FamilySearch Places: Country-Specific Guidelines

Afghanistan

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Provinces
• Districts
• Cities, towns, villages, etc.
• Cemeteries, churches, hospitals, etc.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Country 1709 - Present

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Official languages are Dari Persian and Pashto
  
  • Dari Persian is mutually intelligible with Farsi (Persian), so FS Places uses language code fa

Armenia

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1: provinces and an independent city (Yerevan)
• Level 2: Cities/municipalities and most villages
• Level 3: Cemeteries, churches, hospitals, etc.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Municipalities named after cities will be represented once as place type Municipality
• Villages will be placed directly under the province unless there is a need to disambiguate. In which case, they will be placed under the corresponding municipality.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Soviet Armenia 1920-1991
• Armenia 1991- present

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Armenian
• Russian, due to Soviet time period

Cambodia

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1: Province/khaet or independent city/reachtheani  
• Level 2: District/srok and municipality/krong or section/khan 
• Level 3: Commune/khum (under a district) or quarter/sangkat 
• Level 4: Village/phum 

Phnom Penh—the capital—is the only independent city, and it is divided into sections, similar to a borough.
Provinces can have districts or municipalities. The municipalities can share the same name as the province and the provincial capital is often within its boundaries. Municipalities can be divided into quarters (in rural areas) while districts are divided into communes, which are like sub-districts. Villages can be found under either communes or quarters.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Krong = city or town
• Section = borough 
• Municipality = district (with attribute indicating Khmer translation/name in Cambodia) 
• Commune = municipality

Other place-types should have direct translations in FS place-types.

Language (anticipated default language(s), other significant display languages):

• Khmer

China

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

China contains many place types, some of which have more than one possible child types, some of which, in turn, have more than one possible parent type. In the middle levels, each type is identified with a unique qualifier, which is then listed after each lower level that can have that type as a parent. For example, if a type in Level Two is listed under the identifier I, and I appears in the parent column for an entry in Level Three, that means that type of place can only exist under the type identified by I. However, if a type in Level Three is listed as (I, II), that means that type can be found as a child of either Type I or Type II in Level Two. Several Level Four places have Level Two parents. Level Five places can theoretically be found under any Level Four type, while Level Six places can theoretically be found under any Level Five type.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Special Administrative Districts (such as Hong Kong and Macau) have been included as top level (country level) places and are not listed as children of China. China may be included as a Related Place.

No start date is included for China proper, and the display name in English is set to "China" as opposed to "People's Republic of China", which is included as an Alternate Standard Full Name.

Due to the language in question, a Full Name variant should be included to contain the place type for most if not all places. The Pinyin representation should also be included as another variant, as many people would be unable to distinguish between a place's true name an the place type. While place types are simplified for the purpose of searching, Additional Type Information should be included where necessary.

If the historical place's jurisdiction is not found in the chart, then just use an equivalent jurisdiction to describe the place.

Trusted sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_divisions_of_China
• Linked Wikipedia Pages

Language (anticipated default language(s), other significant display languages):

zh-Hans (Simplified Chinese; Default Language); zh-Hant (Traditional Chinese; Expected additional language); zh-Latn-pinyin (used for displaying Pinyin or Romanized Chinese names; also expected; Should include standard diacritics); en is optional where words like "Province" appear, but pinyin variants should not be listed as English.

India

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1: States and territories
• Level 2: Districts
• Level 3: Sub-districts
• Level 4: Cities, towns, villages, etc.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

The eight union territories should be at the same level as states (administration is just federal). Divisions and regions can be ignored and do not need to be added to the system. Tehsils, talukas, mandals, circles, and subdivisions are sub-districts.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Same across all historical periods 

Language (anticipated default language(s), other significant display languages):

Official documentation is in Hindi (in the Devangari script) and English, with 21 additional official languages. Inclusion of additional languages should generally be chosen by state. Most significant languages from the 2011 census include Bengali, Marathi, Telegu, Tamil, Gujarati, Urdu, Kannada, Odia, Malayalam, Punjabi, Assamese, Maithili, and Sanskrit.

Japan

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

Country; Prefecture(after 1871)/Province (before 1871); City (big urban city-- in the US we have a low-bar for how big a place is to be a city)/County; Town/Village/Neighborhood

If a city was formed by multiple towns/villages together, add the town/village of the same name as the city as an earlier time period EXCEPT if the town or village is now a child place of the city. Remember in Japan, Cities can contain towns inside of them since cities are basically fully urban counties in Japan.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Districts were administrative units in use between 1878 and 1921, but this type is no longer in official use after 1921, so these are not input in most cases.

Place names in Japanese include a suffix that designates the official place type:

( See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_divisions_of_Japan for more details, including additional specialized place types.)

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Many places have been cleaned up to be placed in the correct parent Province. Islands outside of province boundaries have been placed within the closest appropriate province.

1. The Emperor gained centralized control of the country in 1871 and switched to a prefecture system. 
   
   1. Prior to the Emperor gaining control, Japan was organized into Domains/Provinces where power was more spread out then centralized.
   2. Between 1868 and 1871, a lot of domains split off of earlier domains. Our standard is to represent all of these new domains.
   3. After 1871, there was a lot of different start dates for certain prefectures, our standard is to give these prefectures a start date of 1871.

2. There's a common pattern of smaller villages merging into other villages and cities:

   a. 1868 - The end of the Edo period. There was a lot of redistricting and merging many villages into one. https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B9%95%E6%9C%AB
   b. 1889 (Meji 22) - Due to the "Town and Village System" a lot more villages merged into a single town or village. https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%94%BA%E6%9D%91%E5%88%B6
   c. 1954 - (At least in Fukushima and closeby prefectures) This is a common year for the 1889 towns/villages to merge into cities/larger entities. 

Language (anticipated default language(s), other significant display languages):

 Japanese (ja) will be the Native Spoken Language. Each name added should have the following forms, with each form having a Full version with the place suffix, and a Short version without:

• ja-Hani Full Name (Kanji)
• ja-Hani Short Name (Kanji)
• en (English) (Note: English translations of Japanese media include the place type; e.g. 'Inada Village,' so this form is appropriate to add as a Full Name alternate name in English. However, the Short Name form should be used as the display name. )
• ja-Hira (Hiragana)
• ja-Latn-hepburn (Hepburn Romaji)
• You may need to do more of these varieties if the place has more than one place type over its timeline.

The Full Name for ja-Hani will be used as the Japanese display name, and the Short Name for English will be used as the English display name.
Given correct Kanji, we should be able to auto-generate the Hiragana and Romaji name forms in most cases. Rare exceptions will need manual correction. English display names often closely match the Romaji but in some cases are slightly different, so manual entry is preferred.

Like China, existing places may have legacy name types such as ja-Latn-x-nga. Ideally these should be converted to ja-Latn-hepburn name forms.

Keep in mind that kanji can have more than one pronunciation. For example the character 東 is pronounce as 'Higashi' as well as 'Azuma'. This makes searching for places via English dicey for non-Japanese speakers.

Kazakhstan/Qazaqstan

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 0: Country
• Level 1: Region (oblast)/ Independent cities (i.e. capital Astana)
• Level 2: District (rayon)/ Urban districts directly under Independent cities/ Rural districts directly under region/ District cities
• Level 3: Sub-district (akimat)

In both Level 1 and Level 2, there are cities that are considered of “significance” equal to the administrative level.
Standardization should be to Level 2. Level 3 should be added as a related place only to distinguish between multiple locations under Level 2 with the same Display name.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Both Districts and District cities = District

Rural settlements & villages = Town, Village

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Unknown – 1863: Kazakh Khanate (independent Kazakh state)
• 1863 - 1920: Russian Empire ruled over most of the territory belonging to what is now the Republic of Kazakhstan
• 1920 – 1991: Under the Soviet Union
• 1991: Kazakhstan declared independence as a country 
  

Language (anticipated default language(s), other significant display languages):

Kazakh, Russian

Korea

South Korea

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1 Provinces and Municipalities
• Level 2 Independent Cities, Counties, and Districts
• Level 3 Towns, Townships, Neighborhoods, Villages, Hamlets
• Level 4 Cemeteries, Churches (Places of worship), Hospitals, Schools, etc.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Cities at the second level will be called Independent Cities. They are peers of Counties and Districts.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

In FS Places describes Korea as one country for all time. We don't represent the Japanese Imperial rule or the separation of North and South in 1945.

Note: The focus is currently on post-1995 places.

North Korea

South Korea does not acknowledge changes to provinces made after 1945. We do represent the North Korean view of provinces and districts under North Korea, but villages should be placed under the appropriate parent in Korea (e.g. what the parent would have been in 1945), and the North Korean administration should be used as a Related Place (additional jurisdiction). The majority of records we are standardizing to are Jokbo, which cover far before 1945, so using the "Korea" parent will be the most relevant historical period anyway.

Malaysia

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• West Malaysia
  
  • Level 1: States (Negeri) & Federal Territories (Wilayah Persekutuan)
  • Level 2: Districts (Daerah) & Colonies (Jajahan)
  • Level 3: Subdistrict (Mukim)
  • Level 4: Cities, Villages, etc. (Kota, Desa, Kampung)
• East Malaysia
  
  • Level 1: States (Negeri)
  • Level 2: Divisions (Bahagian)
  • Level 3: Districts (Daerah)
  • Level 4: Subdistrict (Mukim)
  • Level 5: Cities, Villages, etc. (Kota, Desa, Kampung)
• Exceptions:
  
  • Perlis skips districts and goes directly to subdistricts because it is a small state
  • Federal Territories and the state of Labuan are not divided into districts.
  • Kelantan uses colonies (jajahan) instead of districts (daerah).

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya are listed as Independent Cities
• Labuan is listed as a territory
• Negeri - State
• Wilayah Persekutuan - Federal Territory
• Daerah - District
• Jajahan - Colony
• Mukim - Subdistrict
• Bahagian - Division
• Kota - City
• Desa & Kampung - Village 

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Malaya: 1946 - 1963
• Malaysia: 1963 - Today

Language (anticipated default language(s), other significant display languages):

• Malay and English. Chinese as applicable.

Ottoman Empire

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1: Provinces (Vilayets or Elayets or Mutasarrifates)
• Level 2: Districts (Sanjaks) (sometimes the mutasarrifates were at the same level of sanjaks, but generally they seem to be 
• Level 3: Sub-districts (Kazas) (We haven't officially decided on the place type for kazas, except for in Istanbul since we decided not to show them), Villages, Cities, Towns, 
• Level 4: Places of Worship, Cemeteries, (Neighborhoods are directly under cities-- and Places of worship and cemeteries can be found in Neighborhoods)

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Mutasarrifates and Khedivates - These are admin level one places, but at certain periods in history could have been admin level 2 places. These tend to be autonomous sanjaks in the Ottoman Empire.

Vilayets - Like a Mutasarrif, King, Count, Emir, or Prince, a Vilayet is ruled by a Vilay. Today, this word in Turkish translates to "Province" in Turkish, so we use the place type Province.

Sanjaks - Use District to match modern day Turkey admin level 2.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• The native language for Ottoman Empire places should be Ottoman Turkish. The language code for that is "ota-Arab" or "ota"
• Please see sections for Turkey, Arab countries, and Balkan states for more information (especially Turkey). The alternate names should depend on what language is or was spoken there (i.e. Armenian in Eastern Turkey). Syriac, Armenian, Greek, and Bulgarian are applicable minority languages in areas of the Ottoman Empire. 
• Hebrew alternate names should be used for cities, sanjaks, and vilayets, as there were many Jews throughout the Middle East prior to the formation of the state of Israel. 

Philippines

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

Country, (Region - shown as related places to the Provinces), Province, Municipality, Barangay

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Regions will be described within Philippines; however, they will not have places described within them. Provinces will be described directly under Philippines with a related place link to their respective region.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

FamilySearch Places describes the Philippines simply (without any imperial relationship) from 1500 to the present.

Sri Lanka

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Provinces L1 (9)
• Districts L2 (25)
• Divisional Secretary's Divisions L3 (331)
• Grama Niladhari Divisions L4 (14,022)

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Divisional Secretary's Divisions will be referred to as type County, as that was the former name of that type. Grama Niladhari Divisions will be referred to as Villages by the same logic. Both of these types should be represented in the Additional Type Information section.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Prior to 1972: Ceylon (a British colony)
• 1972 to Present: Sri Lanka (Independent country)

Language (anticipated default language(s), other significant display languages):

The three languages most vital to Sri Lanka are (in order) Sinhala, Tamil and English. There may be call for occasional names in Malay. These languages represent the Indo-Aryan, Dravidian and Austronesian families which subsume the grand majority of local dialects, so those local dialects are not likely to be present outside of a very small number of villages.

Thailand

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

The place types in Thai below contain both place types in parentheses next to them:

• Level 1: Provinces (Changwat) จังหวัด
• Level 2: Districts (Khet or Amphoe) เขตหรืออำเภอ
• Level 3: Subdistricts (Khwaeng or Tambon) แขวงหรือตำบล
• Level 4: Cities (Mueang) เมือง or Villages (Muban or Ban) หมู่บ้าน

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• จังหวัด Changwat - Province
• เขต Khet - District
• อำเภอ Amphoe - District
• อำเภอเมือง Amphoe Mueang - District
• แขวง Khwaeng - Subdistrict
• ตำบล Tambon - Subdistrict
• เมือง Mueang - City
• หมู่บ้าน Muban - Village

Language:

Places should all be in Royal Thai if the information is available (this can be more difficult to find for villages).

• Thai (th) display names should be the full display name, including the place type at the beginning. Also add the short name without the place type as an alternate name.
• Administrative Levels: English (th-Latn) display names for administrative levels should be the short display name without the place type. Add the full name with the place type as an alternate name.
• Villages: English (th-Latn) display names can have the word "Ban" at the beginning along with the village name. Add the short name without "Ban" as an alternate name.

Türkiye (Turkey)

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

Level 1: Provinces (81)

Level 2: Districts (973)

Level 3: Cities, Towns, Villages

Level 4: Churches, Schools, Neighborhoods

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Ottoman Empire until 1923
Turkey 1923 - presentOttoman Empire from before 1923

Turkey from 1923 to present

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

Base Languages:

• Turkish (Native Language)
• Armenian (For the whole country)
• Greek (For the Northern Pontic region, European part, and Istanbul. Many places in Western Turkey)
• Bulgarian (European part, Istanbul, possibly Western Anatolia by the sea)
• Kurdish (ku-Latn & ku-Arab. Kurdish is written in both a Latin script and an Arabic script, mostly in the eastern part of the country)
• ota-Arab (Ottoman Turkish)
• Arabic (mostly in the southern central areas)

Sparse/Optional Languages:

• Hebrew (add as alternate name in larger cities)
• Ladino (Sephardic Spanish)
• Syriac
• Transliterations of Turkish in Greek script
• Transliterations of Turkish in Armenian script
• Armenian in Latin script for diaspora in US and Europe
• Armenian in Arabic script for diaspora in Arab countries
• Transliterations of Turkish in Cyrillic (for Bulgarian records)

Vietnam

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

1) Province / tỉnh or Major City (often translated as "municipality"; use place type Independent City) / thành phố trực thuộc trung ương;

2) City / Thành Phố (Vietnam distinguishes between two types of administrative cities: city within a province /Thành phố thuộc tỉnh and city within a Major City / Thành phố thuộc thành phố trực thuộc trung ương. Use "Additional Type Information" to make this distinction) or district-level town (use place type Town) / Thị xã or Borough / Quận (within Major Cities) or District / Huyện;

3) Neighborhood (often translated as "ward") / Phường or Commune (use place type Municipality) / Xã or Township (sometimes called "commune-level town") / Thị trấn

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

See above.

