Want some mind-numbing work to fix a minor part of band pages? Then this is the place to be!
The "Location" field is probably one of those areas of the site that has been neglected, as far as clean-ups go, because it is such a minor part of the site. Nevertheless, it doesn't hurt to clean it up, if for the sake of being a bit more consistent, organized, and aesthetically pleasing. This thread exists as a task force for doing so. Our plan is to clean up existing locations to be more consistent with our standards (given below), as well as do research to add locations where locations are currently unknown or unavailable. The same is true for figuring out the countries of artists and labels.
When it comes to countries, our policy is to follow the country names as given for the 'English short name' of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO 3166). That list can be found
here (choose "Country codes" and click the magnifying glass symbol). It also provides the appropriate two letter and three letter versions, too, in case those are ever needed. Whenever there is a disagreement over whether something is a country or not, or how to write out a country's name, please consider this source as paramount.
When it comes to locations, our policy is to include the city as well as the (highest top/first level administrative) region/province/state within the country, if applicable (ex. region/province/state/oblast/republic/etc.). Links to the applicable regions are in the country lists below. Both city and region should be written out fully (ex. Las Vegas, Nevada). For the sake of consistency, and because we're an English encyclopedia, locations must be in their official form as recognized by the English speaking world. Our preference is that the
English version of Google Maps be used, as much as reasonably possible, as the source for locations. Whenever there is doubt, or contradictory information, use your discretion and go with the most widely-cited English version (which is usually Google Maps, but may not always be) and/or the official version, whichever you feel is more suitable. Just know that in English there may be both an official short name and a long name for locations, and the short name may be the better solution to keep the field simple and concise. Google Maps is more of a guideline when it comes to what constitutes a city and the spelling, not so much when there's discrepancies or variant forms that don't alter the ability to search and understand the name of the location in English.
If your default for Google Maps is not set for English, there's multiple ways to access the English version. If you have a Google account, you can go to Google Maps, choose "Menu" and then "Language" and set it to English. If you do not have a Google account, there are two ways to do this that do not require logging in: (1) Go to google.com/ncr. This will set a cookie in your browser saying that you want to view the English version of Google Maps. This will apply to all google services such as Google Maps until you clear cookies; (2) Alternatively, you can also just append ?hl=en to the end of the URL (ex. maps.google.com?hl=en).
Why Google Maps? We feel it's probably the most universal source where you can find relatively wide-known English versions of place names, even for small cities in the middle of nowhere. We know it's not totally perfect, especially for inner city districts, but generally for city and (often) region names it can be very reliable. And, the nice thing is that many of the countries covered have their region names included, too (though, not always, so always double check with other sites!), and this is a source that is easy to navigate.
How to properly format the location field is up to debate, but a general rule of thumb may be the following:
If the band was only ever in one known location in a single countryCity Name, Region Name
(eg. Soltau, Lower Saxony)
If the band has members in multiple locations in a single country and in the same regionCity Name/City Name, Region Name
(eg. Soltau/Walsrode, Lower Saxony)
If the band has changed location in a single country, while staying in the same regionCity Name (early)/City Name (later), Region Name
(eg. Soltau (early)/Walsrode (later), Lower Saxony)
If the band has members in multiple locations in a single country, but in different regionsCity Name, Region Name / City Name, Region Name
(eg. Soltau, Lower Saxony / Beelitz, Brandenburg)
If the band has changed location in a single country, without staying in the same regionCity Name, Region Name (early); City Name, Region Name (later)
(eg. Soltau, Lower Saxony (early); Beelitz, Brandenburg (later))
If the band is International and/or has members in multiple countriesCity Name, Region Name, Country / City Name, Region Name, Country
(eg. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada / Los Angeles, California, United States)
If the band has changed location, and all its members now reside in another countryCity Name, Region Name (early); City Name, Region Name, Country (later)
(eg. Ottawa, Ontario (early); Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland (later))
IMPORTANT NOTES:
1.
Country of Origin. The "Country of Origin" field does not change; that is ALWAYS the country where the band was originally formed. If, for whatever reason, there are multiple countries involved in the location, it is redundant to include the country name in the "Location" field if it already exists in the "Country of Origin" field.
2.
Character Limit. In the event you reach the character limit for the field, it is acceptable to abbreviate the region and country names to their two letter versions in order to make it all fit. Start by abbreviating the country name, and then the region if necessary. That said, reach out to us about this anyway, as we may be able to increase the limit, or at least look into it.
3.
Accents/Characters. Place names should have their appropriate accents/characters as ideally noted on the English version of Google Maps. Countries should be written as given in the ISO 3166 link above. There may be some exceptions to this (for instance, with Montréal instead of Montreal, or with United States instead of United States of America). Generally, though, try to stick with how it's written on Google Maps/ISO 3166.
4.
