Project Proposal -- Cooperative Study of Foreign News

and International News Flow in the 1990s

Rationale. The end of the Cold War demands new maps, both cartographic and conceptual. The many political and technological changes of the past decade have in their various ways produced changes that our old maps cannot register. The schema of three worlds, of developed centers and underdeveloped peripheries have given way to market globalization and a new world (dis)order.

The international news agenda pre-1989:

Pre-1989, the international geography of news gathering seemed to have solidified into a pattern structured on cold war rivalries and tensions. For news gathering through the 1980s, numerous flow studies had shown a remarkably similar pattern of global news coverage. This pattern meant that in most major news channels across the regions of the world, there were the continual newsmakers of the United States and Western Europe, the "hot spots" of Third World crisis and a comparatively invisible world of state socialism. The South did not learn much about other regions of the South. Broadly, because the patterns had been identified, it made sense to claim that the world of the news was "known."

International news flows were dominated by the "big four" Western news-gathering agencies. There was an imbalance in news flow with the Third World receiving far more material about the First World than vice versa. Such evidence and arguments culminated in the demands for a NWICO, politicizing debates within UNESCO and the Non-Aligned movement, and leading to the withdrawal of the United States, United Kingdom, and Singapore from UNESCO in 1984-1985.

The new(s) environment post-1989:

The world has changed radically, both politically since 1989, and technologically. New forces of nationalism, new struggles for development and democracy, new concerns about human rights and the environment all clamor for news media attention. In a context of such flux and crisis, the questions as to what the international news agenda both is and should be have become urgent ones.

While access to media is still radically uneven between the industrialized North and the South, broadcast signals are available to more and more of the world's population. News gathering has changed also, with the rapid distribution of live television news perhaps the key new ingredient in the global new environment. There are also new corporate and regional players in international news provision, with CNN, BBC World Service Television and Reuters among the major global players. The tendency toward global concentration in the production and distribution of video news footage might be even more marked than the "big four" domination of wire service news in the 1970s. There has also been a growth of Southern international news gathering agencies attempting to provide something of a "contra flow" to the major western agency news flow. There is also a new tier of organizational actors -- the regional news exchanges -- which take in mainly non-regional news feeds from the agencies and distribute them to their respective national broadcasting organizations.

We need new maps of the emerging global news geography, both in terms of the major suppliers of news, the geographic and cultural maps that news coverage represents, and the discourses and images of "otherness" that define "foreign" news. Indeed, one of the concerns of this study, in a period of challenge to the sovereignty of the nation-state is to examine how much news about the "foreign" is actually located at home.

In the emerging geo-political order, it is not clear where friends and enemies are to be found, and since international news coverage has often had a very close connection to the prevailing attitudes toward international relations, even in societies with the "freest" media, a mediated news map provides indication of emerging trends in international relations. It would also show whether the geographic regionalism evident in older studies is now reinforced, or whether there are new criteria of selection emerging, using notions of "cultural proximity" such as Islam for example, that work to construct a cultural, not geographic, map of relations. With tendencies both toward globalization and toward localization, it is a pertinent moment to analyze this new, emergent geography of "foreign" as well as international news.

We need a large-scale baseline research project that could provide a reasonably complete analysis of the current geography of international news coverage, at least as presented via mainstream media channels in different countries. All other established social science disciplines generate regular baseline data, and international communication in 1994 badly needs a new baseline study of the geography of international news available in major national media outlets.

Hence this study of international news provision will include national systems in ALL regions of the world, will examine both press and broadcast (television and/or radio) news content, and will provide qualitative analysis of the news frames and language of "otherness" manifested in foreign news.

Scope.

This is a voluntary, collaborative effort to produce a large and detailed portrait of international news and global news flow in the 1990s. It will build from previous and current work, especially the UNESCO Foreign Images study, but will not merely replicate any other study. The incentive to participate will be the promise of rapid access to the full data in return for a limited contribution and the opportunity to contribute authored chapters to publications based on the project. At this point, we cannot realistically anticipate financial support for participants. However, we may be able to reimburse some out-of-pocket costs, and we continue to seek broader support.