1. Use Province or Independent City
2. Use City, Town, Borough, or District
3. Use Neighborhood, Municipality, or Township
4. Use Village or Hamlet

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Vietnam is described in one historical period without separate historic periods to describe any portion of its imperial past.

Indonesia

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1: Provinces (Provinsi)
• Level 2: Regencies (Kabupaten) & Cities (Kota)
• Level 3: Districts (Kecamatan)
• Level 4: Neighborhood (Kelurahan) or Town (Desa) or Village (Kampung)

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Provinsi - Province
  
  • Exception: Jakarta is a Major City and Jogjakarta is a Region.
• Kabupaten - County
• Kota - Independent City
  
  • These are for any cities that are Level 2s (on the same level as Regencies)
  • Exception: The "Kota Administrasi" of Jakarta (South Jakarta, North Jakarta, East Jakarta, West Jakarta, and Central Jakarta) should be the place type "City" to avoid having "Independent City" inside a "Major City." These cities do not have representation in government and are simply there to administer services.
• Kota - City
  
  • Use simply "City" for the ADM2s in Jakarta and for any settlement that is large enough to be referred to as a "City," but does not have official city status for administrative purposes.
• Kecamatan - Subdistrict
• Kelurahan - Neighborhood
• Desa - Town
• Kampung - Village

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Same across all historical periods

Language:

Bahasa Indonesia is the primary language across the whole country and should be used for most names. Each region has their own language (such as Javanese, Sundanese, Batak, etc). These can be added as alternate names in the specific region where the language is spoken if there is a place name available.

Algeria

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

Country, Province(Wilayat; historically, Department), Municipality, Village

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Use place type Province for Wilayat (ADM1). If we have a historic ADM1 place that ended before 1960s, Department may be used as the place type, as it matches with the Colonial French period. However, for ADM1 places that used to be Departments and are now Wilayets, simply use the place type Province and allow alternate names and notes to tell that larger story.
• Use municipality to describe both the primary settlement and the municipality, itself. In other words "Oran (municipality/city), Oran (province), Algeria" is good. "Oran(city), Oran(municipality), Oran(province), Algeria" is not good.
• Smaller villages that are not the seat of a municipality should be described within their respective municipality. In other words, 3 levels for municipalities and 4 levels for villages within municipalities.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• From 1830 until 1962, Algeria was a colony of France. FS Places uses a Related Place connection to show a tie from Algeria to France. 
  
  • Algeria is described as a top-level country from 1600 to the present.
  • Many municipalities have historic French names that are quite different from traditional (or more modern) Arabic names. These should always be included among Alternate Names.

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Arabic - all places should have an Arabic display name. We expect all places to have Arabic set as the native language
• French - secondary language and primary Latin-script language.
• Berber language (ber) / Tamazight alternate names should be added, as they are available

Angola

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1 Provinces
• Level 2 Municipalities
• Level 3 Cities, Towns, Villages, etc.
• Level 4 Cemeteries, Churches (Places of worship), Hospitals, Schools, etc.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Level 1 Provinces
• Level 2 Municipalities
• (There is a level 3 called communes that we do not currently represent in the database.)
• Level 3 Cities, Towns, Villages, etc.
• Level 4 Cemeteries, Churches (Places of worship), Hospitals, Schools, etc.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• 1438 - present Angola

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

Official language is Portuguese; some other important languages include Umbundu, Kimbundu, Kikongo, Chokwe, Ngangela and Kwanyama.

Benin

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1 Departments
• Level 2 Communes
• Level 3 Cities, Towns, Villages, etc.
• Level 4 Cemeteries, Churches (Places of worship), Hospitals, Schools, etc.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Level 1 Departments
• Level 2 Communes = Municipalities
• Level 3 Cities, Towns, Villages, etc.
• Level 4 Cemeteries, Churches (Places of worship), Hospitals, Schools, etc.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• 1600 - 1960: Dahomey (kingdom until 1892, then French colony)
• 1960 - present: Benin
  

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Official language is French; Fon, Yom and Yoruba are national languages

Botswana

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1 Districts (10), Cities (2), Towns (5)
• Level 2 Subdistricts (21)
• Level 3 Villages, etc.
• Level 4 Cemeteries, Churches (Places of Worship), Hospitals, Schools, etc.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Level 1 District, City, and Town
• Level 2 Subdistrict
• Level 3 Villages, etc.
• Level 4 Cemeteries, Churches (Places of Worship), Hospitals, Schools, etc.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• 1885-1966: Bechuanaland 
• 1966 - Today: Botswana

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• English (default language): Used for official business and most written communication
• Tswana: Spoken by most of the population

Burundi

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Province, Commune (municipality), town/village/hamlet, churches/cemeteries/etc.
• Note: Burundi's communes are rather large (often with 40 or more subordinate settlements). For this reason, we wish to describe towns with the same name as the commune independently - e.g., Rumonge (Town), Rumonge (municipality), Rumonge (province), Burundi - 11940258.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Villages and towns will be described within communes (municipalities), within provinces.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• FS Places describes Burundi back to 1680.

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Official languages of Burundi are Kirundi/Rundi and French. French is the native language of most entries in FS Places.

Cabo Verde

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1 Municipality (Concelho/Municipio)
• Level 2 Civil Parish (Freguesia)
• Level 3 Cities, Towns, Villages, etc.
• Level 4 Cemeteries, Churches (Places of worship), Hospitals, Schools, etc.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Islands are not officially part of the administrative structure but should be added as related places for the municipalities
• Roman Catholic Parishes will require special handling

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Islands were uninhabited prior to founding of a Portuguese settlement in 1462, which is used as a start date for the country in FS Places
• Controlled by Portugal until it became independent in 1975

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Official language is Portuguese
• Most people also speak a creole unique to the islands

Cameroon

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1 Regions
• Level 2 Departments
• Level 3 Cities, Towns, Villages, etc.
• Level 4 Cemeteries, Churches (Places of worship), Hospitals, Schools, etc.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Level 1 Regions
• Level 2 Departments
• Level 3 Cities, Towns, Villages, etc. (Arrondissements are skipped)
• Level 4 Cemeteries, Churches (Places of worship), Hospitals, Schools, etc.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Became independent in 1960

Language: (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Official languages are French and English. French is more common.
• Very linguistically diverse.

Côte d'Ivoire

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1 Districts
• Level 2 Regions
• Level 3 Departments
• Level 4 Cities, Towns, Villages, etc.
• Level 5 Cemeteries, Churches (Places of worship), Hospitals, Schools, etc.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Level 1 Districts --includes autonomous districts of Abidjan and Yamoussoukro. Abidjan district, department, and city are a single rep in Places.
• Level 2 Regions
• Level 3 Departments – Yamoussoukro city and department are a single rep. Yamoussoukro district contains the departments Yamoussoukro and Attiegouakro.
• Level 4 Cities, Towns, Villages, etc. - Additional administrative divisions (sub-prefectures and communes) are skipped. 
• Level 5 Cemeteries, Churches (Places of worship), Hospitals, Schools, etc.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Became independent in 1958 (not currently represented in Places)
• Regions established 1997
• Districts established 2011

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Official language is French
• Most widely spoken indigenous languages: Baoulé, Dyula/Dioula, Dan, Anyin, Cebaara Senufo, Guro

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1 Provinces
• Level 2 Territories, Independent Cities (Districts pre-2015)
• Level 3 Cities, Towns, Villages, etc.
• Level 4 Cemeteries, Churches (Places of worship), Hospitals, Schools, etc.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Territories should be reserved for contemporary L2 administrative places where possible. Historic non-administrative territories should be removed, where possible.
• DR Congo has 33 places with "city" status, which are usually listed under the territory where they are geographically located, even if they are self-governing
  
  • Exceptions are Kinshasa and cities that have been independent for many decades, like Kananga.
• We are phasing in adding L3 administrative sectors and chiefdoms. Municipality should be used as the place type for both, with either "Sector" or "Chiefdom" written in as an Additional Type Information note.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Listed as a country starting in 1885
  
  • L1 provinces are represented back to that  point, but L2 districts are inconsistent

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• French is official language
• Four national languages: Kituba (Kikongo), Lingala, Swahili, and Tshiluba.
  

Equatorial Guinea

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1 - Provinces
• Level 2 - Districts
• Level 3  - Municipalities 
• Level 4 - Cities, towns, villages, etc. 
• Level 5 - Cemeteries, places of worship, etc.
• There are also two regions (Insular - consisting of both the major island provinces - and Continental - consisting of all provinces on the mainland) but we will only use them as Related Places

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Municipalities in Equatorial Guinea exist as both 1) a geographic subdivision of a district that includes many villages, towns, etc. and/or 2) a single urban center - i.e., a city. We will use "municipality" to refer to both of these places. Only those that serve as a subdivision of a district (case #1) should have towns, villages, etc. as children.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places

• Although inhabited since before time, Equatorial Guinea became independent from Spain in 1968. The country's historical periods begin from this year but earlier start years and "Unknown" can also be used as appropriate.
• Currently, we are not including a historical period to describe the period when Equatorial Guinea was a colony of Spain.

Language: (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages)

• Spanish, French, and Portuguese are the official languages. When significant differences exist, place names should be in all three if possible.
• Other dominant languages include Fang, Bube, Annobonese Creole, Kombe, and Kwasio

Gabon

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1 Provinces
• Level 2 Departments
• Level 3 Cities, towns, and villages
• Level 4 Cemeteries, churches, hospitals, schools, etc.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• 1960 - independence

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Official language is French. Fang, Mbere, and Sira/Eshira are the next most spoken.

Ghana

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1 Regions
• Level 2 Districts (Ordinary, Metropolitan & Municipal)
• Level 3 Towns
• Level 4 Villages & Settlements
• Level 5 Cemeteries, Churches (Places of worship), Hospitals, Schools, etc.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Group all district types (Ordinary, Metropolitan, and Municipal districts) as Districts.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Colonial era ca. 1800
• Independent Republic 1960
• Districts re-organized 1989, 2006, 2012

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Official language is English, and added French in 2019
• Regional government sponsored languages: Akuapem Twi, Asante Twi, Dagaare, Dagbani, Dangme, Ewe, Fante, Ga, Gonja, Kasem, Nzema - but should only use these for display names if it is significant for a place.
• The native language and the dominant display name for a place should be in English. All other names should be in the language they come from (dagbani is 'dag', english is 'en' , and Akan is 'ak')
  

Iraq

Anticipated hierarchical structure:

• Level 1 Governorates محافظات
• Level 2 Districts قضاء ,  Independent City 
• Level 3 Towns. Villages & Settlements
• Level 4 Cemeteries, Churches (Places of worship), Hospitals, Schools, etc.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Baghdad is a level 1 place and it's an independent city.
• The districts of Baghdad province should be the borough place type.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Iraq became a country in 1920. Currently in the database we say it was started in 1918.
• Prior to 1920, the territory of Iraq was comprised of portions of the Ottoman Empire.
• Ottoman Empire Vilayets:
  
  • Mosul
  • Baghdad
  • Basra
• Ottoman Empire Sanjaks:
  
  • Mosul, Mosul
  • Kirkuk, Mosul
  • Sulaymaniyah, Mosul
  • Deir Ez-Zor
  • Baghdad, Baghdad
  • Karbala, Baghdad
  • Diwaniyah, Baghdad
  • Munafik, Basra
  • Amara, Basra
  • Bara, Basra

Language: (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Arabic (ar and ar-Latn for Latin character names of the place)
• Kurdish (ku-Latn and ku-Arab)
• Assyrian (syr)

Jordan

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1 Governorates محافظات
• Level 2 District (Liwa) لوية
• Level 3 Towns. Villages & Settlements
• Level 4 Cemeteries, Churches (Places of worship), Hospitals, Schools, etc.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Jordan 1922 - present (including alternate name of TransJordan and the United Kingdom as a related place.
• Ottoman Empire governorates TBD

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Official language is Arabic

Kenya

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

Unknown-2013

• Level 1: Provinces (ended in 2013)
• Level 2: Districts (became counties in 2013)
• Level 3: Divisions (became sub-counties in 2013)
• Level 4: Wards (aka Locations) - use the "ward" place type
• Level 5: Towns. Villages & Settlements
• Level 6: Cemeteries, Churches (Places of worship), Hospitals, Schools, etc.

2013-Today

• Level 1: Counties
• Level 2: Sub-Counties– use the "sub-district place type"
• Level 3: Wards (aka Locations) - use the "ward" place type
• Level 4: Towns. Villages & Settlements
• Level 5: Cemeteries, Churches (Places of worship), Hospitals, Schools, etc.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Sub-Counties will use the place type "Sub-district". Due to the fluid nature of the administrative structure of the sub-counties, no shapefiles exist at this time to show their boundaries. Although this level has been created in FS Places, al towns, villages, settlements, etc. are placed under the county for now. Once shapefiles exist for this ADM, towns, villages, settlements, etc. can be moved under the appropriate sub-county.
• Although some places in Kenya are named "municipality" (from a colonial heritage), the municipality place type is unacceptable to use as a place type for these places.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• British Colonial era ca. 1888-1962
• Independent Republic 1964
• Districts re-organized 1989, 2006, 2013

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Official languages are English and Swahili
• The native language for every place in Kenya should be Swahili (sw).

Kuwait

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Ottoman Time Period: Unknown - 1918
• Independent Time Period: 1918 - Present

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Arabic

Liberia

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1 Counties (Top Level)
• Level 2 Districts
• Level 3 Cities, towns, villages, etc.
• Level 4 Cemeteries, places of worship, etc.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Clans are represented as subdistricts. Subdistricts are only used as parents if two villages in the same district have the same name but belong to different clans/subdistricts

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Liberia begins in 1822, which is when it was first settled, not when it declared itself independent 

Language: (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages)

• English is the official language
• Other dominant languages include Kpelle, Bassa, Grebo, Dan, Kru, Mano, Loma, and Mandingo.

