Field guide

State vs Province vs Region

Many countries use an administrative field between city and country, but the label changes. A U.S. address uses state, Canada uses province or territory, Japan uses prefecture, and the UK may use county or no required region field.

Common labels

• State: United States, Australia, India, and other countries.
• Province: Canada and some other countries.
• Prefecture: Japan.
• Region or county: useful generic labels for some international forms.
• Territory: used in countries such as Canada and Australia.

Form design advice

Change the label and allowed values after the user selects a country. If that is not possible, "State / Province / Region" is usually clearer than "State" alone.

QA notes

Test countries where the field is required, optional, unavailable, or represented by a dropdown. Also test two-letter abbreviations, full names, and long regional names.