The project includes three distinct elements. First is a quantitative analysis of a two-week sample of foreign and international news from mainstream media of countries throughout the world and from major international news services in September, 1995. This follows a two-day trial run in May, 1995.

Second is an historical analysis and assessment of changes in international news production and distribution in each national context, looking at the changes in media structures and organization.

Third is a qualitative analysis of two specific events, using an informal sample of texts from various countries as the anchor of a qualitative assessment and comparison of coverage. The two events will be the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe (part of the May two-day trial run) and coverage of the UN Women's Conference in Beijing in September.

All participants will have immediate access to the full data and are free to analyze and publish as they prefer. They are encouraged to participate in what we anticipate will be two joint publications.

1. A summary of the project, probably with Sreberny-Mohammadi and Stevenson as editors, will include an overview of the results, method, and short chapters (10-15 pages in draft) contributed by each participant. Emphasis will be on changes in the news media environment of each country in the past 10-15 years, and analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data. Chapters will be authored by participants. This phase of the project incorporates quantitative data from national media and the news service "menu/diet" study and the qualitative assessment of changes in national media from participants (elements one and two in the paragraphs above).

2. As soon as the composite quantitative and qualitative (text/video) data sets are compiled, they will be distributed to project participants for use in wide-ranging exploration and hypothesis testing. At some point later -- probably a year after the data sets are distributed -- we will edit a second volume, which emphasizes theory testing and comparative analysis. We intend to publish this volume with a copy of the data set disk included for use in seminars and other research settings.

The qualitative analysis of the coverage of the end of World War II in Europe and of the UN Women's Conference in Beijing will be handled separately. At a minimum, it will produce a set of conference papers and journal articles, which may be published in book form.

Two publishers have expressed interest in the project. Participants will get the chance to author chapters in both books, receive courtesy copies, and possibly a small honorarium.

Sample.

We assume that each national team will analyze a minimum of three domestic media:

1. The most influential national daily newspaper. Normally this would be a serious daily published in the capital, widely read by government officials and other elites, frequently quoted abroad. It may reflect or oppose government policies or report independently. In the United States, the obvious newspaper would be the New York Times or possibly the Washington Post; in Britain, the newspaper could be the Times, Guardian, Daily Telegraph, or Independent.

2. A second leading newspaper. This could be a popular newspaper with high circulation, an important regional paper, or special-interest paper. This could be the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, or Los Angeles Times. In general, we would exclude large-circulation tabloids because they carry little international news and have little influence; in some cases, however, they may be influential and should be included.

3. The leading newscast. Normally this would be the early-evening or primetime national TV newscast with the largest audience. In a few countries, this may be a radio newscast. In Britain, this could be the BBC or Channel 4 early evening news or ITN News at Ten; in the United States, this would be one of the three commercial TV network early evening newscasts.

As resources permit, the sample should be expanded to other media. Other influential mainstream newspapers or newscasts could be included, or specialized services such as cable or satellite, minority-language media, or elite media with a limited audience. In general, we prefer to focus on media with political and social influence rather than those with a large audience but little influence.

Dates to include in the analysis are Sunday, Sept. 3, through Saturday, Sept. 9, and Sunday, Sept. 17, through Saturday, Sept. 23. The two dates for comparison of the media "diet" with the news agency "menu" are Thursday, Sept. 7, and Friday, Sept. 8. However, if for religious or cultural reasons, media are not available on Friday or research is difficult, substitute Wednesday, Sept. 6. If the appropriate media do not normally appear on a sample date because of religious or political traditions, skip the date. If you fail to capture the sample on the designated day because of newspaper delivery or VCR failure, use the following day.

Include the entire newspaper or newscast but code only material with a clear foreign or international element. As noted in the variable Focus of Story, all stories with foreign datelines would be included, but stories originating domestically would also be coded if they contained a international content. Examples of each type from a U.S. perspective:

-1 (Foreign dateline; no involvement of own country) TOKYO -- Japanese officials increased efforts to rebuild Kobe after earthquake.

