All countries or areas have official and formal designations, many of which are not well suited for use in statistical databases and publications, particularly in tabulations and graphs. These designations are therefore often simplified.

The list of countries or areas is based on one of the FAO statistical standard series "Standard Country or Area Codes for Statistical Use", which is a modified version, for FAO purposes, of the United Nations "Standard Country or Area Codes for Statistical Use" which was originally published by the UN Statistics Division (UNSD) as Series M, No.49 (commonly known as "M49", refer point D below).

Based on this approach, for example:

• "United Kingdom" (or UK) refers to The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
• "Venezuela" refers to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

The designations employed and the presentation of material in publications are used simply for practical reasons, and are usually accompanied by a note that they do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the publishing agency concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

The list of countries or areas includes the following descriptors:

1. FAO multilingual country or area code (maximum 12 characters) used for statistical purposes.
2. 3-alpha country or area code by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO Country codes)
3. 2-alpha country or area code by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO Country codes)
4. 3-digit numerical country or area code by the United Nations (UN) (refer reference below)
5. Continents: 002 = Africa; 019 = Americas; 142 = Asia; 150 = Europe; 009 = Oceania
6. Country or area names in English (maximum 24 characters)
7. Country or area names in French (maximum 24 characters)
8. Country or area names in Spanish (maximum 24 characters)

International Organization for Standardization (ISO). 2013. ISO 3166 Country Codes. [Cited 1 November 2020]. https://www.iso.org/iso-3166-country-codes.html

United Nations. Standard Country or Area Codes for Statistical Use (M49 standard). Statistical Services Branch, Statistics Division. New York, UN. [Cited 1 November 2020]. https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/