Madagascar

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1 Province/Faritany mizakatena (6)
• Level 2 Region/Faritra (22)
• Level 3 Departments/Departemanta (114)
• Level 4 Communes/Kaominina (1,579)
• Level 5 Villages/Fokontany (17,485)

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Provinces have existed since 1946 but should only be used as Related Places since their function has been vague for a long time
• Displayed hierarchy should be: Country → Region → Department → Commune → Village. etc.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Historical Administrative Structure:

• 1959-1974: Provinces, Communes
• 1975-1991: Provinces/faritany; Prefectures/fivondronana or fivondronampokontany; Cantons/firaisana or firaisam-pokontany; Villages, Hamlets, or Neighborhoods/fokontany; Village Communities/fokonolona
• 1992-1998: Regions, Departments, Communes → But these were not actually implemented
• 1998-2010: Provinces/faritany, Regions/Faritra, Departments/Departemanta , Communes/Kaominina
• 2010-Today: Provinces, Regions, Communes

General Historical Narrative:

• 1960: Independence from France

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Both Malagasy and French are official languages. Place names should be in both languages when possible.

Malawi

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1 Regions
• Level 2 Districts and Independent Cities

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Constituencies are listed as divisions
• Bantustans/homelands are listed as territories

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• 1890 - 1964: Nyasland
• 1964 - Present: Malawi

Language: (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• The only official language is English

Mozambique

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1 Provinces
• Level 2 Districts
• Level 3 Cities, Towns, and Villages
• Level 4 Cemeteries, Churches (Places of worship), Hospitals, Schools, etc.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• 1 province and 10 districts are independent cities

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Country since 1500, no distinguishing for Portuguese period

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Portuguese is the official language. Other important languages include Makhuwa, Changana, Nyanja, Ndau, Sena, Chwabo, and Tswa.

Namibia

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1 Regions
• Level 2 Constituencies
• Level 3 Cities, Towns, and Villages
• Level 4 Cemeteries, Churches (Places of worship), Hospitals, Schools, etc.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Constituencies are listed as divisions
• Bantustans/homelands are listed as territories

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places

• March 1990: Independence from South Africa
• March 1990 - 1992: pre-existing South African districts in place (17 districts and 9 territories/bantustans)
• 1992: Namibia split into 13 regions and subdivided into constituencies
• 2013: Kavango Region split into east and west, many constituencies reorganized

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages)

• The only official language is English
• Languages most spoken: Oshiwambo, Khoekhoegowab, Afrikaans, Otjiherero, RuKwangali, siLozi, German, San

Nigeria

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1 States and Federal Capital Territory
• Level 2 Local Government Areas (LGAs)
• Level 3 Cities, Towns, Villages
• Level 4 Cemeteries, Churches (Places of worship), Hospitals, Schools, etc.
  
  • "Anglican Parish" is a valid place type for Nigeria. Change all "Parish" place types to "Anglican Parish" types.
    
    • The general "Parish" type used to be used for Anglican Parishes because that was the place type for parishes in England (which are simultaneously civil and Anglican parishes).

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• LGAs will be listed as municipalities
  
  • LGAs are often named after their largest settlement, but LGAs are large. There should be a listing for both the LGA (Municipality) and the settlement (Town, Village, etc.) The LGA should be the parent of the settlement.
  • If the LGA is named after a large city, but is split (e.g. Aba North and Aba South), the city (Aba in this case) and the LGAs should all be directly under the state. 
• It's common in Nigeria to say "Imo State" or "Abia State", the word 'state' should appear in the English display name.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Official language is English
• Other languages of note include Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Fulfulde, Ibibio, Kanuri, and Tiv
  
  • The primary name of the place should be listed with the "en" language code, even if its origin is from another language. This marks the name as official.
  • Alternate names should use the applicable language code of the name.

Republic of the Congo

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1: Departments and Independent Cities
• Level 2: District and Communes (there are only a few communes)
• Level 3: Villages, Cities, Towns, and Villages
• Level 4: Cemeteries, Churches (Places of worship), hospitals, schools etc.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• For communes, use Municipality

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Official Language is French

Rwanda

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1 Provinces
• Level 2 Districts
• Level 3 Cities, Towns, Villages
• Level 4 Cemeteries, Churches (Places of worship), Hospitals, Schools, etc.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• The capital, Kigali, is a city-province - use Independent City

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Independence in 1962
• Modern jurisdictions were created in 2006

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

Official languages are Kinyarwanda, French, Swahili, and English

Saudi Arabia

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1 - Principalities (Note: In Arabic these are official امراة منطقة which literally means "Emirate Area")
• Level 2 - Governorates (The Arabic word for these are محافظة )

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• The Hejaz and Najd regions (ones near the coasts) were part of the Ottoman Empire until around 1917. There was a Hejaz Vilayet and a Najd Vilayet.
• A lot of non-coastal places were just several emirates. There's a lot of detailed history and rulers in the interior of Arabia, but for now I don't think those are genealogically useful. I would love to hear native Saudi feedback on this when given a chance. 
• The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia officially started in 1923. That is the date when the kingdom was unified.
• The current principalities may have a start date before 1923, but that should be a separate time period similar to Tuscany where we have a Tuscany time period as a top level place and then later list it as "Tuscany, Italy".
• The Hejaz emirates (west coast Saudi Arabia) and the Eastern part of the country were previously part of the Ottoman Empire. The central part (the Nejd – Al-Qassim and Riyadh) were never part of the Ottoman Empire.
• Keep in mind Saudi Arabia may list the dates with the Islamic (or Hijri) calendar. Just convert it to the Gregorian (or Miladi) calendar we use in the west.

https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/قائمة_محافظات_السعودية

Language: (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Arabic name with the place type should be the display name.
• Arabic name without the place type should be an alternate

Sierra Leone

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1 Provinces
• Level 2 Districts
• Level 3 Cities, Towns, Villages
• Level 4 Cemeteries, Churches (Places of worship), Hospitals, Schools, etc.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Province is used for the "Western Area," which is more like a capital region.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Independence in 1961

Language: (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• English is official. Krio (a creole) is the lingua franca between ethnic groups. Mende and Temne are also spoken widely.

South Africa

Anticipated hierarchical structure:

South Africa has 3 capital cities: Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Pretoria

• Level 1  Province
• Level 2   Metropolitan municipality & District municipality (Districts are not used before 1994. The place type directly goes from Province to level 3.)
• Level 3   Main place & Local municipality
• Level 4   Sub Place 
• Level 5   Small Place & Small Area

Anticipated place types and what to do with them

• Level 1  Province
• Level 2   Metropolitan municipality & District municipality (in FS Places & Census are all called District)
• Level 3   Main place & Local municipality (in FS Places & Census are all called Municipality) which also include Independent cities, Capital cities, and large Towns)
• Level 4   Sub Place often include suffix SP in the name (which includes colony, estate, hamlet, neighborhood, parish, suburb, village, etc.)
• Level 5   Small Place & Small Area often include suffix SA (which includes cemetery, place of worship or church, farm, hospital, post office, school, etc.)

Historical Treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Up to 1752 - Pre-Colonization
• 1752 - 1806 - Cape of Good Hope
• 1806 - 1910 - Cape Colony 
• 1910 - 1960 - Union of South Africa
• 1960 - 1994 - Republic of South Africa 
• 1994 - Present - Became a democracy as the apartheid ended (District level subdivisions only matter after this point.)

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

Official Languages:

• Afrikaans
• English
• Northern Sotho (aka Freistata, Sependi, Pedi)
• North Ndebele (aka Northern Ndebele, Northern Transvaal Ndebele, siNdebele, isiNdebele seNyakatho)
• Sotho (aka Sesotho, Southern Sotho)
• South Ndebeke (aka Southern Ndebele, Transvaal Ndebele, Ndebele)
• Swazi (aka iMpumalanga, Siswati, siSwati)
• Tsonga (aka Xitsonga, Tswa-Ronga, Thonga, called "Shangani" in Zimbabwe)
• Tswana (aka Bokone Bophirima, Setswana, Pretoria Sotho)
• Venda (aka Tshivenda)
• Xhosa (aka iMpuma-Kolonim, isiXhosa, isiXhosa sengingqi)
• Zulu (aka iKwaZulu-Natali, isiZulu, eGoli)

Tanzania

Anticipated hierarchical structure:

• Level 1: Regions
• Level 2: Districts, Certain Villages, Certain Independent Cities
• Level 3: Towns, Cities, Villages, etc.
• Level 4: Cemeteries, Churches, Cathedrals (Places of Worship), Missions, Hospitals, Schools, etc.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• German Colonial Era late 19th century.
• British Colonial Era post WWI (Zanzibar and the mainland were two separate colonies) - 1961
• Independence 1961 - Present

Language: (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Official Languages: English, Swahili
• Arabic is only official in Zanzibar.

Togo

Anticipated hierarchical structure:

• Level 1 - Regions
• Level 2 - Prefectures
• Level 3 - Cities, towns, villages, etc.
• Level 4 - Cemeteries, hospitals, schools, etc.
  

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Start date is date of independence from France (1960).

Language: (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• French is official
• Ewe and Kabiye are prominent indigenous languages

Uganda

Anticipated hierarchical structure:

• Level 1 Regions
• Level 2 Districts
• Level 3 Towns, Cities, Villages, etc.
• Level 4 Cemeteries, Churches, Cathedrals (Places of worship), Missions, Hospitals, Schools, etc.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• We are currently skipping the lower levels of jurisdiction (county, sub-county, parish, etc.)
  

Language:

• Luganda is most spoken
• English and Swahili are the official languages
• There are a number of other languages in use, as well, but even those in the same language family (e.g. Bantu) have large numbers of dialects across small areas

Zambia

Anticipated hierarchical structure:

• Level 1 Provinces
• Level 2 Districts
• Level 3 Towns, Cities, Municipalities
• Level 4 Villages, Settlements, Missions, Farms, Chiefdoms
• Level 5 Cemeteries, Churches, Cathedrals (Places of worship), Missions, Hospitals, Schools, etc.
• Zambia is also divided into Chiefdoms which genearlly cover one or more villages.  It also is divided into Constituencies, which are divided into Wards for Parliamentary purposes

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Use Zambia spreadsheets to identify and create reps in FamilySearch Places.  Other resources may provide information about more villages and smaller jurisdictions (L4-L5)
• If it is decided to be useful, Chiefdomes, Constituencies and Wards may be added as Related Places

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Colonial era14th-19th centuries
• Federation movement early 1950s through 1963
• Independent Republic 1964

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Official language is English
• Regional government sponsored most common 11 Zambian languages are :
• Bemba (ChiBemba) used in Copperbelt, Luapula, Muchinga, Northern Provinces
• Nyanja (Chewa) used in Copperbelt and Lusaka Provinces
• Kaonde (KiiKaonde) used in North-Western Province
• Lozi (Silozi) used in Southern and Western Provinces
• Luvale (Balovale) used in North-Western Province
• Mambwe (Mambwe-Lungu) 
• Nsenga (Senga)
• Ngoni (Chingoni,  Xingoni)
• Tonga (Zambezi) used in Southern and Western Provinces
• Tumbuka (Chitumbuka) used in Northern Region of Malawi and also in the Lundazi district

Zimbabwe

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1 Provinces (10)
• Level 2 Districts (59)
• Level 3 Wards (1200)
• Level 4 City (28 only) and Towns
• Level 5 Cemeteries, Churches (Places of worship), Hospitals, Schools, etc.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• pre-1980: Southern Rhodesia (a British Dependency)
• 1980-Present: Zimbabwe (Independent Country)

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• English is the Lingua Franca, but is not necessarily an "official language". Use when distinct from the Shona or other native language.
• Shona is the most widely used language in Zimbabwe (70%) and most of the names will be represented in Shona
• Ndebele is the other most common language (20%) and, while not mutually intelligible with Shona, is related and the names will often be the same. Usually, use one or the other
• Other variant languages include  Chewa, Chibarwe, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Shangani, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda, and Xhosa. Xhosa is the only one of these languages that is globally significant, but all are official languages. Most of these languages are mutually intelligible and are not likely to be represented individually.

Albania

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

1. Country
2. County (Top Level)
3. Municipality

Albania is divided into 12 counties, which further divided into 61 municipalities. The municipalities are divided into 373 administrative units.
From 1912 to 2000, Albania was divided into Districts (rreth or rrethet). In 1991, the 36 districts were organized into counties. From 2000 to present, the counties have remained without the districts.

Between 1959 and 1991 there were 26 districts. In 1991 the districts were reorganized into 36 districts. In 2000, the districts were abolished and replaced with top-level counties. Albania's been through a lot of administrative change since 1912. Because of that change, we decided to only track the modern administrative structure for 1912 - present.

Here's some articles about the administrative levels of Albania:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Districts_of_Albania

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_divisions_of_Albania#:~:text=The%20administrative%20divisions%20of%20Albania,its%20administrative%20divisions%2021%20times.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Municipalities of Albania are relatively large - more like Serbian or Croatian municipalities than the smaller municipalities of Italy or Germany. Because of this, if the municipality is named after its central village, the village and the municipality should each have their own place sets.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

FamilySearch Places describes Albania independently beginning in 1912, when the Balkan War began and Albanians sought recognition as an independent state. Before that time, Albania was part of the Ottoman Empire. It was subdivided into at least three separate Vilayets (provinces): Janina (12204060), Ishkodre (12203994) and Monastir (12203010).

Language:

Albanian (sq) will be the native language for the vast majority of places in Albania. Greek, Macedonian, Montenegrin, Serbian could be important alternate names. Ottoman Turkish (ota-Arab), which is written in an Arabic script, for place names may also be needed for the historic, Ottoman period.

Austria

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

Country, State/Land, District/Bezirk or Independent City (Statutory City)/Statutarstadt, Municipality/Gemiende

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Villages (dorf - that are not also the center of a municipality of the same name), farms, cemeteries, churches and Catholic parishes should be described within the appropriate municipality. Place type Municipality is preferred over Town or City (with the exception of Statutory cities (Independent City is the FS Place Type for these)).

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Austria is described as is from 1400 to present. This top-level description is intended to also include the Austrian Empire (i.e. Bohemia - large portions of modern-day Czechia; Tirol - portions of modern-day Italy; and portions of Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Poland and Ukraine).

Language (anticipated default language(s), other significant display languages):

German will be the default native language for all places. In various parts of the country - and more commonly during the Austrian Empire years - place names in Slovene, Czech, Hungarian or Italian will be very beneficial.

Trusted sources:

Wikipedia articles for Austrian municipalities tend to be quite good - especially the German-language articles. Austrian Military Maps (found at Mapire.eu) are great for displaying names and spatial context around 1900.

Belarus

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1: 6 Regions (вобласць/Oblast or Voblast)
• Level 2: Districts (раён/Raion) and 1 independent city (Minsk)
• Level 3: Municipalities, including Selsoviets
• Level 4: Towns, Villages, etc. 