-2 (Foreign dateline; significant involvement of own country) GENEVA -- U.N. officials said United States forces would play major role in withdrawal of forces from Bosnia.

-3 (Domestic dateline; no involvement of own country) WASHINGTON -- French ambassador to US said EU would continue active role in Bosnia.

-4 (Domestic dateline; significant involvement of own country) WASHINGTON -- Congress voted to reduce foreign aid.

Stories with only a brief, minor reference to other countries should not be included. An example would be a story about domestic economics with a sentence inserted at the end about the exchange rate of the domestic currency in foreign markets.

Mechanics.

Researchers experienced in content analysis have developed their own techniques for recording information. We suggest a coding sheet something like the sample shown below. It can be reproduced with some information, such as name of country, already in place. The keywords under the column markers are useful to make sure that each variable is coded in the proper column(s). They also make it easy to do some of the mechanical coding at one time and the more complex coding separately.

This is one approach:

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ ...

Country --------- Date ------ Story ID No. ----

This can be reduced so that each story takes up only a single line. Another approach makes it easy to keep the code sheet and newspaper page together is this:

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

Country --------- Country ---------

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____

Date ------ Date ------

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

Story ID No. ---- Story ID No. ---- ...

One or more variables can be coded in each "column" so that each story is coded in a single vertical line. You can repeat the columns and record several stories on a single page.

Begin by checking each story in the paper that will be coded and assign it a number, starting with 001, for each issue of each paper. The specific story can be identified later if necessary by examining the MEDIUM, DATE and STORY ID NUMBER. Mark the ID number on the story itself (get an extra copy of the papers to submit for the one-day qualitative analysis).

We have no good method for resolving ambiguous coding decisions. The most trouble will come on variables such as MAIN TOPIC. Analysis of the trial run data suggests that each national team has arrived at a reasonable and consistent way of dealing with this problem. We have made some modifications to the categories of a few variables and rewritten some of the definitions since the trial run in May. One criterion to ask yourself is whether the full quantitative representation of each article captures the important elements of the article. Use of multiple categories such as topics and countries mentioned avoids the problem of selecting a single topic or country to represent a complex story.

Hints on coding specific variables:

Name of country. Use the three-digit geographic codes to identify your team. Austria=302; Zimbabwe=552. Save time by writing this information on the coding sheet before you reproduce multiple copies.

Medium. We assume no team will code more than ten media, including the news agencies. Assign a separate one-digit code to each medium, using the guidelines on the coding instructions. Make sure you tell us what each code means so we can include a complete list in the final data set. This is one variable where the values will be different for each country, that is, New York Times=1 in the United States, The Independent=1 in Britain, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung=1 in Germany.

Date. Use the calendar date. September 3=03, etc.

Story ID number. Before you begin coding each issue of the paper, mark the stories to be included and number them consecutively, beginning each issue of each paper with 001, 002, 003, etc. If you ever need to identify a specific story with the coded data, you can use the combination of Medium, Date, and Story ID Number.

Focus of story. This variable acknowledges that "foreign" news can take place at home as well as overseas. It includes two elements -- geographic location of the event and involvement (or lack of it) of your country. Select for coding all stories that take place overseas and those at home with a substantial international element. Omit foreign stories with a minor domestic connection. See example above.

Type of story. This variable separates news from opinion in media that make that distinction. It also distinguishes among several techniques of presenting information. In general, any story that clearly presents the opinion or personal interpretation of the writer will be classified as 2-Editorial/commentary. This includes critical reviews of performances, books, movies, etc. In many papers, editorials and commentary are found on a separate editorial page and often on an "op-ed" page, a second page opposite the editorial page devoted to interpretive columns, readers' letters, etc. Broadcast material should be coded as editorial/commentary if it is presented clearly as personal opinion and understood as such by viewers.

Length. This is admittedly an imprecise variable. In coding, consider emphasis as well as space or time. We have dropped the codes of "long" and "short" in favor of "major" and "minor" because length alone is not always an indicator of importance. Newspaper front pages may have several "major" stories; inside pages, if broken by advertising, usually have only one or two. Typically a "major" story will be featured at the top of the page, will have a multi-column headline, and will be integrated into a display that includes a picture or other graphical devices. In broadcasts, a "major" report will feature a reporter on the scene or, less frequently, a live interview in or from the studio.

