how can I get a list of the countries used by the mapping toolbox as a cell array?

I need to map countries in a dataset to countries on a map, but there are discrepencies in my data. mapping toolbox refers to 'USA' but my data uses 'United States' and corrupted data such as 'Unites States'. I wish to scrub my data for issues by comparing 60,000 entries against a definitive list of mappable countries. I know I can see a list of countries by typing worldmap() but how can I get this list into a cell array or table?

Answer 1

[Stephen23]

The regions used by WORLDMAP are (note that this is in a private directory, is subject to change, use at own risk):

F = fullfile(toolboxdir("map"),"mapdisp","private","regions.mat");
S = load(F,'worldRegions');
C = {S.worldRegions.name}

C = 1×293 cell array
  Columns 1 through 12

    {'World'}    {'Africa'}    {'Antarctica'}    {'Asia'}    {'Eurasia'}    {'Europe'}    {'North America'}    {'South America'}    {'North Pole'}    {'South Pole'}    {'Pacific'}    {'Afghanistan'}

  Columns 13 through 22

    {'Agalega Island'}    {'Albania'}    {'Alderney'}    {'Algeria'}    {'American Samoa'}    {'Andorra'}    {'Angola'}    {'Anguilla'}    {'Antigua and Barb…'}    {'Antipodes Islands'}

  Columns 23 through 33

    {'Argentina'}    {'Armenia'}    {'Aruba'}    {'Auckland Islands'}    {'Australia'}    {'Austria'}    {'Azerbaijan'}    {'Azores'}    {'Bahamas, The'}    {'Bahrain'}    {'Baker Island'}

  Columns 34 through 44

    {'Bangladesh'}    {'Barbados'}    {'Bassas da India'}    {'Belarus'}    {'Belgium'}    {'Belize'}    {'Benin'}    {'Bermuda'}    {'Bhutan'}    {'Bjornoya'}    {'Bolivia'}

  Columns 45 through 54

    {'Bosnia and Herze…'}    {'Botswana'}    {'Bounty Islands'}    {'Bouvet Island'}    {'Brazil'}    {'British Indian O…'}    {'Broughton Islands'}    {'Brunei'}    {'Bulgaria'}    {'Burkina Faso'}

  Columns 55 through 64

    {'Burma'}    {'Burundi'}    {'Cambodia'}    {'Cameroon'}    {'Campbell Islands'}    {'Canada'}    {'Canary Islands'}    {'Cape Verde'}    {'Cargados'}    {'Cayman Islands'}

  Columns 65 through 74

    {'Central African …'}    {'Chad'}    {'Chatham Islands'}    {'Chile'}    {'China'}    {'Christmas Island'}    {'Clipperton Island'}    {'Cocos'}    {'Colombia'}    {'Comoros'}

  Columns 75 through 84

    {'Congo, Democrati…'}    {'Congo, Republic …'}    {'Cook Islands'}    {'Costa Rica'}    {'Croatia'}    {'Cuba'}    {'Cyprus'}    {'Czech Republic'}    {'Denmark'}    {'Djibouti'}

  Columns 85 through 94

    {'Dominican Republ…'}    {'East Timor'}    {'Easter Island'}    {'Ecuador'}    {'Egypt'}    {'El Salvador'}    {'Equatorial Guinea'}    {'Eritrea'}    {'Estonia'}    {'Ethiopia'}

  Columns 95 through 104

    {'Europa Island'}    {'Falkland Islands…'}    {'Faroc Islands'}    {'Faroe Islands'}    {'Fiji'}    {'Finland'}    {'France'}    {'French Antilles'}    {'French Guyana'}    {'French Polynesia'}

  Columns 105 through 114

    {'French Southern …'}    {'Gabon'}    {'Galapagos Islands'}    {'Gambia, The'}    {'Georgia'}    {'Germany'}    {'Ghana'}    {'Gibraltar'}    {'Glorioso Islands'}    {'Gough Island'}

  Columns 115 through 125

    {'Greece'}    {'Greenland'}    {'Grenada'}    {'Guadeloupe'}    {'Guam'}    {'Guatemala'}    {'Guernsey'}    {'Guinea, Republic…'}    {'Guinea-Bissau'}    {'Guyana'}    {'Haiti'}

  Columns 126 through 136

    {'Heard Island and…'}    {'Honduras'}    {'Howland Island'}    {'Hungary'}    {'Iceland'}    {'India'}    {'Indonesia'}    {'Iran'}    {'Iraq'}    {'Ireland'}    {'Isla Sala y Gomez'}

  Columns 137 through 146

    {'Isla San Ambrosio'}    {'Isla San Felix'}    {'Isla de Annobon'}    {'Isla del Coco'}    {'Israel'}    {'Italy'}    {'Ivory Coast'}    {'Jamaica'}    {'Jan Mayen'}    {'Japan'}

  Columns 147 through 156

    {'Jarvis Island'}    {'Jersey'}    {'Johnson Atoll'}    {'Jordan'}    {'Juan de Nova Isl…'}    {'Kazakhstan'}    {'Kenya'}    {'Kermadec Islands'}    {'Kiribati'}    {'Korea, Democrati…'}

