nation.hk

For Hong Kong readers decoding country names, regions and official travel-document terminology.

Explore focused topics and check consequential details against original sources.

Browse themes

Start with the question you need to check

A focused way to check sources, conditions and next steps for names and regions.

A focused way to check sources, conditions and next steps for document terms.

A focused way to check sources, conditions and next steps for source notes.

How to use this site

Each section explains its scope. For costs, eligibility or deadlines, use the latest material from the responsible organisation.

Guides

Can a Modern Form Accept a Historical Place Name?UN M49 records country or area name changes without code changes, but it does not determine whether a particular modern form accepts a historical place name.
Can a Secondary Summary Replace an Official Source's Wording?A secondary summary can explain the UN M49 approach, but the UN Statistics Division's wording remains necessary for exact names and purpose.
How Can a Visa Name Be Matched to a Travel Document?A visa name can be checked against the primary and secondary identifiers in a travel document, but visa-specific acceptance rules must be confirmed separately.
How Can You Record an Ambiguous Country Label Without Choosing One?A careful record preserves the exact ambiguous label and any interpretation separately, while UN M49 states that its country or area groupings are statistical rather than political.
How Can You Trace a Place Name Across Public Sources?This guide explains how to trace a place name through UN M49, where names are based on UNTERM and change more often than numerical codes.
How Do Two Official Translations of One Term Compare?The UN editorial manual gives both short and formal country names, while UN M49 says its names are based on the United Nations Terminology Database.

The first guides are being prepared. No articles are published yet.