A "minor" story, in contrast, is typically incorporated into a column with a general headline of "roundup" or "highlights" or "summary." It may also be a one-paragraph filler at the bottom of a column. It often has no separate headline or at most a general label headline. A minor broadcast story is read in the studio by the anchor/reader with at most a slide or static illustration. It probably runs no more than ten seconds and consists of one or two sentences of script.

"Medium" stories, of course, are in between. Broadcast stories usually include film or videotape but with narration read by the anchor/reader. In print, "medium" stories will have their own headlines and separate display. They may be the only story on a page filled mostly with advertising or a secondary story on a full page. Stories above the fold on the front page of a full-size broadsheet paper are usually "large."

Source. Identifying specific sources of news is one of the most difficult elements of quantitative analysis because practices vary dramatically from country to country and from medium to medium. In some countries, all international stories are routinely attributed to the national news agency; in others, they are simply attributed to "agencies," while in others, stories are attributed to as many as five or six sources. We allow for coding of up to two separate sources. If more than two are identified, code the first two.

In general, we have tried to group different sources: 00-09 are general categories plus your national news agencies; codes 10-19 are the major global agencies; and so on. The instructions allow you to add additional sources. Keep two points in mind as you add additional codes: add them to the appropriate general group, and let us know the definition of each additional code. In compiling the composite data set, we will reformat the individual additions into a standard form.

Gender of correspondent. A few problems are likely to arise. One is difficulty telling whether the name is male or female. If you cannot tell, code 0=none/can't tell. Another is the use of multiple bylines. If both (or all) are the same sex, code appropriately; if one male and one female, code 3=both.

Dateline. The dateline is the name of the city from which the news story is reported. In many countries, locally written stories have no dateline, even when they are about events in other countries. Usually the dateline is the same as the most important country, but there are anomalies. These include stories reported from an outside location (HONG KONG--The Chinese government...) and events that take place in a foreign locale (GENEVA--Negotiators for Croatia and Serbia...). If a story has no dateline because it was written locally (interpretive columns, editorials, and some feature stories are examples), use 000=not applicable/none. If the policy of the paper is not to use datelines, code the location when you can determine it. Note that you code the COUNTRY of the dateline, even though the dateline itself is almost always a city. BEIJING=China; LONDON=United Kingdom.

Most important country and other countries mentioned. A dateline must be specific, but many stories are written about groups of countries, regions, or without specific geographic reference. Another problem is that stories sometimes focus equally on more than one country. The geographic code lists (we think) all countries and major regional groupings and organizations. However, we have left space for additions. If two or more countries are represented about equally, look at the headline and dateline to see which should be considered "most important country." If that does not help, code the first country mentioned as the most important and those listed second and third as the appropriate variables.

Main topic and additional topics. These variables are among the most difficult to code. The categories are admittedly descriptive, ad hoc, and not derived from theory. The distinctions between politics and war, between politics and economics, and between any two other categories are often small and subjective. The key is to read the story -- especially the headline and lead paragraph -- and to ask yourself: what is the main thrust of this story? What would the reader get from it if he or she read only this much? Stories about the same event often emphasize different aspects; the coding will reflect the difference. Many stories are surprisingly complex and contain several topics. We allow for up to three distinct topics. If an unusually long and complex story contains more than three, code the first three. If you have trouble distinguishing the main topic from other topics and the headline and lead paragraph fail to help you, code the first topic mentioned as the main topic and the second and third topics as additional topics. In the analysis, you can separate all stories that contain a particular topic regardless of its prominence in the story.

We have taken some of the broad themes that were mentioned in the original design -- ethnic identity, gender issues, environment, human rights -- and added them as specific topic categories.

