--- title: "World Geography" description: "Explore 231 geographic categories and example usages tracing Red Sea shipping risk, banking stress and pandemic reporting across regions and countries." url: "https://nosible.com/ontologies/geography" --- [Home](https://nosible.com/) [Ontologies](https://nosible.com/ontologies) Geography Ontology field guide By NOSIBLE Research Updated 2026-07-18 # World Geography World Geography shows where an event occurs, allowing local shocks and cross-border propagation to be measured separately through time. A source location is not an event location. A London publisher can report an attack in Yemen, a factory stoppage in Germany or a freight response in India. Collapsing those places into the publisher's country destroys the transmission path. World Geography assigns each event a continent, region and country using stable geographic labels. The resulting path follows the reported event itself through time. [[ 1 ]](https://www.iso.org/iso-3166-country-codes.html) [[ 2 ]](https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/) Researchers can use the hierarchy to construct local cohorts, measure geographic diffusion and join events to country, port, trade or asset exposures. The field does not identify publisher domicile, issuer revenue geography or causal spillovers. This guide provides the full structure, World base rates, a Red Sea shipping study and data for testing geographic event signals against independently defined exposures. Categories 231 categories Structure 3 levels World events labelled 100.0% Stable codes Since v1 Release data CC0 On this page [01 Foundations](https://nosible.com/ontologies/geography#foundations) [02 Categories](https://nosible.com/ontologies/geography#vocabulary) [03 Example usages](https://nosible.com/ontologies/geography#trends) [04 Downloads and references](https://nosible.com/ontologies/geography#downloads) Foundations ## World Geography classifies event locations without inferring source or issuer exposure The ontology follows a three-level continent, region and country hierarchy grounded in ISO country codes and United Nations regional groupings. Stable country labels support joins across time, while the parent path allows aggregation when a country sample is too sparse. Repeated regional labels on different paths remain explicit in the explorer. [[ 1 ]](https://www.iso.org/iso-3166-country-codes.html) [[ 2 ]](https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/) World assigns the event location. It does not identify publisher location, exchange venue, company domicile or economic exposure. A factory event in Germany can affect suppliers and securities elsewhere. Join each event location to a separate, point-in-time exposure map before testing spillovers. Categories ## World Geography organises 231 categories into continents, regions and countries The hierarchy contains six continent roots, regional groupings and 194 country leaves across three levels. Every World event receives one geographic path. The explorer exposes definitions, stable codes, full paths and World V1.2 counts. Search and bounded expansion keep the full geography accessible without separate country pages. [[ 1 ]](https://www.iso.org/iso-3166-country-codes.html) [[ 2 ]](https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/) Search code, label, definition or path 6 shown · 231 total Labelled events **15,311,040** World coverage **100.0%** All World events **15,311,040** 15,311,040 of 15,311,040 World events carry labels from World Geography. Select a category to see its count and both relevant shares. Hierarchy continent / region / country + Asia Events located in Asia or its regional groups · 9 children + Europe · 8 children + Africa · 8 children + North America Global market, security and shipping-policy responses · 4 children + South America · 5 children + Oceania · 14 children Asia ### Asia Copy link #### Definition Events geographically associated with the continent Asia. Potential research use Events located in Asia or its regional groups Code Asia Events with label 5,097,396 Share of labelled 33.3% Share of World 33.3% **Events with label** is the selected count. **Label share** divides it by 15,311,040 assigned events; **World share** divides it by all 15,311,040 events. #### Representative World V1.2 events One strong classified example per available year, with up to ten years shown. 10 examples 1. 2015-10-26Deadly Earthquake Rocks Northern Afghanistan Killing Over 200 Across AsiaCoverage 658 2. 2016-08-25Apple Issues iOS Update After Spyware Targets Activist in West AsiaCoverage 195 3. 2017-11-05Trump kicks off Asia tour in Japan with tough North Korea stanceCoverage 511 4. 