Sunda Islands
  • Alor Archipelago
  • Bali
  • Barat Daya Islands
  • Flores
  • Komodo
  • Lombok
  • Sumba
  • Sumbawa
  • Tanimbar Islands
  • Timor
  • Philippine Archipelago
  • Luzon
  • Mindanao
  • Visayan Islands
  • Mongolian Plateau
  • Nanpō Islands
  • Bonin Islands
  • Volcano Islands
  • Qinghai Lake
  • Shandong Peninsula
  • Sichuan Basin
  • Sri Lanka Island
  • Taiwan Island
  • Tarim Basin
  • by geopolitics:
  • Asia-Pacific (APAC) – including Oceania
  • Far East/Pacific Asia
  • Greater China
  • China proper
  • Inner Mongolia
  • Manchuria
  • Tibet
  • Xinjiang
  • Indochinese Peninsula
  • Japanese Archipelago
  • Korean Peninsula
  • Malay Archipelago
  • Russian Far East
  • Greater Middle East – including some African countries
  • Middle East and North Africa (AKA MENA) – including North African countries
  • Middle East (AKA the Near East) – including Egypt
  • Arab League (AKA the Arab states) – including some African countries
  • Mashriq – including Egypt and the Sudan
  • Arabian Peninsula
  • Levant – including Ash-Shām and Cyprus
  • Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq)
  • Asia Minor
  • South Caucasus (AKA Transcaucasia)
  • The 'stans
  • Indian subcontinent
  • Himalayan states – including China
  • Eastern Himalaya
  • Western Himalaya
  • Kashmir
  • by economics:
  • Arab League – including some African countries
  • ASEAN Free Trade Area
  • Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) – including Russia
  • Asian Clearing Union (ACU)
  • Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) – including Oceania
  • Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
  • Bamboo network
  • Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal Initiative (BBIN)
  • Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC)
  • Council of Arab Economic Unity (GAFTA) – including some African countries
  • EMEA (including Africa and Europe)
  • Eurasian Customs Union (ECU) – including Belarus
  • Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) – including Belarus
  • Greater Mekong Subregion
  • Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
  • South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
  • South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA)
  • South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC)
  • Union for the Mediterranean (including most Southern European countries and North African countries)
  • by culture:
  • Eastern world
  • East Asian cultural sphere
  • Greater China
  • Eastern and western China
  • Northern and southern China
  • China proper
  • Manchuria
  • Japan
  • Korea
  • Nanyang
  • Vietnam
  • Greater India
  • Eastern Afghanistan
  • Indian subcontinent
  • Himalayan states
  • Indian Himalayan Region
  • Mainland Southeast Asia
  • Maritime Southeast Asia
  • Tibet
  • Yunnan
  • Greater Mongolia
  • Inner Mongolia
  • Mongolia (Outer Mongolia)
  • Muslim world (AKA the Islamic world)
  • Arab world
  • Mashriq
  • Arabia
  • Al-Bahrain
  • Al-Yamama
  • Hadhramaut
  • Tihamah
  • Malay world
  • Greater Indonesia
  • Nusantara
  • Turkic world
  • Azerbaijan
  • Soviet Central Asia (excluding Tajikistan)
  • Turkey
  • Xinjiang
  • Dzungaria (northern half of Xinjiang)
  • Southern Xinjiang
  • Greater Iran
  • Greater Khorasan
  • by religion:
  • Abrahamic religions (West Asian religions or Western religions)
  • Eastern religions
  • Dharmic religions (Indian religions)
  • Taoic religions (East Asian religions or Far Eastern religions)
  • by biogeography:
  • Eastern Asia
  • Malesia
  • by historical division:
  • East Indies (AKA the Indies)
  • Farther India (AKA Ultraindia)
  • Indochina
  • Insulindia
  • by geology:
  • Izu–Bonin–Mariana Arc
  • Kuril Island Arc
  • Northeastern Japan Arc
  • Ryukyu Island Arc
  • Sakhalin Island Arc
  • Southwestern Japan Arc
Europe
  • by the United Nations Statistics Division's geoscheme (see also: UN geoscheme for Europe):
  • Eastern Europe – the UN geoscheme includes parts of Central Europe (Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia), parts of South-eastern Europe (Bulgaria and Romania), and Northern Asia (Siberia) in this subregion
  • Northern Europe – the UN geoscheme includes the Baltic states, the British Isles, and the Channel Islands in this subregion