Type of event No. 1. The topics contained in a news story represent a partial inventory of the elements of a news story, but when you force inherently different news stories into the same category, you can have the sense of mixing apples and oranges. Other facets of the story must be accounted for as well. After trying unsuccessfully to devise a single variable incorporating some of these diverse facets, we decided to define a set of rather simple variables. The variables reflect recommendations of project participants with long experience in content analysis and long-standing concerns about the style of news presentation. These variables, together with the topic variables, can be used examine differences in the construction of the news.

This variable distinguishes between news stories that describe a single, specific event (1=event) and those that describe a general situation or long-term process (2=process). Event stories are typically written with a lead in the form, "Something happened yesterday (or today)." It answers the questions Who? What? When? Where? Process stories may use a specific event as a link to a broader description of social, economic, or political conditions, background, or explanation, or they may be independent of specific events. In English-language papers, they are often written in the present tense -- "This is how things ARE" -- while event stories are usually written in the past tense. They are sometimes described as "background," "interpretation," "postcard," "situationer," "enterprise," or "investigation."

Type of event No. 2. This variable distinguishes between stories that emphasize disruption, conflict, and exceptional events and stores that do not. The old cliché and current complaint is that reporters cover the one plane that crashes, not the hundreds that arrive safely, or, from a Third World perspective, only "coups and earthquakes." The code 1 is used for stories that focus on war, natural disasters, accidents, demonstrations and protest (even when peaceful and legal), crime, violence, and similar kinds of activities and behavior.

Type of event No. 3. This variable addresses the question of how much news consists of routine, recurring events that reflect the normal activities of governments and societies and how much is unpredictable, disruption -- the "coups and earthquakes" syndrome. Routine events are planned and known in advance. They include sports events, stock market activities, elections, news conferences, and government reports. Irregular events are those that cannot be anticipated or planned for.

Type of event No. 4. This fourth variable considers how much news is a product of journalistic initiative and how much is a reaction to activities of others. "Initiated by media" includes investigative reports (or enterprise journalism), some interviews, and some responses or follow-up reports to events initiated by others. The remaining codes distinguish domestic and international government initiatives, private sector, and non-commercial individuals and organizations. We recognize that many stories will not contain explicit information needed by these variables. We suggest a combination of common-sense interpretation and queries of local journalists and editors to see how the specific stories in the sample were constructed or how general practices might be used to interpret elements of the stories in the sample.

Main actor. Some researchers prefer a detailed set of categories that allows a distinction to be made between, for example, a member of a labor union and a business executive or an individual acting as a private citizen and an individual as part of a group. We have chosen a set of more general categories in the interest of efficiency and because data analysis rarely uses these distinctions.

Gender of main actor. Code this like the gender of the reporter.

Specific events. This will allow you to select all stories relating to the Beijing conference for separate analysis. You can also complement the qualitative analysis with quantitative data.

Coding Instructions

Columns

01-03 Name of country. Use geographic codes.

04 Medium. Each team will assign codes to media

-1 Newspaper No. 1

-2 Newspaper No. 2

-3 Newspaper No. 3

-4 Broadcaster No. 1

-5 Broadcaster No. 2

-6 Broadcaster No. 3

-7 News agency No. 1

-8 News agency No. 2

-9 News agency no. 3

05-06 Date. Use calendar date.

07-09 Story ID number

10 Focus of story

-1 Foreign dateline; no involvement of own country

-2 Foreign dateline; significant involvement of own country.

-3 Domestic dateline; no involvement of own country

-4 Domestic dateline; significant involvement of own country.

11 Type of story

-1 News with or without picture

-2 Picture only

-3 Editorial/commentary

-4 Letter

-5 Cartoon

12 Prominence

-1 Major: multi-column headline, picture, prominent display; on-scene correspondent report; studio interview

-2 Medium: separate headline, picture, major but not dominant story on page; anchor (reader) narration of film

-3 Minor: Filler, roundup; read by anchor without film

13-14 Source 1

00-09 General

-00 None; not identified

-01 News agencies, services generally

-02 Own/special correspondent

-03 National news agency (specify)

-04 National news medium (specify)

