[thelist] Is a Country -> State/Province Database available somewhere?

[Paul Cowan]

Abhay S. Kushwaha wrote:
> I am looking for a database of all countries and their states/
> provinces (and even cities if possible).
>
> Does anybody have one or point me to a resource?

For states/provinces, go right to the source (and ask the horse).

What you're after is ISO standard #ISO 3166-2, "Codes for representations
of the names of countries and their subdivisions". You'll have to pay
for it, but that's more or less the One True Official Source of such
information, as far as it goes.

It can be obtained from (watch for line wrap):
<http://www.iso.org/iso/en/prods-services/iso3166ma/05database/db-iso3166-2.
html>

You might be able to find the same information elsewhere, for free,
but I don't know exactly where will suit you best. For a less
official source, which includes cities, you could try searching for
'gazetteer' on google, you'll find cool sources like this:
    http://www.calle.com/world/
and this:
    http://www.gazetteer.de/home.htm

Hope this helps.

Paul