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Selsoviets (Bel.: сельсавет, Rus.: сельсовет) should use the place type "Municipality"

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Belarus as a state came into existence at the end of WW1 and was a founding member of the Soviet Union. Prior to this time, the area now considered part of Belarus was part of various other states/empires, including the Russian Empire, Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Administrative scaffolding descriptions should have only two time periods: 1922-1991 (Belarus, Soviet Union) and 1991-Today (Belarus). Places in Belarus that existed prior to 1922 should be described as children of the state/empire that controlled that area at that time.

Language:

Belarussian and Russian are the official languages. All names should be in these two languages. Other significant languages that could be useful in describing places include Polish, Ukrainian, and Yiddish.

Belgium

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

Belgium has several layers of administration. FS Places has chosen to use and describe them as follows:

• Level 1: Province (province/provincie)
• Level 2: Municipality (commune/gemeente)
• Level 3: Towns, Villages, etc.

Levels of administration that are described in places but only used as a Related Place include regions (régions/regions), and provincial districts (arrondissments/arrondissementen).

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Belgium uses the terms arrondissments/arrondissementen to describe the administrative layer between the province and municipal levels. FS Places will use district/arrondissement as the place type for this level.
• Belgium uses the term section/deelgemeente to describe places that are part of a municipality (commune/gemeente) but separate from the administrative center. FS Places will use the village or town types to describe these types of places.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Belgium became an independent state in 1830. Prior to this time its territory was governed by various states, including France, the Netherlands, and the Holy Roman Empire. Most places should be described to the date of independence, which is the current focus of FS Places. If sources are available, places can be described further back but should be carefully documented.

Several administrative reorganizations have occurred within Belgium, usually resulting in a reduction of the number of municipalities. These reorganizations should be described at the municipal level.

Language:

Belgium has three official languages: Dutch, French, and German. Other regional languages spoken include Flemish and Walloon. Places names should be described in the primary language of the region with alternate names in the other languages included as appropriate.

Croatia

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

Country, County, Municipality/City/Town

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Villages, farms, cemeteries, churches and Catholic parishes should be described within the appropriate municipality/city/town. Prior to 1967, Districts are a higher jurisdiction level than cities, but for later place data, including modern data, districts should be within a municipality/city/town.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Croatia is described as is from 1992 to present. Certain sources cite the beginning of the modern period as 1991, but after research and discussion we have decided to use 1992. Croatia has been part of multiple other countries at times during its history; these are provided as Historical Periods and include – in addition to the modern Croatia period - Croatia as a child of Yugoslavia (1918-1992), Croatia as a child of Austria (1526-1918), and the Kingdom of Croatia (600 – 1526). Child places should be listed under one or more historical periods as appropriate.

Language (anticipated default language(s), other significant display languages):

Croatian will be the default native language for all places, as this is the national and official language. Some of the minority languages used in Croatia include Serbian, Czech, Italian, Hungarian, Slovak, and Romani. Having place names in these languages would be beneficial.

Trusted sources:

Wikipedia articles for Croatian places tend to be relatively accurate. Arcanum maps is also a good source.

Czechia

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

Country, **Region/region (since 1949) - Land/země (before 1949); District/okres, municipality/obec

** Because there are less than 80 uniquely-named districts and because the district level has remained constant, while administrative regions have changed significantly several times since 1949, the Region/region level will be described using the "related place" function within FamilySearch Places. This means that the primary means of display for a common municipality will only have three levels: municipality, district, country.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Villages (ves/vsi - that are not also the center of a municipality of the same name), farms, cemeteries, and churches should be described within their assigned municipality. Certain municipalities have been granted town/město status and should be described with the place type town rather than municipality.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Czechia (accepted short form of Czech Republic) is described beginning in 1993, when it split from Czechoslovakia. The Czech lands of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia are described going back to 850, under the Holy Roman Empire or Austria (Austria-Hungary).

Trusted sources:

Language (anticipated default language(s), other significant display languages):

Czech will be the default native language for nearly all places, although German would be acceptable for settlements that were mainly German-speaking before the 1940s (Sudetenland, for example). Many places will need German display names. Portions of the country may need Polish or Slovak display names, as well.

Denmark

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1 Region (Region)
• Level 2 Municipality (Kommune)
• Level 3 City/Town/Village, etc. and Parish
• Level 4 Cemeteries, Churches (Places of worship), Hospitals, Schools, etc.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Add parishes as Related Places to the city/town/village
• Churches should be under the city/town/village but should also have a related place of the parish.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Faroe Islands and Greenland are treated as top-level places with a Related Place of Denmark
• 1640-1793:
  
  • Level 1 County (Amt)
  • Level 2 Parish (Sogn)
  • Level 3 City/Town/Village, etc.
• 1793-1970:
  
  • Level 1 County (Amt)
  • Level 2 Hundred (Herred)
  • Level 3 Parish (Sogn)
  • Level 4 City/Town/Village, etc.
• 1970-2006:
  
  • Level 1 County (Amt)
  • Level 2 Municipality (Kommune)
  • Level 3 City/Town/Village, etc. and Parish

Language: (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Danish

England

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

Country (England, Scotland and Wales are countries within UK after 1801), County, city/town/village/parish. More urban counties/large cities (e.g. London, Manchester) may be subdivided into boroughs and neighborhoods

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Parishes (civil parishes now, Anglican or Ancient Parishes historically) are described within England generically (simply as "Parish"). The place type Anglican Parish should not be used within the United Kingdom.

Civil Registration Districts, Poor Law Unions and Hundreds appear frequently in England. They have boundaries and are integral parts of the "England Maps" experience. These places should be retained even when they have the same name as a village or town, as they and their unique boundaries will be part of "England Maps".

In many cases, descriptions of villages in England will also be understood to cover the local civil parish of the same name. Whenever a village and (civil) parish carry the same name at the same location, they should be described once with the place type village. Churches (with churchyards/cemeteries) should be described within villages/towns.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

England is described independently until 1801 and from that point forward as "England, United Kingdom". This has been done to help people who may search for "London, United Kingdom" or something like that.

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

English is the primary native language. Welsh, Scottish or French may be useful display names in certain areas of the country.

Finland

(Written by Heidi Kuosmanen)

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Here is a short version of Finland's parishes and municipalities:

Before christianity (-1200), people lived in small villages. With christianity Catholic Church and Orthodox Church started forming parishes (area of several villages). Parishes were called pitäjä or kirkkopitäjä (church parish) in Finnish.

After the Protestant reformation in the 16th century the church also became a state church (the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (Protestant), which is the primary state religion and the Finnish Orthodox Church) and as such were charged with administrative tasks like as keeping the civic registry. Parishes were also used as cadastral units (maakirjapitäjä), sometimes with slightly different borders. Eventually religious and civil matters became separated in two entities within the same district (in and after 1865), the religious congregation (seurakunta) and the civil parish or rural municipality (maalaiskunta). The civil parish handled municipal tasks, but the congregation still retained a significant share of influence, including responsibility for schools and maintained a population registers.

In 1865 and after, the modern municipalities were established as secular entities separate from the parishes. Until 1977 municipalities were divided into cities (kaupunki, stad), market towns (kauppala, köping) and rural municipalities (maalaiskunta, landskommun). The market town category was abolished and these were renamed as cities. The rest of the municipalities were classified as 'other municipalities'. All municipalities called maalaiskunta were eventually either merged to their parent cities or changed their names. From 1995 onwards only 'municipality' is recognized by law and any municipality is allowed to call itself a city.

Then there is a question about counties/provinces. Some sources speak counties and some provinces, most official sources have translated Finnish lääni to Province. Before 1634, in Finland we did dot have any provinces, only 9 regions which borders were not very exact. Then year 1634 Provinces were formed and year 2009 they were abolished. Thus we do not have provinces any more.

Between 1634 and 2009 there have been 25 changes in provinces!

Currently if we want to have second level places in Finland, we use regions, which started forming after 1920. First they were unofficial, but 1994 and 1997 regions were officially formed.

Finland was previously ruled by Sweden (1200s-1809) and Russia (1809-1918). Historical periods should not be added for these. According to Heidi Kuosmanen, adding a Swedish period would be confusing to Finns. Finland enjoyed a great degree of autonomy during the Russian period. In addition, the jurisdictions remained stable through the Swedish and Russian periods and into modern Finland through the 1990's. Heidi Kuosmanen also noted that adding a Russian period would not be looked upon favorably by Finns.

France

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

ADM 0 - Country

ADM 1 - Region (since around 1956) (fr: Région)

ADM 2 - Department (fr: Département)

ADM 3 - Municipality (fr: Commune)

ADM 4 - Village or hamlet (fr: hameaux)

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Villages (that are not also the center of a municipality of the same name), farms, cemeteries, and churches should be described within their assigned municipality.
• Departments (ADM 2) are subdivided into districts (fr: arrondissements), then into cantons (fr: cantons), and, finally, municipalities. FS Places has chosen not to describe the districts (fr: arrondissements) or cantons (fr: cantons). Our preference is to simplify the description. The data indicates the locating the municipalities, etc. directly under the departments should be sufficient to identify and describe them.
• Cantons may be described and used as alternate jurisdictions (Related Places) for the municipalities that they "contain." 
• In addition to the standard and additional guidelines for describing places, all associated municipalities (fr: communes associées) should be described additionally as follows:
  
  • The associated municipality (fr: commune associée) should use the place type "Village" and have an "Additional Place Type Note" that says "Commune associée".
  •  The historical period (repID) for the merged municipality should be located on the largest municipality of the merging municipalities. If the municipalities are all the same size, historical period (repID) for the merged municipality should be located on a new, separate pset.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

France is described beginning in 843, when the first kingdom of France was created. Prior to the French Revolution, France was organized as a mishmash of provinces, duchies, and counties. After the French revolution in 1790, the nation was divided into departments named mostly after geographical features and organized directly under France up to 1956. Regions were organized in 1956 with a significant reorganization in 2016. Although there was a brief period in the 1940' when regions existed, we are choosing to ignore this administrative structuring for the sake of simplifying the user experience. Thus, most place descriptions should have historical periods that generally align with the following:

1. Unknown - 1790  → Place, Province/Duchy/County, France
2. 1790 - 1956 → Place, Department, France
3. 1956 - 2016 → Place, Department, Region, France
4. 2016 - Today → Place Department, Reorganized Region, France 

General exceptions to this format include the following:

• Higher level places, such as departments, may only have Unknown -1956 instead of the periods described in Nos. 1 & 2 above
• If the Region for a place did not change, it may only have a modern historical period of 1956-Today
• The following regions were created after 1956, which will change the start date of this historical period for the associated departments:

Exceptions for specific regions, departments, and other places include:

• Basses-Alpes/Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (AHP): Formerly known as Basses-Alpes, this department fell under the jurisdiction of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in 1960, and changed its name to the current Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in 1970. In order to simplify its description, FS Places has chosen to use the date of the name change as the date of the jurisdictional change, too. In addition, it will only have two historical periods as the region (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur) did not change with the 2016 national region reorganization. 
• Basses-Pyrénées/Pyrénées-Atlantiques: Formerly known as Basses-Pyrénées, this department fell under the jurisdiction of Aquitane in 1972, after changing its name to Pyrénées-Atlantiques in 1969. In order to simplify its description, FS Places has chosen to use the date of the name change as the date of the jurisdictional change, too. 

Trusted sources:

French Wikipedia includes detailed lists of municipalities/communes and historic municipalities

Language (anticipated default language(s), other significant display languages):

French is the official language. Regional languages were once quite common and still exist in many parts of the country. Place names should be in primarily in French and then in regional languages as available.

Germany

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

Country; State /Bundesland; District/Kreis; Municipality/Gemeinde or City/Stadt; Village/dorf or Neighborhood/Ortsteil oder Nachbarschaft

Note on Display Names for administrative places:

Especially for German administrative districts (Kreise), we have been asked to include type words in display names. This applies at the district level and only to German display names. Display Names for English should simply be the noun form of the city, for which the administrative unit is named. For example, the district of Wesel in Nordrhein-Westfalen will have a German display name of Kreis Wesel and an English display name of Wesel.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Kreis and Landkreis can be placed under District
• Stadtkreis and Stadtfreie Kreis should be Independent City
• Other "District" terms you might see (especially in 1871-1918):
  
  • Bezirk, Verwaltungsbezirk, Aushebungsbezirk (note that Stadtbezirk is inside a city and should be place type Borough)
  • Amt, Bezirksamt, Oberamt, Landratsamt

Note: In Baden and Württemberg (pre-1939), just the Amt level (District place type) is used as a parent. The Kreis level exists but it used as a Related Place. Post-1939 (including after the merge into Baden-Württemberg), the Ämter become Kreise, and just the Kreis level is used.

• Regierungsbezirk is a mid-level division that exists between the state and district level in some states. We have generally elected to ignore this level. If it is present in FS Places, it should be the place type Region and should only be used as a related place, not a parent.
  

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• German kingdoms, duchies, principalities, etc. (e.g. Saxony, Bavaria, Prussia) should be top level places until 1871 and under Germany 1871 - Present
• We formerly used German Empire as an aggregate of multiple time periods; this is being phased out

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

German, English, additional languages for places that were formerly German (such as portions of Poland and Russia that were formerly Prussian)

Trusted sources:

https://www.meyersgaz.org/help/help.html

Germany Timeline

1900 Map

Greece

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Since 2011 reform:
  
  • Regions
  • Municipalities
  • Towns, villages, etc.
  • Cemeteries, churches, etc.
• Prior to 2011 reform:
  
  • Departments
  • Municipalities
  • Towns, villages, etc.
  • Cemeteries, churches, etc.

Note: Mount Athos (monastic community) is an autonomous region and does not follow this pattern.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

The word for departments is Νομοί, which Google translates as "prefectures." We use the place type Department, following the ISO standard.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

Greek

Hungary

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1: County (megye) and the capital city, Budapest
• Level 2: District (jaras) and Borough (kerület) in Budapest
• Level 3: City, Town, Village, etc.
• Level 4: Cemetery, Place of Worship, School, etc.

Note: Region (singular régió) is used for a group of counties, but we are choosing not to use this level.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

County (Top Level) should be used for megyére. (Note: In 2023, the word was changed to vármegye, which was something of a political move. This word should be used as an "Additional Type Information" note.)

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

We have Hungary as a country from 895. There is no specific historical period for Austria-Hungary or the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Either Austria or Hungary should be used as a parent in those cases, depending on which monarchy controlled the area in question.

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

Hungarian/Magyar (language code hu)

Hungary

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• ADM 1 - Regions 
• ADM 2 – Municipalities 

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Historical: Farthings, Counties, and Municipalities (gradually lost significance, defunct by the 19th century)

Modern (1988 – today): Regions and Municipalities

Prior to 1988, municipalities could be either independent or under the jurisdiction of counties. After 1988, the counties were abolished as administrative units and replaced exclusively with municipalities.