Temporal Markers. When denoting a change in location, (early) (mid) (later) are preferred. Contact us in this thread if there's any oddities with this (ie. a band that changed locations a dozen times). We may have to make an exception to these general rules to accommodate such weird situations. It is also perfectly OK to use (early/later) and (mid) in cases where a band leaves a location and then comes back to it at a later time.
5.
Top/First Level Regions. Try to avoid over-doing it when it comes to region names. The region name should ideally be the most top/first level name, and that's it; I've given links to them in the country lists below. It's not necessary or preferred to include counties/districts/departments within regions. We DO NOT want the following: Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. Just stick with the most top-level region/province/state/oblast/republic/etc. region name that is appropriate for the country. Likewise, it is also not desired to utilize sub-city districts/regions, either. Keep it relatively simple and concise. It's up to you whether you want to use the full or short form of the region name, but keeping it simple and concise is probably preferable.
6.
No City Name. There is ONE exception to #5. In the event that there is no known city name for a band, and you cannot find it despite exhausting all efforts to do so, it is acceptable to keep going a level up in administrative/cultural/geographic divisions for the location until you have an accurate, verifiable location. In other words, if the band doesn't specify a city, but you know it's in Cook County, it's OK to use Cook County, Illinois as the location name. The same is true if you only know they exist in a region, like in Illinois, it's also OK to leave it as "Illinois" for the location. Feel free to use the long form of the region name to clarify situations where a region name is the same as a major city in that region. For instance, if you know a band is in the Lisbon District, but may not be in Lisbon within that district, putting "Lisbon District" instead of "Lisbon" is probably best when you have no idea which city in the region it is located in. In an ideal world, however, we would have city names for all bands on MA. That is always our end goal.
7.
City States. When the region has the exact same name as the city AND if the city itself makes up the vast majority of the region (ex. Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna, etc.), it's redundant to include the region name. So in these cases, just sticking with the city name is fine. If the region includes other cities and/or covers a large area, include the region name in the location field for all cities in that region, even if there's a city that shares the exact same name. I've clarified below in the country lists with "X has no region" for the cities that don't require a region.
8.
... at Somewhere Locations. One thing that has popped up, especially for places in Germany and Austria, is the inclusion of 'at Somewhere' bits to locations (ex. Frankfurt am Main, Klagenfurt am Wörthersee). In the English speaking world it is common for well-known and larger cities to lose their 'at Somewhere' bits in the English version of the name, while smaller and less-known cities retain them. That's not always the case, but helps to explain why in English sources the 'at Somewhere' bits are sometimes there and sometimes not. Since the 'at Somewhere' bits don't change the ability to search for the band, since if you're, say, searching for Frankfurt you will still find Frankfurt even if it's named Frankfurt am Main, there is no harm in including them.
9.
Historical Locations. On occasion, you may run into a band that has a location which no longer exists, either because their country no longer exists (ex. Yugoslavia), or because the city has merged with another (ex. East Berlin), or because the city/region/country name has changed. In these cases, we aim to stick with the current name of the successor (ex. Zagreb, Croatia not Yugoslavia, Berlin not East Berlin). That said, it may be relevant and even notable and interesting to include such information in the additional notes for the band/artist/label, especially if they were, say, one of the few bands from East Berlin, or the person was born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, for instance. Use your discretion.
If you are interested in helping out with this, and you have the ability to edit the location field, please let me know which country you would like to work on in the list below and you will be assigned it. Some countries are obviously much more work than others, so carefully choose which ones you want to focus on. If it turns out you've done nothing with the country, it may be assigned to someone else, or you can choose to drop the assignment yourself. If there is no location for a band, and you cannot find it, just skip it for now.