2019-12-26Thousands Witness Rare Ring of Fire Solar Eclipse Across AsiaCoverage 344 5. 2020-07-09BCCI President Ganguly Announces Asia Cup T20 Cancellation Due to COVID-19Coverage 379 6. 2021-08-20Harris Asia Trip Gains Urgency After Afghan Taliban TakeoverCoverage 176 7. 2022-06-14Biden Visits Israel and Saudi Arabia to Launch West Asia QuadCoverage 868 8. 2024-08-09Japan PM Cancels Asia Trip After Megaquake Advisory IssuedCoverage 1,608 9. 2025-09-29India Refuses Asia Cup 2025 Trophy After Beating Pakistan in Dubai FinalCoverage 4,437 10. 2026-03-23PM Modi Addresses Lok Sabha on West Asia Crisis and Oil Supply RisksCoverage 1,514 Browse categories to compare definitions, World V1.2 statistics and representative classified events. Example usage 1 of 3 ### Example Usage: Red Sea reporting expands from three regions to six as carriers reroute shipping The cohort contains 1,766 English-language events that mention a Red Sea, Houthi, Bab el-Mandeb or Suez identifier and a maritime-shipping term. Outside-Middle-East event share rises from 27.9% during initial attacks to 46.7% during carrier rerouting. Effective regions rise from 2.95 to 5.56, revealing diffusion that global counts miss. [[ 3 ]](https://www.imo.org/en/mediacentre/pressbriefings/pages/imo-msc-resolution-red-sea.aspx) Carrier rerouting provides the mechanism for geographic diffusion. Weekly changes in operational and ticker-linked financial coverage show a weak six-week relationship (r = 0.17), but the lag-adjusted test is not significant (p = 0.119). The evidence supports broader regional exposure, not a stable propagation delay, trade effect or price response. [[ 4 ]](https://unctad.org/publication/navigating-troubled-waters-impact-global-trade-disruption-shipping-routes-red-sea-black) [[ 5 ]](https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/projections/html/ecb.projections202403_ecbstaff~f2f2d34d5a.en.html) [[ 6 ]](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstreams/de1a433c-e9ab-4eb3-ae7c-430c3a463d91/download) Outside Middle East **27.9 % → 46.7 %** Effective regions **2.95 → 5.56** Lag-adjusted test **p = 0.119** **Regional breadth doubles as carriers reroute around the Red Sea** effective regions represented each month Monthly coverage divides the fixed Red Sea shipping cohort by all English World events. Regional measures use shares within that cohort. The lead test compares weekly changes in same-region normalized rates and corrects for selecting the strongest lag. The study establishes reporting diffusion, not trade, inflation, freight-rate or return effects. Those remain separate questions for external economic data and cannot be inferred from coverage alone. Example usage 2 of 3 ### Example Usage: March banking stress cuts North America’s share as Western Europe quadruples March 2023 banking stress begins as a North American event and rapidly acquires a European dimension. Normalized coverage rises from 546 to 917 events per million after 13 March. North America falls from 79.7% to 47.1% of assigned geography, while Western Europe rises from 9.8% to 40.4%. [[ 7 ]](https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2023-may-financial-stability-report-funding-risks.htm) The geographic mix distinguishes local failure from cross-border transmission. Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank drive the first phase; Credit Suisse dominates the next. Effective regional concentration rises from 1.54 to 2.58 regions. That change separates liquidity stress from a cross-border banking-risk regime before price, funding and policy tests. [[ 8 ]](https://oig.federalreserve.gov/reports/board-material-loss-review-silicon-valley-bank-sep2023.htm) Western Europe +30.6pp North America -32.6pp Effective regions +1.04 Normalized coverage +371 per million March banking stress cuts North America’s share as Western Europe quadruples 8 to 12 March 13 to 31 March 9.8% 40.4% **Western Europe** 79.7% 47.1% **North America** The fixed cohort explicitly names Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, First Republic or Credit Suisse. It contains 123 assigned events before 13 March and 940 afterwards across the matched North American and European stress phases in March. Example usage 3 of 3 ### Example Usage: COVID-19 coverage moves from East Asia into North America and South Asia COVID-19 reporting moves decisively out of East Asia as global transmission accelerates. East Asia falls from 40.9% to 3.7% of assigned geography after 20 February 2020. North America rises from 18.8% to 48.9%, South Asia reaches 18.8%, and normalized cohort coverage increases from 33,683 to 409,295 events per million. [[ 9 ]](https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2020-DON233) The