  • Southern Europe – the UN geoscheme includes Slovenia in this subregion
  • Western Europe – the UN geoscheme includes parts of Central Europe (the DACH countries and Liechtenstein) in this subregion
  • by geography:
  • Central and Eastern Europe
  • Central Europe
  • Eastern Europe
  • Caucasus
  • North Caucasus (aka Ciscaucasia)
  • South Caucasus (aka Transcaucasia) – a subregion of West Asia
  • Northern Europe
  • North-central Europe
  • Scandinavia
  • North-eastern Europe
  • North-western Europe
  • Southern Europe
  • South-central Europe
  • Apennine Peninsula (aka the Italian Peninsula)
  • Malta
  • South-eastern Europe
  • Balkan Peninsula (aka the Balkans)
  • Romania
  • South-western Europe
  • Balearic Islands
  • Iberian Peninsula (aka Iberia)
  • Southern France
  • Western Europe
  • by physiography:
  • Apennine Peninsula (aka the Italian Peninsula)
  • Balkan Peninsula
  • British Isles
  • Great Britain
  • Hebrides
  • Ireland
  • Isle of Man
  • Isle of Wight
  • Caucasus Mountains
  • Greater Caucasus
  • Lesser Caucasus – A part of West Asia
  • Channel Islands
  • Guernsey
  • Jersey
  • Eurasian Steppe
  • Fennoscandian Peninsula
  • Kola Peninsula
  • Scandinavian Peninsula
  • Great European Plain
  • East European Plain
  • Iberian Peninsula
  • Mediterranean Basin
  • by geopolitics:
  • East-Central Europe
  • Eastern Europe
  • Post-Soviet states
  • Baltic states
  • Commonwealth of Independent States
  • Union State
  • North Caucasus
  • Georgia
  • Ukraine
  • West-Central Europe
  • Western Europe
  • European Union (EU)
  • NATO
  • North Sea Commission (NSC)
  • by economics:
  • Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA)
  • Commonwealth of Independent States Free Trade Area (CISFTA) – including Armenia and most Central Asian countries
  • Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) – including Canada
  • EMEA (including Africa and the Middle East)
  • Eurasian Customs Union (EACU) – including Armenia and Kyrgyzstan
  • Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) – including Armenia and Kyrgyzstan
  • European Economic Area (EEA) – including Cyprus
  • European Free Trade Association (EFTA)
  • European Single Market (including Cyprus)
  • European Union Customs Union (EUCU) – including Cyprus and Turkey
  • European Union–Turkey Customs Union (including Cyprus and Turkey)
  • Eurozone (including Cyprus)
  • North Sea Region (NSR)
  • Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) – including some West Asian countries and most North African countries
  • Union State
  • by culture:
  • Balkans
  • Eastern Balkans
  • Western Balkans
  • Baltic states
  • Benelux
  • Belgium
  • Netherlands
  • Luxembourg
  • Mediterranean Region
  • Nordic countries and Karelia
  • North Sea Region
  • Lapland, since 1809 divided into Finnish Lapland and Swedish Lapland
  • Scandinavia
  • Visegrád Group
  • by language:
  • Celtic-speaking Europe
  • Germanic-speaking Europe
  • DACH countries
  • Germany (Deutschland)
  • Austria
  • Switzerland (Confoederatio Helvetica)
  • Romance-speaking Europe (aka Latin Europe)
  • Slavic-speaking Europe
  • by religion:
  • Eastern religions
  • Indian religions
  • Buddhism in Europe (Kalmykia)
  • Western religions (Abrahamic religions or West Asian religions)
  • Christianity in Europe
  • Catholicism in Europe
  • Eastern Orthodoxy in Europe
  • Protestantism in Europe
  • Islam in Europe
  • by biogeography:
  • Mediterranean Region
  • by historical division:
  • Celtic tribes
  • East–West Schism
  • Catholic Church
  • Eastern Orthodox Church
  • Germanic tribes
  • Greco-Roman world
  • Hellenistic world
  • Roman Empire
  • Eastern Roman Empire
  • Western Roman Empire
  • Iranian tribes
  • Iron Curtain
  • Eastern Bloc
  • Western Bloc
  • Reformation (Protestantism)
  • Slavic tribes
  • Turkic tribes
  • by geology:
  • Alpine orogeny
  • East European craton
  • Baltic Shield
  • Ukrainian Shield

Americas

The Americas is a continental landmass comprising the continents of North America and South America.

  • by the United Nations Statistics Division's geoscheme (see also: UN geoscheme for the Americas):
  • Latin America and the Caribbean
  • Caribbean – the UN includes the Lucayan Archipelago in this subregion
  • Central America