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Icelandic 

Ireland

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

Country, County, Town/Village/Parish (civil parish), Townland

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

 As with England, civil parishes became the primary form of local government during the 1800's. FS Places will use the place type category Village or Town rather than Parish. Additional Type Information can be used to point out that a Village is also a Civil Parish.

Townlands are an important subdivision of Irish Parishes. They are an integral part of land records and can be very helpful to researchers. Townlands should be described within their respective Parish (Village or Town, see above).

Superintendent Registrar District is the Irish equivalent of a Civil Registration District - Birth, marriage and death records are organized by these districts.

Poor Law Unions had identical boundaries to the Superintendent Registrar Districts and all were centered on a market town. FS Places will seek to simply describe the towns once and use Alternate Names and other notes (Additional Type Information) to share meaning around these additional roles as registration districts and poor law unions.

Baronies are a historical subdivision of the counties of Ireland. FS Places describes many (if not all) baronies, but does not include them in the place hierarchy for villages and towns. They may be added as Related Places ("Additional Jurisdiction") for villages and towns (Parishes).

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

 Ireland is described as a top level place back into antiquity (it has a "beginning" year of 400). We choose not to describe Ireland as a child of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1922. Instead a Related Place connection to United Kingdom is provided. The counties of what is now (since 1922) Northern Ireland are included as children of Ireland up until 1922.

Language: (anticipated default language(s), other significant display languages):

 All places should have English set as the native language. This is a reflection of the current situation and helps data stay consistent and useful. Gaelic names, in addition to English names, should be added to places as the information is available.

Trusted sources:

https://www.townlands.ie/ Excellent source for townlands and parishes - including boundaries

Italy

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

Country, Region (official since 1940s, but used in place descriptions from 1860), Province/provincia, Municipality/comune, Village or Hamlet/frazione

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Villages (frazione - that are not also the center of a municipality/comune of the same name), farms, cemeteries, and churches should be described within their assigned municipality. If the primary settlement of a municipality shares the same name as the municipality, it should only be described once with the place type Municipality.

It is a common practice to merge two or more municipalities to create a new municipality by a compound name or a new name. When the municipalities are absorbed into the new municipality, those absorbed municipalities are then commonly reclassified as a village or hamlet (frazione), or as a city (città), and are described within the new municipality.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Italy is described in FS Places as a country, beginning in 1860/1861. Before that time, several kingdoms, papal states or city states controlled various parts of modern Italy. These various historic entities should be used to classify and describe historic versions of Italy's towns and cities.

Although Italy's regions have only been an official administrative division since 1948, FS Places includes them in place descriptions as early as 1860/1861. They are recognized cultural areas and it is nice to keep historical periods as simple as possible.

Trusted sources:

• https://www.tuttocitta.it/
• https://corrierealpi.gelocal.it/
• http://italia.indettaglio.it/
• http://www.diocesitn.it/
• http://www.elesh.it/storiacomuni/cercacomuni.asp

Language (anticipated default language(s), other significant display languages):

Italian will be the native language for all places in modern Italy. Many places in the north will have historical periods with German as the native language (e.g. Tirol). Local dialects and variations should be added as Alternate Names (for example, Sicilian, Slovenian, French, Friulan, etc.), as needed.

Latvia

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

2009 to 2020: Latvija, novadi or republikas pilsētas, novada teritoriālās vienības or novada pagasti or novada pilsētas

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Country, Municipality or City, Parish or Town, Town or Village

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Latvia has undergone many administrative changes: in 1948, 1991, 2009 and 2020. The "modern" scaffolding of Latvia covers 2009 to 2020 since even in 2021 changes are still being made to the most recent administrative changes.

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

Latvian (Latin script), Russian (Cyrillic script) and English (when different from Latvian)

Luxembourg

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1: 12 Cantons
• Level 2: 102 Communes (Municipality-type) (modern-day).
• Level 3: Towns, etc.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• District - This was an old administrative distinction that was abolished in 2015. This isn't useful for Family History purposes, so we keep them in the database, but we'll link them with the cantons that were under them. These are linked to the cantons as related places.
• Canton
• Commune (Municipality)
• Parish (where church records are kept)
• Town, City, Village
• Borough

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Language:

• French, German, and Luxembourgish.
• Luxembourgish should be the native language for all places though.
• Mark Luxembourgish as the native language. The government uses the French place names the most so I have entered the French place name as the dominant or full name.
• All languages are used almost equally in Luxembourg.

Trusted sources:

• Luxembourg geoportal, google maps, Luxembourg Parish map book by Kevan Hansen.

Moldova

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1: 32 Current Districts, 2 Territories (Transnistria and Găgăuzia), 3 Municipalities
  
  • 5 more districts are under the territory of Transnistria
  • 4 more districts are only from 1991 - 1998
• Level 2: Towns, Villages, Boroughs, etc.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

The districts were reorganized from 1998 - 2003 into Counties and then returned back to districts. We've skipped the county time period for simplicity and have notes to describe the changes at the district level.

Any land disputed between Moldova and Transnistria has been placed under Moldova. The city of Bender/Tighina is the greatest dispute, and has Transnistria as a related place.

Language:

Moldavian/Romanian

Netherlands

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

Country (Land), Province (Lansdeel), Municipality (Gemeente), City or Town (Stad), Quarter (Kwartaal, Vlek), Borough (Stadsdeel), Plantation or Estate (Plantage), District (Stadsdeel), Village (Dorp), Hamlet (Gehucht), Neighborhood (Buurt), Farm (Boerderij or Pachthoeve)

(See spreadsheet / workbook for island territories & colonies, and additional place types)

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Province - Level 1
Municipality (historically called County), City, Town - Level 2
Borough, District, Quarter, Subdistrict - Level 3
Farm, Hamlet, Neighborhood, Plantation (Estate), Settlement, Village - Level 4
Church, Cemetery, Hospital, School, etc. - Level 5

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Dutch Republic (1588-1795)
• Dutch Pepublic independence (1648)
• Kingdom of Holland (1806-1810)
• Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815)
• Netherland Antilles is dissolved and Dutch Caribbean began (1986)
• Aruba, Curacao, St Maarten become constituent countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands (2010)
• Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba, became autonomous, special municipalities (dependencies or protectorates) of the Netherlands (2010)

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

Dutch, English, French, Frisian, German, Papiamento, and other regional and provincial dialects

Constituent Countries

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_the_Netherlands to better understand constituent countries.

There is a difference between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Netherlands: the Kingdom of the Netherlands is the comprehensive sovereign state, while the Netherlands is one of its four countries.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands consists of four constituent countries: the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten.

Three other Caribbean islands (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba) are special municipalities within the country of the Netherlands.

Until its dissolution in 2010, the islands had formed the Netherlands Antilles, with the exception of Aruba, which left the grouping in 1986.

Norway

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1 - County (Top Level) / fylke
• Level 2 - Municipality / kommune
• Level 3 - Cities, towns, villages, farms, etc.
• Level 4 - Cemeteries, churches, schools, etc.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Villages, farms, cemeteries, and churches should be described within their assigned municipality (or parish/sogn, historically). Most parishes (likely Lutheran Parishes) should be described under counties - the exception would be multiple parishes within a single city or municipality.

Some cities and villages have the same name as the municipality they belong to. These should also be represented underneath the municipality (e.g. Kristiansand (city), Kristiansand (muni), Agder, Norway)

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

We recognize Norway as a top-level place beginning around 850 A.D., when it was first united into the Kingdom of Norway. We choose not to describe a union with Denmark (approx. 1400 - 1800) or a subordinate relationship to Sweden (1814 - 1905). We simply describe Norway from 850 until the present.

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

Norwegian

Poland

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• ADM 1 - Province (pl: Wojewodstwo)
• ADM 2 - District (pl: Powiat)
• ADM 3 - Municipality (pl: Gmina)
• ADM 4 - Village or other small place types

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Villages (that are not also the center of a municipality of the same name) and farms should be described within their assigned municipality.
• Cemeteries, and churches should be described in the village/municipality/town that makes most sense.
• Towns/cities "with powiat rights" should be classified as Independent City and will be described directly within a Province (pl: Wojewodstwo).
• The full names of districts and provinces in Polish include the place type (powiat and wojewodstwo, respectively) with the adjective form of the name. This full name should be included as an alternate name (e.g. Powiat zgierski). 
  
  • The Polish display name for these place types should be the adjective form of the name alone, in lowercase. (e.g. zgierski)
  • The English display name for these place types should be the noun form of the name in title case (e.g. Zgierz)
• Municipalities and villages/towns/cities should all use the noun form of the name. 

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• FS Places describes Poland as existing continuously in some form since 1025.
• The Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth (Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania) and Congress Poland (a semi-autonomous kingdom within the Russian Empire) are represented through Alternate Names, but are not described as distinct time periods in FS Places.
• Changes in the type of ADM1 places that do not also involve a change in the name of the province/governorate itself (i.e. the city from which it takes its name remains constant) shall be shown through alternate names and not with distinct time periods. For example, FS Places will not have separate entries for Lublin Voivodeship (pre-1830's), Lublin Governorate (1830's to 1919 - Congress Poland and Russian Empire) and Lublin Voivodeship (1919-). There will simply be one ADM1 place called Lublin that will cover all three of the afore-mentioned periods.
• The period from 1975 to 1998 (the small Voivodeship Period) omitted the District/Powiat level. During this period, there were many more provinces/Wojewodstwa. The normal pattern, between 1975 and 1998, will be Country, Province/Wojewodstwo, Municipality/Gmina.

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Polish is the official language and all places should have names in Polish. Historically, Russian and German were important languages, so places should also include names in those languages. Belarusian, Ukrainian. Czech, and Slovak are also important languages in certain regions.

Portugal

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• ADM0 - Country
• ADM1 - (See Below)
  
  • Autonomous Region (only Azores and Madeira) OR
  • Metropolitan Area (only Lisbon and Porto) OR
  • Intermunicipal Community (pt: comunidade intermunicipal)
• ADM2 - Municipality (pt: concelho/município)
• ADM3 - Parish (pt: freguesia)
• ADM4 - Town, Village, Catholic Parish

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Intermunicipal Community (pt: comunidade intermunicipal) should use the place type "District"
• As Portugal's municipalities (pt: concelhos) are often quite large (largest contains 61 parishes (pt: freguesias), they may contain cities (pt: cidades), towns (pt: vilas) - sometimes with the same name as the municipality. In such cases, the parishes (pt: freguesias) should be described within the city or town and then within the municipality.
• If a parish (pt: freguesia) has the same name as a municipality (pt: concelho), we will describe the parish (pt: freguesia) distinctly.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• FS Places does not describe a beginning year for Portugal. It has existed since at least 868 A.D.

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

Portuguese

Romania

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1: 41 Counties (Top Level)
• Level 2: 320 cities, 2,861 municipalities
• Level 3: Towns, Villages, Hamlets, Churches

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Predating Romania: Wallachia, Transylvania, and Moldavia

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Romanian, Hungarian

Russia

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

Country, Region/Oblast, District/Rayon or Independent City/gorod oblastnogo podchinenia, Town or Village or Hamlet

Note on Display Names for administrative places:

Especially for Russian and Ukrainian administrative areas, we have been asked to include type words in display names. This applies to region/oblast, district/rayon, governorate/guberniya and county/uyezd place types - and it only applies to Russian and Ukrainian display names. Display names for English should be the noun form of the city for which the administrative unit is named. Alternate names with transliterated Russian or Ukrainian (ru-Latn or uk-Latn) may have the type words.

• Example: The district of Uzhhorod in Ukraine would have display names: Uzhhorod (en), Ужгородский район (ru) and Ужгородський район (uk). It also has alternate names: Uzhgorodskiy Rayon (ru-Latn-x-nga) and Uzhhorodsʹkyy Rayon (uk-Latn-x-nga).
  

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

FS Places describes the Russian Empire up until 1917 (1923 for certain areas). From 1917 until 1991, Russia is described within Soviet Union. Beginning in 1991, Russia is a top-level country.

Administrative divisions of the Russian Empire (previous to 1917/1923) include Governorate/guberniya rather than Region and County/uyezd rather than District. Other place types remain the same.

Language: (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

Russian will be the native language of nearly all places within the country. Regional languages such as Kazakh, Ukrainian, Belorussian, should be added as Alternate Names as needed.

Scotland

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Country (England, Scotland and Wales are countries within UK after 1801)
• County (with some Independent Cities)
• City/town/village/parish (or boroughs for independent cities)
• Cemeteries, places of worship, etc.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Some large cities (e.g. Edingburgh, Glasgow) are independent of counties and should be described directly under Scotland.
• Parishes (civil parishes now, Anglican or Ancient Parishes historically) are described within Britain generically (simply as "Parish"). The place type Anglican Parish should not be used within the United Kingdom. 
• In many cases, descriptions of villages in Scotland will also be understood to describe the local civil parish of the same name. Whenever a village and (civil) parish carry the same name at the same location, they should be described once with the place type village. Churches (with churchyards/cemeteries) should be described within villages/towns.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Scotland is described independently until 1801 and from that point forward as "Scotland, United Kingdom". This has been done to help people who may search for "Glasgow, United Kingdom".
• Until 1975, Scotland’s 33 counties (including 4 city “burghs”) remained fairly consistent. These historic counties match up pretty well with the 32 divisions of Scotland that are in effect since 1996.
• FS Places will use Related Places to described the Region level that was in effect from 1975 to 1996. Historic counties (pre-1975) will be used as parent places until 1996 with Related Place connections to the Region that existed from 1975 to 1996. Council areas (place type County - top level in FS Places) will be the parent jurisdiction for villages and towns in Scotland after 1996. The council areas/unitary districts (after 1996) and the districts (1975 to 1996) that match up with historic counties (before 1975) will be described as counties for the duration (i.e. before 1975 to the present time). For more details, see http://www.statoids.com/ugb.html 

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• English is the primary native language for modern place descriptions. Scottish Gaelic place names should be added for all places, for which the information can be found.

Serbia

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1: District (Okrug) - These should not have children, but will be used as related places since the borders changed so often.
• Level 2: Municipality (Opština)
• Level 3: Town, Village, etc.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Okrug - District
• Opština - Municipality
• MRZ - Region
• Banovina - Region
• Oblast - Region
  

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Although Montenegro and Serbia remained a part of Yugoslavia officially until 2006, we have chosen to simplify the places in this area by establishing Serbia as its own country starting in 1990 when the current districts (okrug) were established.

