The UN "M49 Standard" (that's how they're styling it now; I guess we should stop writing "M.49") assigns a code element for each "country or area" and groups these into "geographical regions."
To find the "countries or areas" included within code element 150 for "Europe," simply visit https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/ , select Geographic Regions from the menu at the left, and expand the entries for Europe and its four subregions. The lists are available in six languages, including French. To find the countries that make up the European Union at any given moment, visit http://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/countries_fr (or similar for other EU languages). As is well known, this list has changed in the past and will change in the future. The point is that UNSD's definition of Europe and the roster of the European Union are different lists, and no attempt is made by either organization to make these lists identical or to explain or justify differences. -- Doug Ewell | Thornton, CO, US | ewellic.org