-05

-06

-07

               10-19 Major international sources

-10 Reuters

-11 AFP

-12 AP

-13 UPI

-14 WTN

-15 CNN

-16 BBC

-17 US Network (CBS, ABC, NBC)

-18 ITAR-TASS

-19

20-39 Regional services/exchanges, second-tier agencies

-20 DPA

-21 EFE

-22 ANSA

-23 TANJUG

-24 MENA

-25 PANA

-26 CANA

-27 NYTimes

-28 LATimes/WashPost

-29

40-49 Specialized agencies and services

-40 IPS

-41 PacNews

-42

-43

15-16 Source 2 Code as above

17 Gender of correspondent

-0 None/can't tell

-1 Male

-2 Female

-3 Both (multiple bylines)

18-20 Dateline Code from geographic list attached

21-23 Most important country Code from list

24-26 Second country mentioned Code from list

27-29 Third country mentioned Code from list

30-31 Main topic

-00 None

-01 International politics

-02 International economics/trade

-03 International military/defense/conflict

-04 International aid/development/relief

-05 Domestic politics

-06 Domestic economics

-07 Social services/problems/education

-08 Crime/justice/police

-09 Culture/art/history/performance/review

-10 Sports

-11 Entertainment/personalities

-12 Oddities/animals/human interest

-13 Energy/conservation/environment

-14 Natural disasters/accidents/weather

-15 Civil war/domestic conflict

-16 Religion

-17 Human rights

-18 Globalization/internationalization

-19 Migration/immigration

-20 Gender issues

-21 Ethnic issues/identity/politics/assimilation

-22 Other

-23 History/historical feature

-24 Terrorism/political violence

32-33 Secondary topic No. 1 Code as above

34-35 Secondary topic No. 2 Code as above

36 Type of event No. 1

-0 Can't determine/not applicable

-1 Specific event

-2 Process not tied to specific event

37 Type of event No. 2

-0 Can/t determine/not applicable

-1 Disruptive

-2 Non-disruptive

38 Type of event No. 3

-0 Can't determine/not applicable

-1 Routine/recurring/regular event

-2 Non-routine/non-recurring/irregular event

39 Type of event No. 4

-0 Can/t determine/not applicable

-1 Initiated by media

-2 Initiated by government

-3 Initiated by private sector

-4 Initiated by public, civic organization, individual

40 Main actor

-0 Can't determine/not applicable

-1 State official/"nation"

-2 International organization official

-3 Private sector/business official

-4 Private citizen

-5 Public sector/civic organization/individual

-6 Other medium

41 Gender of main actor

-0 None/can't determine

-1 Male

-2 Female

-3 Both

42 Other actor No. 1. Code as above

43 Gender of other actor No. 1. Code as above

44 Other actor No. 2. Code as above

45 Gender of other actor No. 2. Code as above

46 Specific events

-0 None of the following

-1 End of World War II

-2 UN Women's Conference in Beijing

Geographic Codes

Note several changes and additions here from the May phase. They are out of alphabetical sequence. Some we forgot; others were groupings we did not anticipate.