Serbia is as follows in FS Places

• Serbia: 1990 - Today
• Serbia, Yugoslavia: 1918 - 1990
• Kingdom of Serbia/Principality of Serbia: 1815 - 1918
• Ottoman Serbia: Unknown - 1815 (The northern portion – Voljvodina went to the Hapsburgs/Hungary from the early 18th century)

The ADM 1s in Serbia officially changed 11 times since World War I. To avoid an abundance of time periods, municipalities should be listed directly under the country of Serbia with the appropriate ADM1s as a related places.
Here are the simplified ADM1 time periods from 1918:

• Unknown - 1815: Sanjak Smederevo (We haven't decided on the vilayets/eyalets yet as Smederevo is a ADM2) (Northern Serbia part of Hungary, so TBD too)
• 1815 - 1918: No Admin levels, just directly under "Kingdom of Serbia"
• 1918 - 1929: 19 Oblasts
• 1929 - 1944: 6 Banovinas
• 1945 - 1962: 7 Oblasts
• 1962 - 1974: None (Serbia abolished ADM1s during this period)
• 1975-1990: 8 MRZ (Inter-municipal Regional Communities)
• 1990 - Today: 24 Districts

Language (anticipated default language):

Cyrillic Serbian (sr-Cyrl) and Latin Serbian (sr-Latn) should both be included when available.

Slovakia

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

Country, **Region/kraj (since 1949); District/okres, municipality/obec

** Because there are less than 80 uniquely-named districts and because the district level has remained constant, while administrative regions have changed significantly several times since 1949, the Region/kraj level will be described using the "related place" function within FamilySearch Places. This means that the primary means of display for a common municipality will only have three levels: municipality, district, country.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Villages (ves/vsi - that are not also the center of a municipality of the same name), farms, cemeteries, and churches should be described within their assigned municipality. Certain municipalities have been granted town/mesto status and should be described with the place type town rather than municipality.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

prior to 1918, the area of present-day Slovakia was ruled by the Hungarian monarchy. Villages and towns within Slovakia should have historic descriptions placing them within counties (župa/župy) of Hungary before WWI.

Slovakia, Czechoslovakia: 1918 - 1993

Slovakia: 1993 - TODAY

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

Slovak is the official language and should be available for all places. Czech, Hungarian, German and Polish should be added as needed for various towns and in certain regions of the country.

Slovenia

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Slovenia, Yugoslavia: Unknown - 1991
• Slovenia: 1991 - TODAY

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Slovene

Spain

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1: Autonomous communities and cities
• Level 2: Provinces
• Level 3: Municipalities

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Concejos should use the place type municipality and be treated the same
• Since many small villages/hamlets in Spain have churches, churches should not be used to distinguish between hamlet, village, and towns
• Comarcas have legal status in some regions of Spain, such as Catalonia and Aragon. As some comarcas are within more than one province, they should be created under the region-level but only used at the municipality level as a Related Place with a place type of "Additional Jurisdiction" in order to standardize as much as possible the hierarchical levels between the regions. The provinces that cover each comarca should be included as Related Place types within the description of each comarca. 

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Since Spain has existed and been know throughout much of time, one historical period should be sufficient. If needed to describe changes in place, additional historical periods can be added prior to 1512 when the Reconquista united previously separated kingdoms under one banner.

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

Spanish (official); co-official: Aranese, Basque, Catalan, Galician, Valencian. Places in areas with co-official languages should have place names in the co-official language since many residents in these areas consider the co-official language their primary language and Spanish a secondary language.

Sweden

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1 Counties (län)
• Level 2 Municipalities (Kommuner)
• Level 3 Cities, Towns, Villages, etc.
• Level 4 Cemeteries, Churches (Places of Worship), Hospitals, Schools, etc.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Level 1 Counties
• Level 2 Municipalities
• Level 3 Cities, Towns, Villages, etc.
• Level 4 Cemeteries, Churches (Places of worship), Hospitals, Schools, etc.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Discuss parishes here?
• Province (landskap) was used prior to 1634, at which point county (län) took over
• Municipalities were first used with 1862 municipal reforms
  
  • This is also when parishes (socken) were split into separate religious congregations (församling) and civil divisions (kommuner?)
• Many municipalities merged in 1952
• Hundreds, used in other Nordic countries, were solely judicial divisions in Sweden and do not need to be represented in Places

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Swedish

Ukraine

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

Country, Autonomous Republic (only Crimea), 24 Oblasts (regions), 490 Raions (districts), 459 cities, 885 urban-type settlements and 28,450 villages and other settlements.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Villages, farms, cemeteries, and churches should be described within their assigned district.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

FS Places describes a beginning year for Ukraine as 1917, and earlier beginning in 1781 as several Governates and Viceroyalties in the the Russian Empire.

Trusted sources:

• http://static.rada.gov.ua/zakon/new/NEWSAIT/ADM/zmist.html
• https://maps.vlasenko.net/list/ukraine/
• http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/Land.asp
• http://elib.shpl.ru/ru/nodes/9369-spiski-naselennyh-mest-rossiyskoy-imperii-spb-1861-1885
• http://metrics.tilda.ws/books#rec7586583
• https://runivers.ru/doc/territory/362320/

Language (anticipated default language):

Ukrainian; other significant display languages include Russian, Polish, German, and Hebrew.

Wales

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

Country (UK)(after 1801), Country (Wales), County, Town/Village/Hamlet

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Parishes (ancient, Anglican, civil) are an important type; however, we will normally describe village/town as the primary type and use "Additional Type Information" to clarify that a village/town also serves as a parish. Larger towns with multiple parishes will normally describe these as Places of Worship within the town, again, using "Additional Type Information" as needed to identify parishes.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Historical counties of Wales are quite important for regional identity, even though many of them ceased to function after 1974. Historical counties will not have end years (1974 or 1996) imposed on them. Rather they will continue to present. Historical counties should be added - as Related Places - to villages and towns. Villages/towns/hamlets will be described in the more modern counties (after 1974 and after 1996), as this is the way we expect civil records to identify them.

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

Welsh (cy) and English (en) display names should be maintained for all places in Wales.

Yugoslavia

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

This depends on what part of Yugoslavia's history you are looking at. After WWII, Yugoslavia was split into the modern-day country borders.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Okrug - District
• Opština - Municipality
• MRZ - Region
• Banovina - Region
• Oblast - Region

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

The more complicated administrative changes we're not using in the database:

• 1918 - 1922: 8 Provinces - these roughly followed the pre-Yugoslav administrative divisions from Austria, independent Montenegro and Serbia, and the Ottoman Empire (for North Macedonia).
• 1918 - 1929: 33 Oblasts
• 1929 - 1939: 9 Banovinas
• 1945 - 1962: (ADM1 modern-country boundaries) (ADM2 Oblasts at least for Serbia)
• 1962 - 1974: (ADM1 modern-country boundaries) (ADM2 None at least for Serbia)
• 1975-1990: (ADM1 modern-country boundaries) (ADM2 MRZ (Inter-municipal Regional Communities) at least for Serbia)
• 1990 - 2006: Yugoslavian period of great change where Serbia and Montenegro are still part of Yugoslavia, but the other countries are leaving.

The simplified administrative time periods we're actually using in the database:

• 1918 - 1929: 33 Oblasts
• 1929 - 1944: 9 Banovinas
• 1945 - 1962:  (ADM1 modern-country boundaries) (ADM2 Oblasts at least for Serbia)
• 1962 - 1974:  (ADM1 modern-country boundaries) (No ADM2 at least for Serbia)
• 1975-1990: (ADM1 modern-country boundaries) (ADM2 MRZ (Inter-municipal Regional Communities))

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

The language used depends on the location

Montenegrin - cnr; Serbian - sr; Bosnian - bs; Macedonian - mk; Slovenian - sl; Croatian - hr;

Ottoman Turkish, German, and Hungarian might be applicable depending on the time periods before the Yugoslavian time period.

Argentina

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

The territorial organization of Argentina is made up of several levels. Due to some differences between the provinces, the general structure will follow the following model:

First-level: 23 provinces (provincias)

Second-Level: 378 departments (departamentos), 135 Partidos (Buenos Aires Province only)

Third-level: Municipalities (municipios)

Fourth-level and smaller: Village, Town, City

One Independent City: Buenos Aires (Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and largest city of Argentina. It is composed of 48 Neighborhoods (barrios), and 15 communes (comunas) that include one or more of the neighborhoods.

Exception 1: For the provinces of Mendoza, La Rioja, and San Juan, all of which have districts under the departments, the structure will follow this model:

Level 1 - Province (Provincia)

Level 2 - Departments (Departamentos)

Level 3 - Districts (Distritos)

Other Notes - We will not use the place type "Municipality" as both these provinces equate districts (in Mendoza and La Rioja) and departments (in San Juan) with municipalities. As a result, we will include and describe all cities and towns in each district, even those that share the same name as the district.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Each commune of Buenos Aires encompasses one or more neighborhoods (barrios), which are represented in the respective community centers for administrative purposes.

Roman Catholic Parishes should be located under the smallest administrative unit where they are located, usually a city, town or village. Roman Catholic Archdioceses and Dioceses should be located directly under the country.

For the province of Entre Ríos, we will not describe its districts as they are used primarily for cadastral (tax) purposes.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

The history of Argentina can be divided into four main parts: the pre-Columbian time or early history (up to the sixteenth century), the colonial period (1530–1810), the period of nation-building (1810–1880), and the history of modern Argentina (from around 1880).

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

Spanish

Trusted Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communes_of_Buenos_Aires
• https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizaci%C3%B3n_territorial_de_Argentina
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Argentina

Venezuela

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

The country's territory is divided into:

• • Level 1 - Districts (6)
  • Level 2 - Constituencies (31)

Historical subdivisions:

FS Places will use "district" as the corresponding place type for the districts and "divisions" for the constituencies.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Overall, the country has two general historical periods described in FS Places:

• • Pre-Colonial/Colonial Period (Unknown-1981)
  • Modern Period (1981-Today)

Although Spain and Guatemala have both claimed the are of Belize, FS Places has chosen not to include these claims in its description due to the strong presence of the United Kingdom in the area since the early 18th century.

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

English is the official language and should be used for all display names. Belizean Creole and Spanish are also both widely spoken and can be used for alternate names as appropriate.

Bolivia

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

ADM 1 - 9 Departments

ADM 2 - 112 Provinces

ADM 3 - 342 Municipalities & 1 Indigenous Territory

ADM 4 - Cantons/Districts (According to service missionaries in Bolivia, this level is widely used in identifying places and is therefore necessary.)

ADM 5 - Cities, towns, villages, etc.

ADM 6 - Churches, Parishes, Cemeteries, etc.

Historical subdivisions:

Most place types have directly corresponding types in FS Places. Any Indigenous Territories should use the place type "Reservation or Reserve."

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Historical periods in Bolivia should generally fall into one of four distinct periods:

• Pre-colonial Bolivia: Unknown-1559
  
  • As of 1 Sept 2023, this period is not described with a separate historical period.
• Viceroyalty of Peru: 1559-1776
  
  • Described separately from Bolivia as it included most of South America at one point or another. Its repID is 12215489.
• Viceroyalty of Río de la Plata: 1776-1809
  
  • Described separately from Bolivia as it also included Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. Its repID is 12215490.
• Modern Bolivia: 1809-Today

Most places will only have a single historical period corresponding to the last time period listed above (Modern Bolivia: 1809-Today).

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

Bolivia's official languages include Spanish and 36 indigenous languages, with Aymara, Quechua, Chiquitano, and Guaraní being the most prominent. All place names should be in Spanish at a minimum and include other indigenous language names as available and appropriate.

Brazil

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1: States (pt: Estado)
• Level 2: Municipalities (pt: Município)
• Level 3: Districts (pt: Distrito)

Subdivisions of São Paolo:

• Level 1: Boroughs, or Subprefectures (pt: Subprefeituras) - 32 in total; these are grouped into nine regions
• Level 2: Wards (pt: Distritos) - 96 in total
• Level 3: Neighborhoods (pt: Bairros) - 1 or more per ward

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Cities and towns that are also the seat of a municipality, should be described only once with the place type Municipality.
• Settlements within a municipality may be described as District, Village, or Hamlet depending on their size and the presence or absence of administrative authority.
• Churches, Catholic parishes and cemeteries should be described within the Village or District within which they are located - in many cases, this will be directly within a Municipality.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Brazil is described within FS Places from 1500. It is described generally and without great detail, so as to better contain all places in a useful geographical context.

Language:

Portuguese will be the native language for practically all places described within Brazil. Local indigenous languages and occasional names in other regionally (internationally) significant languages should be added as needed.

Chile

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

Country, Region (región), Department (departamento), Municipality (comuna), City (Town/Village/Hamlet)

** Because the departments have remained constant, the region (región) level will be described using the "related place" function within FamilySearch Places. The primary means of display for a common municipality will only have three levels: municipality, department, country.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Catholic Parishes are found within the city or town in which they are located. In cases where the name of the city/town is also the name of the municipality/comuna, parishes should be located under the municipality/comuna.
• Cemeteries should be located under the city/town in which they are located,. 
  
  • Exceptions: For those larger cities with multiple comunas within the city boundaries, cemeteries may be located under the comuna if they are associated more with the comuna than the city and if it makes more sense to associate them in that way rather than under the city.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Division during the Colony until 1833: The administrative division of Chile towards the end of the 18th century was as follows: Provincias o Intendencias ( where only three provinces) and  Partidos y Gobiernos (townships).
• Division from 1810 - 1833 : Before the beginning of Independence, the Chilean territory was divided into 2 provinces or municipalities (Santiago and Concepción), and these were subdivided into parties that had their respective councils, in the main cities or towns.
• Division from 1833 - 1925 : The Constitution of 1833 reorganized the interior government, from highest to lowest unit with its corresponding authorities: Province, Department, Subdelegation, and District
• Division from 1925 - 1976: The Constitution of 1925 repeats the scheme of that of 1833. It establishes a political division (provinces, departments, sub-delegations and districts), and an administrative division (provinces, communes). The territory of a commune is equivalent to a complete sub-delegation. For each commune or group of communes there was a municipality, directed by a mayor and regidores.
• Division from 1976 - Today: In the 1970s, a new political-administrative division was established in Chile, which organized the country on the basis of regions, together with a new internal administrative regime. Thus, for the purposes of government and internal administration, the country's territory was divided into regions and the regions into provinces; while for the purposes of local administration, the provinces would be divided into communes.

Language:

Spanish will be the native language for practically all places described within Chile.

