UNHCR Global Administrative Divisions: Level 1 Boundaries with Pcodes

UNHCR Global Administrative Divisions (Admin1) provides level 1 administrative boundaries used within the UNHCR GIS system, sourced from official government data and UN bodies. Updated as recently as March 2026, this geospatial collection incorporates OCHA Common Operational Datasets (CODs) and Pcodes for humanitarian mapping. The data is maintained by the UNHCR to support global refugee agency operations and spatial analysis.

Use Cases

• Mapping refugee distribution across Admin1 boundaries using Pcodes for data joining
• Spatial analysis of humanitarian aid delivery within specific administrative divisions
• Thematic mapping of regional displacement trends using KMZ or ESRI project files

Strengths

• Standardized Pcodes for interoperability with OCHA datasets
• Sourced from official government and UN bodies
• Available in multiple GIS formats including KMZ, ESRI, and QGIS

Limitations

• Boundaries and names do not imply official UN endorsement or acceptance
• Specific attribute schema and row counts are not documented in the source metadata

Provenance

Source

UNHCR - The UN Refugee Agency, incorporating OCHA CODs

Collection Method

Aggregated from government sources, UN bodies, and NGOs

Freshness

Updated March 2026; frequency not specified.

Geography

Global