General

000 Not applicable/none

001 United Nations or UN agency

002 West/North/advanced nations/First World

003 South/Third World/developing nations

004 Socialist nations/Second World

005 GATT/WTO

006 Red Cross or other private international organization

007 (British) Commonwealth

008 Europe

009 "world community" or nations in general

010 Non-Aligned Nations

North America

101 Canada

102 United States

103 Mexico

104 NAFTA

105 Western hemisphere

106 Americas

107

108


Latin America/ South America /Central America/ Caribbean

201 Antigua & Barbuda

202 Argentina

203 Bahamas

204 Barbados

205 Belize

206 Bolivia

207 Brazil

208 Chile

209 Colombia

210 Costa Rica

211 Cuba

212 Dominica

213 Dominican Republic

214 Ecuador

215 El Salvador

216 Grenada

217 Guatemala

218 Guyana

219 Haiti

220 Honduras

221 Jamaica

222 Nicaragua

223 Panama

224 Paraguay

225 Peru

226 St. Kitts-Nevis

227 St. Lucia

228 St. Vincent & Grenadines

229 Surinam

230 Trinidad & Tobago

231 Uruguay

232 Venezuela

233 Caribbean

234 Latin America

235 Central America

236 South America

237 West Indies

238

239

240


Western Europe

301 Andorra

302 Austria

303 Belgium

304 Cyprus

305 Denmark

306 Finland

307 France

308 Germany

309 Greece

310 Iceland

311 Ireland

312 Italy

313 Liechtenstein

314 Luxembourg

315 Malta

316 Monaco

317 Netherlands

318 Norway

319 Portugal

320 San Marino

322 Sweden

323 Switzerland

324 Turkey

325 United Kingdom

326 Vatican

327 EU or elements

328 NATO

329 CSCE

330 Spain

331

332

333

334

335


Central/ Eastern Europe

401 Albania

402 Armenia

403 Belarus

404 Bosnia-Herzegovina

405 Bulgaria

406 Croatia

407 Czech Republic

408 Estonia

409 Georgia

410 Hungary

411 Latvia

412 Lithuania

413 Macedonia

414 Moldova

415 Poland

416 Romania

417 Russia

418 Slovakia

419 Slovenia

420 Ukraine

421 Yugoslavia

422 Warsaw Pact

423 CIS, Soviet Union

424 Eastern Europe

425 Central Europe/"Near Abroad"

426 Serbia

427 Chechnya

428

429

430


Africa

501 Algeria

502 Angola

503 Benin

504 Botswana

505 Burkina Faso

506 Burundi

507 Cameroon

508 Cape Verde

509 Central African Republic

510 Chad

511 Comoros

512 Congo

513 Djibouti

514 Egypt

515 Equatorial Guinea

516 Eritrea

517 Ethiopia

518 Gabon

519 Gambia

520 Ghana

521 Guinea

522 Guinea-Bissau

523 Ivory Coast

524 Kenya

525 Lesotho

526 Liberia

527 Libya

528 Madagascar

529 Malawi

530 Mali

531 Mauritania

532 Mauritius

533 Morocco

534 Mozambique

535 Namibia

536 Niger

537 Nigeria

538 Rwanda

539 Sao Tome & Principe

540 Senegal

541 Seychelles

542 Sierra Leone

543 Somalia

544 South Africa

545 Sudan

546 Swaziland

547 Tanzania

548 Togo

549 Tunisia

550 Uganda

551 Zaire

552 Zimbabwe

553 OAU or element

554 Anglophone Africa

555 Francophone Africa

556 Maghreb

557 Sahel

558 Portuguese-speaking Africa

559 Zambia

560 Africa, in general

561

562


Middle East

601 Bahrain

602 Iran

603 Iraq

604 Israel

605 Jordan

606 Kuwait

607 Lebanon

608 Oman

609 Qutar

610 Saudi Arabia

611 Syria

612 United Arab Emirates

613 Yemen

614 Palestine/Occupied territories

615 Arab League/nations

616 Islamic nations

617

618

619

620


Asia/Pacific

701 Afghanistan

702 Australia

703 Azerbaijan

704 Bangladesh

705 Bhutan

706 Brunei

707 Burma

708 Cambodia

709 China

710 Fiji

711 India

712 Indonesia

713 Japan

714 Kazakhstan

715 Kiribati

716 Kyrgyz Republic

717 Laos

718 Malaysia

719 Maldives

720 Marshall Islands

721 Micronesia

722 Mongolia

723 Nauru

724 Nepal

725 New Zealand

726 North Korea

727 Pakistan

728 Papua New Guinea

729 Philippines

730 Singapore

731 Solomon Islands

732 South Korea

733 Sri Lanka

734 Taiwan

735 Tajikstan

736 Thailand

737 Tonga

738 Turkmenistan

739 Tuvalu

740 Uzbekistan

741 Vanuatu

742 Vietnam

743 Western Samoa

744 Pacific Rim

745 ASEAN

746 South Pacific

747 Oceania

748 Far East/East Asia

749 Hong Kong

750 Macau

751

752

Add categories as needed, but be sure to tell us what they are when you submit your data.