Colombia

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• First-level: Colombia is a unitary republic conformed by thirty-two departments (Spanish: departamentos, sing. departamento) and a Capital District (Distrito Capital)
• Second-level: Municipalities make up most of the departments of Colombia with 1,122 municipalities (municipios).
• Third-level: Corregimiento is an internal part of a department or province, which includes a population core. It is usually less populated than a municipality. It has 2,000+ corregimientos
• Fourth-level and smaller: Village, Town, City

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places

• Europeans first visited the territory that became Colombia in 1499 when the first expedition of Alonso de Ojeda arrived at the Cabo de la Vela.
• Pre-Columbian period pre-1499, Spanish colonization 1499–1550, New Kingdom of Granada 1550–1717, Viceroyalty of New Granada 1717–1819
• United Provinces of New Granada 1810–1816, Gran Colombia 1819–1831, Republic of New Granada 1831–1858, Granadine Confederation 1858–1863,
• United States of Colombia 1863–1886, Republic of Colombia 1886–present

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

Spanish

Trusted Sources:

• https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corregimientos_de_Colombia
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Departments_of_Colombia
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_divisions_of_Colombia
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Colombia#The_Republic:_Liberal_and_Conservative_Conflict

Costa Rica

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

Politically and administratively, Costa Rica is made up of 7 provinces:

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

Spanish

Dominica

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1  Parishes
• Level 2  Cities & Plantations
• Level 3  Villages & Settlements
• Level 4  Cemeteries, Churches, Hospitals, Schools, etc.

In this small island country, you will see many springs, waterfalls, lakes, etc. on the maps. Since they are not populated places, it is not necessary to add them to the database, but they are significant gathering places for the islanders and may be added, if desired.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Plantations were large estates of land used to produce and export "cash crops" - classify these an an Estate (not Farm).

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Was under British control of Leeward Islands and Windward Islands.
• Became a province of the short-lived West Indies Federation (1958-1962)
• Was an associated state of the United Kingdom in 1967, and formally took responsibility for its internal affairs.
• Became an independent republic in 1978.

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• English
• Dominican Creole
• French

Dominican Republic

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

The country's territory is divided into:

• Level 1 - Provinces/Provincias (31) & a National District/Distrito Nacional (1)
• Level 2 - Municipalities/Municipios (158)
• Level 3 - Districts/Distritos (235)

The country is also divided into three macro-regions that are further subdivided into Development Regions (Regiones de Desarrollo). Both possess some administrtive functions and should be described. They should only be used as related places at the provincial level.
National District/Distrito Nacional - The National District is a subdivision of the Dominican Republic where the capital of the country Santo Domingo de Guzmán is located. This area is further subdivided into incorporated areas called sectors/sectores, which could be considered a small urban cities. For the National District/Distrito Nacional, we will also describe these subdivisions as follows:

• Level 4 - Sectors/sectores as Neighborhoods/Barrios
• Level 5 - if needed, as Subdistricts/Subbarrios

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

As the actual place types for levels 1-3 have corresponding types in FS Places, usage should be rather straightforward. Within the National District, sectors/sectores will be described using the type "Neighborhood or suburb".

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Overall, the country has three general historical periods:

• Pre-Colonial Period (Unknown-1492)
• Colonial Period (1492-1844)
• Modern Period (1844-Today)

Due to the frequent administrative changes to the country's administrative structure, general historical periods based on administrative changes are not feasible. Each province should generally have one historical period that begins with the year of its creation. Municipalities should follow this same guideline, adding historical periods as the parent province changes. The administrative scaffolding should focus on describing the modern era (1844-Today) completely before moving into the previous eras.

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

Spanish

Ecuador

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1: Province (provincia) → There are 24 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provinces_of_Ecuador)
• Level 2: Canton (canton) → There are 221 in total (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantons_of_Ecuador). Three parishes are not located within a province.
• Level 3: Civil Parish (parroquía) → There are 221 in total (https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parroquias_de_Ecuador) that are classified as either rural or urban. At this time, there is not a reason to distinguish between them in FS Places.
• Level 4: Cities, Towns, Villages, and Hamlets
• Level 5: Churches, Cemeteries, Hospitals, Religious Parishes

The Canton of Quito is also referred to as the Metropolitan District of Quito and is divided differently than the other areas in Ecuador with the following levels:

• Level 1: Administrative Zones (zonas administrtivas), of which there are 9
• Level 2: Civil Parishes (parroquías civiles)
• Level 3: Neighborhoods (barrios)

For more information on the administrative organization of Quito, see this Wikipedia page: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distrito_Metropolitano_de_Quito#División_política

For a general overview of the country's administrative organization and more information, see this Wikipedia page: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizaci%C3%B3n_territorial_de_Ecuador

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Religious parishes should follow established guidelines and be created under the smallest political unit.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places

Historical periods should generally follow the following model, which condenses some periods together in order to increase usefulness and avoid confusion:

• Period 1: Pre-columbian (approx. Unknown-1530)
• Period 2: Spanish Colonial (approx. 1530-1820)
• Period 3: Gran Colombia (approx. 1820-1830)
• Period 4: Republic of Ecuador (approx. 1830-Today)

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages) :

Spanish is the official national language. But Northern Quechua is also widely spoken.

El Salvador

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

El Salvador is divided into 14 departments (departamentos). Each departament has its own Capital, which in turn are subdivided into 262 municipalities (municipios). Municipalities are subdivided into one urban area which is the municipal capital and various cantons which compromise its rural population. Cantons are composed of Caseríos.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Cantons are the 4th level which are composed of Caserios.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Kingdom of Cuzcatlan (c.1200–1528) - Cuzcatlan (Nawat: Kuskatan) (Nahuatl: Cuzcatlan) was a pre-Columbian Nahua state confederation of the Mesoamerican postclassical period.
• Spanish conquest (1524–1539) - In 1545, San Salvador was moved to its current location, and on 27 September 1546, it was elevated in status to a city. El Salvador originally formed three administrative divisions, those of Sonsonate (Izalcos), San Salvador (Cuscatlan), and San Miguel. Sonsonate was an alcaldía mayor, while San Salvador, San Miguel, and Choluteca (now in Honduras) formed the alcaldía mayor of San Salvador.
• Intendancy of San Salvador (1785–1821) - The intendancy was formed in 1785 as a part of the Bourbon Reforms and was formed along with the intendancies of Ciudad Real, Comayagua, and León. It was dissolved in 1821 following the signing of the Act of Independence of Central America on 15 September of that year that established the United Provinces of Central America, which San Salvador joined as a province.
• Federal Republic of Central America (1821–1841) - The Federal Republic of Central America (Spanish: República Federal de Centroamérica), also called the United Provinces of Central America (Spanish: Provincias Unidas del Centro de América) in its first year of creation, was a sovereign state in Central America that consisted of the territories of the former Captaincy General of Guatemala of New Spain. It existed from July 1823 to February 1841, as a democratic republic.
• Greater Republic of Central America (1895–1898) -
  The Greater Republic of Central America (Spanish: República Mayor de Centroamérica), later the United States of Central America (Spanish: Estados Unidos de Centroamérica), originally planned to be known as the Republic of Central America (Spanish: República de América Central), was a short-lived political union between El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua, lasting from 1896 to 1898.

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

Spanish

Guatemala

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• ADM 1 - Departments (es: Departamento)
• ADM 2 - Municipalities (es: Municipio)
• ADM 3 - Cities, Towns, & Villages
• ADM 4 - Cemeteries, Churches, Parishes, etc.

Historical subdivisions:

FS Places will use the places types listed above to describe the different levels.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

During the colonial era, Guatemala was part of the Captaincy-General of Guatemala, which declared itself independent from Spain and existed briefly as the Federal Republic of Central America. Both of these places will be described under the Captaincy-General of Guatemala. The modern country of Guatemala should be described independently starting in 1847, the year it declared itself an independent country.

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

Spanish

Haiti

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

Haiti follows a structure similar to that used in France:

ADM 1 - Departments (Départements)

ADM 2 - Districts (Arrondissements)

ADM 3 - Municipalities (Communes)

ADM 4 - Cities, Towns, & Villages

ADM 5 - Cemeteries, Churches, Parishes, etc.

Historical subdivisions:

FS Places will use the places types listed above to describe the different levels.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

1697 was chosen as a start date for Haiti because that was when Hispaniola was divided between the French and the Spanish and Haiti became known as its own place even though it was known by a different name and didn't become independent from France until much later in 1804.

Although Centre, Grand'Anse, Nord-Est, and Sud-Est departments were legislatively created in 1962, FS Places will use their implementation date (1980) as a start date for these departments and the places under them.

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

French and Haitian Creole

Honduras

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• ADM 1 - Departments (es: Departamento)
• ADM 2 - Municipalities (es: Municipio)
• ADM 3 - Cities, Towns, & Villages
• ADM 4 - Cemeteries, Churches, Parishes, etc.

The capital Tegucigalpa forms part of the Central District along with Comayagüela and should be treated as a municipality within the Francisco Morazán department.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

FS Places will use the places types listed above to describe the different levels.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

During the colonial era, Honduras was part of the Captaincy-General of Guatemala, which declared itself independent from Spain and existed briefly as the Federal Republic of Central America. Both of these places will be described under the Captaincy-General of Guatemala. The modern country of Honduras should be described independently starting in 1821, the year it declared itself an independent country.

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

Spanish

Jamaica

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

Jamaica is divided into 14 parishes, which are grouped into three historic counties that have no administrative relevance. The counties will not be used in the hierarchy.

The structure will be neighborhood, city/town/village, parish, country.

• Level 0: Country
• Level 1: Parish
• Level 2: City/Town/Village
• Level 3: Neighborhood

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• County: These will not be used. There are only three historic counties that have no administrative relevance.
• Parish: There are 14 Parishes in Jamaica. The parishes of Jamaica are the main units of local government in Jamaica.
• Municipality: These will not be used. Currently there are only two, “Kingston & St. Andrew Municipal Corporation”, and “Municipality of Portmore”. These are administrative services only.
• City: Official city status on a settlement is only conferred by Act of Parliament. Only three areas have this designation.
• Town/Village: The Statistical Institute of Jamaica considers an urban area to be any area with 2,000 or more residents. A town would generally be considered to be ranked as a higher populated urban area, and a village as a minor urban area.
• Neighborhood: Geographically obvious subdivisions of any of the above.
• Civil Registration District (CRD): Many City/Town/Villages have a CRD with the same name. The only places designated as a CRD should be those with not having the same name as City/Town/Village. We will not create CRDs for each one. For those cities/towns with a CRD with the same name, one can just make a note that it is also a CRD with same name. Example: https://www.familysearch.org/research/places/?focusedId=1177881
  
  • If a City/Town/Villages resides in a with a different name and has a place ID, we can add the CRD as a Related Place.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Jamaica the country will be treated as one historical period. Jamaica was under Spanish rule from 1509 to 1655 then British rule from 1655 to 1962. In 1962 it declared independence and became its own country. No historic periods places will be used for the time of Spanish and British rule.

The parent Parish of a town/village/etc. may have changed due to creation, deletion, or border change of the Parish. These changes should be shown with Historical Period Tabs of the town/village/etc. As for the Parish place, we do not create additional Historic Period Tabs for just border changes.

A good resource for these changes can be found at: https://liberalarts.tamu.edu/nautarch/port-royal-archives/port-royal-maps/parishes-of-jamaica/

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

Jamaica is regarded as a bilingual country, with two major languages in use by the population. The official language is English, which is "used in all domains of public life", including the government, the legal system, the media, and education.

However, the primary spoken language is an English-based creole called Jamaican Patois (or Patwa).

Both languages should be used when possible. Currently in FamilySearch Places there is no language option for Patwa.

Mexico

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

The United Mexican States (Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos) is a federal republic composed of 32 Federal Entities: 31 states, and Mexico City as a federal district. Municipalities (municipios in Spanish) are the second-level administrative divisions of Mexico. There are 2,448 municipalities in Mexico, not including the 16 alcaldías of Mexico City.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Since municipalities in Mexico can include large numbers of towns, villages, and hamlets, those that have the same name as the municipality are

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Mexico is described with three historical periods:

• Pre-colonial Mexico: 1000 - 1519
• New Spain: 1519 - 1821
• Independent Mexico: 1821 - Today

Language (anticipated default language(s), other significant display languages):

Spanish

Paraguay

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1: 17 departments and one capital district/distrito capital (Asuncion)
• Level 2: 261 districts that are also referred to as municipalities.

Capital district (distrito capital): Administratively, the city forms an autonomous capital district, not a part of any department. Asunción is organized geographically into districts and these in turn bring together the different neighborhoods.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Use the corresponding FS place types for the different levels:

• department = Department
• capital district = Independent City
• district = District
• neighborhood = Neighborhood or suburb

Paraguay also has two regions in its administrative scaffolding. These should be created with their alternate names but only used as related places for the departments.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

For the provinces, one historical period will be sufficient to describe them. Other levels will probably need more depending on the changes that were made.

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages) :

Spanish and Guarani are official languages. Places should have names in both languages when possible.

Peru

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1: 25 regions (departamentos); Callao and Lima are both regions, provinces, and cities
• Level 2: 196 Provinces
• Level 3: Districts (1,869 districts in total)
• Level 4: Cities and Towns

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Contrary to what is done elsewhere, churches and parishes are placed under the district and not the city.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places

The history of Peru can be divided into 3 principal periods:

1. Pre-colonial (Unknown-1532)
2. Colonial (1532-1824)
3. Independent Republic (1824-Today)

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

Spanish will be the native language for practically all places described within Peru.

Puerto Rico

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

Dependency/Protectorate, Municipality, Barrio, Sub-district (subbarrio)/Village/Hamlet

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

FamilySearch Places describes Puerto Rico as a depency/protectorate with a Related Place of the United States. There has been some debate over whether to describe Puerto Rico as a "child" of the United States or as a separate country-level entity. In July of 2020 a change was made to make it "Puerto Rico, United States" This has caused problems for some BI tracking measures. We are re-visiting the issue now (3 Dec. 2020).

Issues to be aware of:

1. Originally it was requested by the Search to make Puerto Rico part of the USA to allow for better searching of census records.
2. BI would like it to be left as a separate country as it messes with reporting on images and also for data pulled from the tree
3. There may be addition impact to the operations and camera teams, - more detail may be needed on this point
4. When switching it back and forth, a completely different bug shows up in the tree when creating and finding people if we move it back to a top level country (Youtube Video)

Proposal:

1. Move Puerto Rico back to a top level AFTER each of the items above have been addressed.

Uruguay

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• 19 departments divided into 125 municipalities. Montevideo is the capital and exists as both a department and a city within that department.
• Departments have been stable since 1885. Municipalities were created in 2010 and later. 
• Administrative structure for most of the country should be:

Level 1: Departments (departamentos)

Level 2: Municipalities (municipios)

Level 3: Cities, Towns, Villages, etc. (ciudades, pueblos, etc.)

• Montevideo (city) should be placed directly under its department due to the fact that the city lies within multiple municipalities. The municipalities should be described as related places within the appropriate historical periods of Montevideo (city).
• Montevideo (city) is also divided into neighborhoods (barrios). These exited prior to the municipalities within the department and should be created under the city. The corresponding  municipality/-ies for each neighborhood can be described using Related Places. 

