Excel Maps-Is there a Master list of regions?

[MikePetrychanko]

Hi There,

I'm a teacher in Ontario, Canada I've enjoyed using the maps function in Excel with my geography class, 

As I've seen on some other posts, the map function can be problematic if there is more than one place in the world with same same (Durham, Essex, etc.), and there are also challenges with non-English languages. 

While I can map some Canadian provinces based on the regional names in the provincial directory ( British Columbia, PEI, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick)  other provinces aren't so easy. 

Is there a list of the regions that Bing uses to identify locations. Rather than guessing at what name Bing uses for a name, is there a way to find out the names that Bing already has for a region for each location?

Thanks in advance.

[#2]

Have you tried using the Geography data type yet? (only available if you are on Office 365 though)

[#3]

@Jan Karel PieterseHI Jan,

I have tried using the geography data set. It will populate the information if I put in the right region name, but I have to know the name first. I'm guessing that If Bing Maps lists Ontario as a province, is there any way for them to have a drop-down box that lists all of the correct municipalities so that they display properly on the map. Right now if I go to the provincial website for Regions and Municipalities in Ontario and put it in excel, the regions don't all match up to what is displayed on the map.

Rather than having to guess at the regions in the province, is there a way for Bing or Excel to provide these lists for us.

[#4]

I agree this is hard. If you use the table I created in the attached (from the Ontario site) and convert column A to geographic data type, a number of municipalities are not recognized. I don't really know how to make that work I'm afraid.

[#5]

@Jan Karel PieterseHi Jan,

Thanks so much for passing this along. I've run into the problem as well that certain regions aren't recognized. When I try to do this for Quebec it will translate some of the names on its own (i.e. Nord-du-Quebec changes to Katimavik).

Do you know if there is a way to contact Microsoft to see if we can get some sort of master list? It would save a lot of digging on the part of the user, and make it easier to accurately map information.

Thanks again.

Stay Safe.

[#6]

@MikePetrychanko 

I will be very surprised if such master list exists.