result measures a shift in reporting geography, not wider regional diversity. Attention moves toward North America, South Asia and Western Europe as transmission accelerates. Geography labels expose that redistribution and create region-specific event clocks for testing travel restrictions, supply-chain disruption, policy responses and cross-market transmission around the pandemic declaration in early 2020. [[ 10 ]](https://www.who.int/news-room/speeches/item/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---11-march-2020) East Asia -37.2pp North America +30.1pp South Asia +8.1pp Normalized coverage +375,612 per million Weekly share of assigned geography · % East Asia North America South Asia The fixed English cohort requires COVID, COVID-19, coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2. Weekly shares use Geography-assigned cohort events; normalized attention divides by all English World events. The pre-registered boundary is 20 February 2020. Data and sources ## Download Geography and References ### Downloads Download categories and counts as CSV, or the complete machine-readable release as JSON. [**CSV** Definitions and counts Download ↓](https://nosible.com/data/world-v1.2/ontologies/geography/v1/nodes.csv) [**JSON** Full machine-readable release Download ↓](https://nosible.com/data/world-v1.2/ontologies/geography/v1/statistics.json) Release details and citation files [Manifest](https://nosible.com/data/world-v1.2/ontologies/geography/v1/manifest.json) [Release README](https://nosible.com/data/world-v1.2/ontologies/geography/v1/README.md) [CC0 license and scope](https://nosible.com/data/world-v1.2/ontologies/geography/v1/LICENSE.md) [Citation file](https://nosible.com/data/world-v1.2/ontologies/geography/v1/CITATION.cff) [Changelog](https://nosible.com/data/world-v1.2/ontologies/geography/v1/CHANGELOG.md) Need the complete World event schema? [Open the World data dictionary.](https://nosible.com/data-dictionaries#world) ### References 1. [ 1 ][International Organization for Standardization. ISO 3166 country codes.](https://www.iso.org/iso-3166-country-codes.html) 2. [ 2 ][United Nations Statistics Division. Standard country or area codes for statistical use (M49).](https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/) 3. [ 3 ][International Maritime Organization. (2024, May 24). IMO condemns illegal, unjustifiable attacks on ships in Red Sea.](https://www.imo.org/en/mediacentre/pressbriefings/pages/imo-msc-resolution-red-sea.aspx) 4. [ 4 ][UN Trade and Development. (2024). Navigating troubled waters: Impact to global trade of disruption of shipping routes in the Red Sea, Black Sea and Panama Canal.](https://unctad.org/publication/navigating-troubled-waters-impact-global-trade-disruption-shipping-routes-red-sea-black) 5. [ 5 ][European Central Bank. (2024). Scenario analysis of a potential escalation of disruptions in the Red Sea area.](https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/projections/html/ecb.projections202403_ecbstaff~f2f2d34d5a.en.html) 6. [ 6 ][World Bank. (2025). The deepening: MENA FCV Economic Series brief.](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstreams/de1a433c-e9ab-4eb3-ae7c-430c3a463d91/download) 7. [ 7 ][Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. (2023). Financial Stability Report: funding risks.](https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2023-may-financial-stability-report-funding-risks.htm) 8. [ 8 ][Office of Inspector General. (2023). Material loss review of Silicon Valley Bank.](https://oig.federalreserve.gov/reports/board-material-loss-review-silicon-valley-bank-sep2023.htm) 9. [ 9 ][World Health Organization. (2020). Novel coronavirus: China, disease outbreak news.](https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2020-DON233) 10. [ 10 ][World Health Organization. (2020). Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19, 11 March 2020.](https://www.who.int/news-room/speeches/item/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---11-march-2020) Continue exploring ## Complementary ontologies [237 categories GICS Industry Classification Join regional event migration to the industries operating or earning revenue in each location. Explore ontology →](https://nosible.com/ontologies/gics) [43 categories EM-DAT Disaster Classification Combine normalized location with disaster type to isolate regional physical-risk regimes. Explore ontology →](https://nosible.com/ontologies/em-dat) > Explore 231 geographic categories and example usages tracing Red Sea shipping risk, banking stress and pandemic reporting across regions and countries. **URL:** https://nosible.com/ontologies/geography