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Montevideo has some special considerations, as follows:
  
  • Montevideo should be described as both a department and a city, since they are two separate and distinct entities.
  • As a result of the above, we will also not use the place type of Independent City to describe the city, as has been done in other areas of the world. 
  • Montevideo Department is also known as the Capital District (el distrito capital). This name should be included as an alternate name.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

As a country, one historical period (1825-Today) should be sufficient. Other historical periods may be added as needed for lower level places.

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

Spanish is the official language.

Venezuela

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• ADM 1: States (23 in total)
• ADM 2: Municipalities (335 in total)
• ADM 3: Civil Parishes (1,146 in total)
• ADM 4: Villages, Hamlets, etc.
• ADM 5: Religious Parishes, Cemeteries, Schools, Hospitals, etc. 

In addition to the states, the ADM 1 includes other federal entities: the Capital District (which includes part of the city of Caracas), the Federal Dependencies (islands, mostly uninhabited) and the Federal Territories. Venezuela also has a Reclamation Zone. (are subdivided into Villages and Hamlets).

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Historical subdivisions:

Prior to the Federal War (1859–1863), Venezuela was divided into provinces rather than states. The victorious forces were supposed to grant more autonomy to the individual states, but this was not implemented.

Between 1863 and the early 1900s, there were numerous territorial changes, including the merger and splitting of states. Thereafter, until the late 1990s, the states were left unchanged. Recent years have seen the creation of three new states: Delta Amacuro, Amazonas, and Vargas.

1899-04-22: National Congress decreed a return to the twenty states of 1864. The 1901 constitution defined the states to be the same as under the 1864 constitution, with the following names changed: Barinas to Zamora, Barquisimeto to Lara, Caracas to Miranda, Coro to Falcón, Cumaná to Sucre, Guayana to Bolívar, Maracaibo to Zulia, and Margarita to Nueva Esparta. At the same time, Distrito Federal and the territories of Amazonas, Colón, Delta Amacuro, and Yuruary were created.

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

Spanish

Canada

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

Country; Province; County or District; Township/City; Village/Hamlet

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Regional municipalities will be classified in FS Places as counties or districts, depending on their history.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Canada is described in FS Places as a country beginning in 1867. Before that time, the provinces and places now within Canada are described within "British Colonial America."

Language (anticipated default language(s), other significant display languages):

English will be the Native Spoken Language for all places in Canada that are not within Quebec. French should be the Native Spoken Language for Quebec and its subordinate places. French place names could be important for significant towns and cities near Quebec and various Native American language names may be important in certain cases.

Alberta

https://www.alberta.ca/types-of-municipalities-in-alberta.aspx

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_municipalities_in_Alberta

Many different types of municipalities.

• Cities are directly under the province. Towns, Villages, and Summer Villages should be children of the municipal district that surrounds them.
• Specialized Municipalities, Municipal Districts, Improvement Districts, Metis Settlements, Special Areas, and First Nations Reserves should also be directly under the province.
  
  • All these should be District except First Nations Reserves (which should be Reservation or Reserve)
• Hamlets and unincorporated settlements should be children of municipal districts (or specialized municipalities) 

British Columbia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_municipalities_in_British_Columbia

Like, Alberta, many types of municipalities, most directly under the province:

• Cities, Towns, and Villages are directly under the province.
• Indian government districts, island municipalities, mountain resort municipalities, and resort municipalities are directly under the province.
• District municipalities are directly under the province.
  
  • Communities may be children of district municipalities if they are not incorporated as a City, Town, or Village.

Manitoba

Some guidelines for working with municipalities in Manitoba:

• Manitoba distinguishes between urban and rural municipalities.
  
  • Urban municipalities often use the place types city, town, and village instead of "municipality."
  • Rural municipalities will use the term "Rural Municipality" in the display name to disambiguate them.
  • Urban municipalities will follow our standard practice of using the name of the municipal head without using any other identifying terms, such as Municipality, in the display name. 
• Manitoba did a huge re-organization/update to its municipalities in 2015. Some guidelines for dealing with the mergers/amalgamations that came out of that:
  
  • If only one rural municipality amalgamates with an urban municipality to create a new municipality with a name that does not match the urban municipality's, the new municipality should be created on the pset of the rural municipality.
  • If more than one rural municipality is amalgamating into a new municipality, then the new municipality should be created on its own pset.
  • Create the new municipality on the pset of the urban municipality with a place type of "municipality" if:
    
    • The rural and urban municipalities share the same primary name, AND
    • The new municipality shares this same name. 
    • Example: Ethelbert Rural Municipality (place type: municipality; repID: 11801640; pset ID: ), and Ethelbert (place type: village; repID: 2178974; pset ID: ) merged to create the Municipality of Ethelbert (place type: municipality; repID: 12131271; pset ID: ).
      

Newfoundland and Labrador

Cities, towns, and Inuit community governments should be directly under the province. Census divisions should not be used.

Ontario

For counties that permanently united in the mid-1850s, each county should be in its own pset until the year the counties united, when a new pset should be created to represent the larger merged county (see Leeds and Grenville for an example). For counties that only united for a short period of time, the united county time period will be documented through a note and an alternate name with the full name of the united county. No historical period is necessary (see Wellington, Waterloo, and Grey counties for an example).

Towns and villages should be directly under the county in most cases. Townships should be added as related places.

Quebec

All municipalities (except cities), whether township, village, parish, or unspecified ones, are functionally and legally identical. The only difference is that the designation might serve to disambiguate between otherwise identically-named municipalities, often neighboring ones. See the following Wikipedia article for more information:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Types_of_municipalities_in_Quebec

United States of America

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

Country, State, County, City/Town/Village/Hamlet

Exceptions to this general hierarchy will be in the New England states (including New York) and Pennsylvania, where FS Places will include an additional level of jurisdiction between county and village (see below for details).

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Villages will likely be most common (i.e. Census-designated place, unincorporated community, etc.). Cemeteries and Churches should be described within the village/city that they are in - or very close to (cemeteries). Churches or cemeteries in rural areas (i.e. more than 2 miles from a village or city) may be described directly within a county (most states) or a township/town (special states listed below).

Minor Civil Divisions are an important group of place types for US Census records. They are subdivisions of counties. States use various different types:

• Town - Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, Wisconsin
• Township - Illinois (some counties), Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania
• magisterial district: Kentucky, Virginia
• militia district: Georgia
• precinct: Illinois (some counties)
• school district: Montana

In most cases these Minor Civil Divisions will be described as Related Places for the villages or hamlets that can be described within them, rather than being included as "parent places." Exceptions to this general rule are detailed below.

Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Wisconsin

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific): Country, State, County, Township/Town/Borough, Village/Hamlet/Neighborhood

Small communities (villages, hamlets, etc.) in these states should be described within Townships (Pennsylvania) or Towns (all states listed above that are not Pennsylvania) rather than directly within counties.

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio

Small communities in these states will be described directly within counties. Related Places may be used to describe the additional and less important township level (useful for census records and little else).

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

FamilySearch Places describes British Colonial America as a country-level entity for the area of the United States prior to 1776.

In the future, FS Places will transition to a "cleaner" look in regards to states. States of the US and their counterpart territories, will be described once and once only with Alternate Names helping users connect the slight differences. For example, rather than Wyoming (1890-Today) and Wyoming Territory (1868-1890) FS Places will simply describe Wyoming (1868-Today).

California, New Mexico, Texas

These states should all have a New Spain era, and a United States era. In addition, California, New Mexico, and Texas should also have a Mexico era.

California

Missions and pueblos should be described with the place type Village or Town. We can represent mission or pueblo status in Alternate Names. Ranchos may be described with the place type Farm (smaller) or Estate (larger) or feel free to use Village if that feels like a better option based on the place and its context.

Louisiana

Louisiana uses the term "Parish" rather than "County" for their primary administrative divisions. To be consistent with other states throughout the US, FS Places will use the place type County for Louisiana's parishes. The alternate names for all of these "county-like" parishes in Louisiana should include a full, formal name (for example, "Acadia Parish"). The display name for Louisiana's parishes/counties should be the simple, short name (e.g. "Acadia"), as it is with other counties in other US states.

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

English

American Samoa

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• English is common, but Samoan should be used as official.

Australia

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific)

Level 1 State & Territory. Australia has 6 states, 3 internal territories, and 7 external territories.  Each state & territory has its own terms for cadastral divisions.

• Level 2 Cities, towns, hamlets, villages, suburbs (place type Neighborhoods and Suburbs)
• Level 3  Cemeteries, Churches (Place of worship), Hospitals, Schools, etc. 

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• LGAs should be listed as Municipalities in FamilySearch Places.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Historical Records of Australia (HRA) records begin shortly before 1788,

• Historically divided into Hundreds and Parishes. Later, Counties, Local Government Areas (LGA), Municipalities and Shires. These places are used as Related Places, not as parents.

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages)

English is most commonly spoken. Has no other official languages, though there are Indigenous languages, pidgins, creoles, and immigrants' languages spoken.

Dual Place Names:

Aboriginal names for places, if available, should be included in place descriptions. They should be listed as an alternate name using the correct language code for the aboriginal language. If desired, they can be listed as a display name. However, they should not be used as a display name jointly with the English place name unless recognized by the government as an official name for that place, which is usually indicated by its use in official government documents, such as birth, marriage, death, or census records.

Kiribati

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1: Gilbert Islands, Line Islands, or Phoenix Islands – each of these are Archipelagos
• Level 2: More islands, but each island is in the above archipelagos
• Level 3: Villages
• Level 4: Churches/schools

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

Language: (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages)

Gilbertese

New Zealand

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

Don't divide places under North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui), and South Island (Te Waipounamu). Begin Level 1 jurisdiction at Province/Region level.

• Level 1 (1841-1853) - Provinces (3) in the Crown Colony
• Level 1 (1853-1876) - Provinces (6 to 9)
• Level 1 (1876) Provinces were changed to Regions (16)
• Level 2 (1876) Counties were first created
• Level 2 (1989) Counties were changed to Districts
• Level 3 Boroughs were changed to Cities, Towns
• Level 4 Wards, Villages, Hamlets, Settlements
• Level 5 Cemeteries, Churches, Hospitals, Schools, etc. These are to be placed under the correct parent. Example: A cemetery may belong to a municipality, a city or a village. In each instance, the parent would be the municipality, or the city, or the village.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Awa - use Bay, Cove, Channel or Harbor
• Iwi, Iwi-tūturu, Hapū, and Tino-iwi - use Clan
• Kāinga - use Village
• Kāinga noho - use Building (home or residence)
• Rohe pōti, Electoral District, and Electorate - use Precinct
• Marae - use Place of worship
• Ngā takiwā - use Region
• Pā and Redoubt - use Military installation
• Rohe and District Council - use District
• Urupa and Burial ground - use Cemetery
• Waka - Canoe(s) used for ocean immigration; they are named and an important part of Maori genealogy

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Historical divisions occurred mostly in 1876 and 1989.

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages)

• Maori (mi)
• English (en)

Dual Place Names:

Maori names for places, if available, should be included in place descriptions. They should be listed as an alternate name using the correct language code. If desired, they can be listed as a display name. However, they should not be used as a display name jointly with the English place name unless recognized by the government as an official name for that place, which is usually indicated by its use in official government documents, such as birth, marriage, death, or census records.

Papua New Guinea

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1 Regions (4)
• Level 2  Provinces (24)
• Level 3  Districts (89)
• Level 4  Local-Level Government Areas aka LLG (326)
• Level 5  Wards (6,112)
• Level 6  Census Units

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• for LLGs - use Municipality
• for Wards - use Town
• for Capitals - use City 
• for Census Units - use Hamlet, Dispersed Settlement or Village

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Became an independent commonwealth in 1975, but we are using related places to show the colonial jurisdictions under Australia, Britain, etc.

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

Official and most commonly used in urban areas, are

• English (en or eng)
• Tok Pisin (tpi) also called Talk Pidgin and simply Pidgin 
• Hiri Motu (ho or hmo) also called Police Moto, Pidgin Motu, and Hiri

There are some forms of German mixed with the native languages.
There are 851 known local languages. If one of those languages are specific to a place, use it also in Variant names.

Tonga

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1: Island Districts/Island Groups
  
  • Tongatapu
  • Vava'u
  • Ha'apai
  • Niuafo'ou
  • Niuatapoutapu
  • Eua
• Cemeteries are inside the village

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Village
• City - The only city in the country is Nuku'alofa
• Hamlet and Town are not appropriate for Tonga. Only use village.
• Islands
• Cemetery
• Although Districts are technically used, please use the island groups as the level 1 administration. 

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Most places have no time period
• There was a migration from Niuafo'ou to 'Eua in the 1940s, so there are villages out there that started in the 40s. There may be other groups like this as well. Those new villages in 'Eua are some of the only villages with a start date.

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Tongan
• Most places currently are in English. Please change the language from "English" to "Tongan".

Tuvalu

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1 - Island Districts (Island Councils) (9)
• Level 2 - Islands
• Level 3 - Towns & Villages

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• "Town" should only be used for Asau, and Vaiaku. All other settlements should use "Village"
• The capital of Funafuti refers to the entire atoll and not just the largest settlement of Vaiaku on Fongfale. So descriptions for Funafuti should describe the atoll/island and not just a single populated place.
• Districts refer to all the islands and ilsets associated with a specific island council.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• Although the country was colonized and under trust administration at various times, FS Places is choosing to use one historical period to describe Tuvalu. Additional historical periods can be added if necessary.

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• Tuvaluan (tvl)
• English (en)
• All places should give preference to Tuvaluan as a display name but include English variants as Alternate Names.

Vanuatu

Anticipated hierarchical structure (general to specific):

• Level 1 - Provinces (6)
• Level 2 - Municipalities (12), usually consisting of an individual island
• Level 3 - Cities & Towns
• Level 4 - Hamlets & Villages
• Level 5 - Cemeteries, Churches, Hospitals, Schools, etc. These are to be placed under the correct parent. Example: A cemetery may belong to a municipality, a city or a village. In each instance, the parent would be the municipality, or the city, or the village.

Anticipated place types and what to do with them:

• Vanuatu was formerly known as New Hebrides 
• Archipelagos (island groups) should be entered as Related Places.

Historical treatment in FamilySearch Places:

• During the Condominium era ca. 1968 to 1984, Vanuatu was divided into 4 Administrative Districts
• From 1985 to 1994, Vanuatu was divided into 11 Island Regions
• Before 1994, Districts were also called Councils or Island Councils.  For some time, Districts were called Wilaya (an Arabic term) 
• Since 1994, Vanuatu has been divided into 6 provinces

Language (anticipated default languages, other significant display languages):

• English (eng)
• Bislama (bis) - a creole or pidgen

Will also see some place-names in French or German.
There are about 17 north Vanuatu languages. If places are found written in local languages, add them as Variant Names. (See spreadsheet for languages & ISO codes)