Completed Countries
✓ Afghanistan - Use provinces
✓ Åland Islands - N/A
✓ Albania - Use counties
✓ Algeria - Use provinces
✓ Andorra - N/A
✓ Angola - Use provinces
Argentina - Use provinces, Buenos Aires has no region
✓ Armenia - Use provinces, Yerevan has no region
✓ Aruba - N/A
Austria - Use states, Vienna has no region
✓ Azerbaijan - N/A
✓ Bahrain - Use governorates
✓ Bangladesh - Use divisions
✓ Barbados - N/A
Belarus - Use regions, Minsk (the city) has no region
Belgium - Use provinces, Brussels has no region
Belize - Use districts
Bolivia - Use departments
Bosnia and Herzegovina - Use cantons for Bosnia + Republika Srpska + Brčko
Botswana - Use districts
Brunei - Use districts
Bulgaria - Use provinces, Sofia (the city) has no region
Cambodia - Use provinces, Phnom Penh has no region
✓ Canada - Use provinces and territories
Chile - Use regions, Santiago has no region
China - Use provinces, Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai and Tianjin have no regions
Colombia - Use departments, Bogota has no region
Costa Rica - Use provinces
Croatia - Use counties, Zagreb (the city) has no region
Cuba - Use provinces, Havana has no region
Curaçao - N/A
Cyprus - N/A
Czechia - Use regions, Prague has no region
Dominican Republic - Use provinces
Ecuador - Use provinces
Egypt - Use governorates, Alexandria and Cairo have no region
El Salvador - Use departments
Estonia - Use counties
Ethiopia - Use regions, Addis Ababa has no region
Faroe Islands - Use regions
French Polynesia - N/A
Georgia - Use mkhare + Abkhazia + Adjara, Tbilisi has no region
Gibraltar - N/A
Greece - Use regions
Greenland - N/A
Guam - N/A
Guatemala - Use departments
Guernsey - N/A
Guyana - Use regions
Honduras - Use departments
Hong Kong - N/A
Hungary - Use counties, Budapest has no region
Iceland - N/A
India - Use states
Iran - Use provinces
Iraq - Use governorates, Baghdad has no region
Isle of Man - N/A
Israel - Use districts
Italy
Jamaica - N/A
Japan - Use prefectures, Tokyo has no region
Jersey - N/A
Jordan - Use governorates
Kazakhstan - Use regions, Almaty, Baikonur, Nur-Sultan, Shymkent have no region
Kenya - Use counties, Nairobi, Mombasa have no region
Korea, South - Use provinces, Seoul and Sejong have no regions
Kuwait - Use governorates
Kyrgyzstan - Use regions, Bishkek, Osh have no region
Laos - Use provinces, Vientiane has no region
Latvia - N/A
Lebanon - Use governorates, Beirut has no region
Libya - Use districts
Liechtenstein - N/A
Lithuania - Use counties
Luxembourg - Use cantons
Madagascar - Use regions
Maldives - Use atolls
Malta - Use regions
Mauritius - N/A
Moldova - Use districts, Chișinău, Bălți, Bender have no regions
Monaco - N/A
Mongolia - Use provinces, Ulaanbaatar has no region
Montenegro - N/A
Morocco - Use regions
Mozambique - Use provinces, Maputo has no region
Myanmar - Use states
Namibia - Use regions
Nepal - Use provinces (permanent names forthcoming...)
New Caledonia - N/A
New Zealand - Use regions
Nicaragua - Use departments
North Macedonia - N/A
Norway - Use counties, Oslo has no region
Oman - Use governorates
Pakistan - Use provinces, Islamabad has no region
Panama - Use provinces
Paraguay - Use departments, Asunción has no region
Peru - Use regions, Lima has no region
Philippines - Use regions + Bangsamoro
Poland - Use voivodeships (Note: Use the noun not the adjective form; Silesia not Silesian)
Puerto Rico - N/A
Qatar - N/A
Romania - Use counties, Bucharest has no region
Russia - Use federal subjects, Moscow, St. Petersburg have no regions
Reunion - N/A
San Marino - N/A
Saudi Arabia - Use regions
Serbia - Use okruga + Kosovo, Belgrade has no region
Singapore - N/A
Slovakia - Use regions
Slovenia - N/A
South Africa - Use provinces
Sri Lanka - Use provinces
Suriname - Use districts, Paramaribo has no region
Svalbard - N/A
Switzerland - Use cantons
Syria - Use governorates, Damascus has no region
Taiwan - N/A
Tajikistan - Use regions, Dushanbe has no region
Trinidad and Tobago - N/A
Tunisia - Use governorates, Tunis has no region
Turkey - Use provinces, Istanbul has no province
Turkmenistan - Use regions, Ashgabat has no region
Uganda - Use regions, Kampala has no region
Ukraine - Use oblasts + Crimea; Kiev, Sevastopol have no regions
United Arab Emirates - Use emirates
Uruguay - Use departments, Montevideo has no region
Uzbekistan - Use regions, Tashkent has no region
Venezuela - Use states, Caracas has no region
Vietnam - Use regions
Incomplete Countries
Australia - 2628 - Use
states and territoriesBrazil - 6180 - Use
statesDenmark (assigned to
Derigin) - 1013 - Use
regions + Ertholmene
Finland (assigned to
Derigin) - 3924 - Use
regionsFrance - 5180 - Use
regionsGermany (assigned to
PaganiusI) - 10993 - Use
states, Berlin, Bremen, Hamburg have no regions
Indonesia - 1759 - Use
provinces, Jakarta has no region
International - 892 - N/A
Ireland - 423 - Use
countiesMalaysia - 625 - Use
states, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya have no regions
Mexico (assigned to
OpsiusCato) - 2922 - Use
states, Mexico City has no region
Netherlands (assigned to
Antioch) - 2418 - Use
provincesPortugal (assigned to
MasterOfSin) - 1344 - Use
districts + Azores + Madeira
Spain (assigned to
BlackFlag) - 3713 - Use
autonomous communities + Ceuta + Melilla
Sweden - 4679 - Use
countiesThailand (assigned to
EpicDismemberment) - 186 - Use
provinces, Bangkok, Pattaya have no regions
United Kingdom (assigned to
Derigin) - 5262 - Use England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and their counties.
United States - 27719 - Use
states