  Columns 157 through 168

    {'Korea, Republic …'}    {'Kuwait'}    {'Kyrgyzstan'}    {'Laos'}    {'Latvia'}    {'Lebanon'}    {'Lesotho'}    {'Liberia'}    {'Libya'}    {'Liechtenstein'}    {'Lithuania'}    {'Luxembourg'}

  Columns 169 through 178

    {'Macedonia, The F…'}    {'Macquarie Island'}    {'Madagascar'}    {'Madeira Islands'}    {'Malawi'}    {'Malaysia'}    {'Maldives'}    {'Mali'}    {'Malta'}    {'Man, Isle of'}

  Columns 179 through 189

    {'Marshall Islands'}    {'Martinique'}    {'Mauritania'}    {'Mauritius'}    {'Mayotte'}    {'Mexico'}    {'Micronesia, Fede…'}    {'Midway Islands'}    {'Moldova'}    {'Monaco'}    {'Mongolia'}

  Columns 190 through 199

    {'Montenegro'}    {'Montserrat'}    {'Morocco'}    {'Mozambique'}    {'Namibia'}    {'Nauru'}    {'Navassa Island'}    {'Nepal'}    {'Netherlands Anti…'}    {'Netherlands, Kin…'}

  Columns 200 through 210

    {'New Caledonia'}    {'New Zealand'}    {'Nicaragua'}    {'Niger, Republic …'}    {'Nigeria'}    {'Niue'}    {'Norfolk Island'}    {'Northern Mariana…'}    {'Norway'}    {'Oman'}    {'Pakistan'}

  Columns 211 through 220

    {'Palau, Republic …'}    {'Palmyra Atoll'}    {'Panama'}    {'Papua New Guinea'}    {'Paracel Islands'}    {'Paraguay'}    {'Peru'}    {'Philippines'}    {'Pitcairn Islands'}    {'Poland'}

  Columns 221 through 231

    {'Portugal'}    {'Pratas Island'}    {'Prince Edward Is…'}    {'Puerto Rico'}    {'Qatar'}    {'Reunion'}    {'Rodrigues'}    {'Romania'}    {'Russia'}    {'Rwanda'}    {'Saint Helena'}

  Columns 232 through 240

    {'Saint Kitts and …'}    {'Saint Lucia'}    {'Saint Pierre and…'}    {'Saint Vincent an…'}    {'San Marino'}    {'Sao Tome and Pri…'}    {'Saudi Arabia'}    {'Senegal'}    {'Serbia'}

  Columns 241 through 250

    {'Seychelles'}    {'Sierra Leone'}    {'Singapore'}    {'Slovakia'}    {'Slovenia'}    {'Solomon Islands'}    {'Somalia'}    {'Sombrero'}    {'South Africa'}    {'South Georgia an…'}

  Columns 251 through 262

    {'Spain'}    {'Spratly Islands'}    {'Sri Lanka'}    {'Sudan'}    {'Suriname'}    {'Svalbard'}    {'Swaziland'}    {'Sweden'}    {'Switzerland'}    {'Syria'}    {'Tajikistan'}    {'Tanzania'}

  Columns 263 through 272

    {'Tasmania'}    {'Thailand'}    {'Togo'}    {'Tonga'}    {'Trinidad and Tob…'}    {'Tristan da Cunha…'}    {'Tromelin Island'}    {'Tunisia'}    {'Turkey'}    {'Turkmenistan'}

  Columns 273 through 282

    {'Turks and Caicas…'}    {'Tuvalu'}    {'Uganda'}    {'Ukraine'}    {'United Arab Emir…'}    {'United Kingdom'}    {'United States of…'}    {'Uruguay'}    {'Uzbekistan'}    {'Vanuatu'}

  Columns 283 through 292

    {'Venezuela'}    {'Vietnam'}    {'Virgin Islands, …'}    {'Virgin Islands, …'}    {'Wake Island'}    {'Wallis and Futuna'}    {'Western Sahara'}    {'Western Samoa'}    {'Yemen'}    {'Zambia'}

  Column 293

    {'Zimbabwe'}

You might find these functions useful:

https://www.mathworks.com/help/textanalytics/ref/editdistance.html

https://www.mathworks.com/help/textanalytics/ref/correctspelling.html with option "KnownWords"

Answer 2

[Peter Perkins]

Stephen seems to have answered your question, but also, you will find categorical useful for cleaning your data:

countryList = ["France" "United States"];
data = ["France" "Franz" "USA" "Unites States" "Junk"];
data = categorical(data)

data = 1×5 categorical array
     France      Franz      USA      Unites States      Junk 

setdiff(categories(data),countryList)

ans = 4×1 string array
    "Franz"
    "Junk"
    "USA"
    "Unites States"

data = mergecats(data,["France" "Franz"]);
data = mergecats(data,["USA" "Unites States"],"United States")

data = 1×5 categorical array
     France      France      United States      United States      Junk 

data = removecats(data,"Junk")

data = 1×5 categorical array
     France      France      United States      United States      <undefined> 

data = rmmissing(data)

data = 1×4 categorical array
     France      France      United States      United States