Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Countries/Archive 14/Synth issue worksheet

Per the discussion at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Countries#Assistance requested with SYNTH issue in country demographic articles, all of these articles contain a table of demographic data broken down by county or region, along with a column labeled, "Equivalent country" or "Comparable country", where the GDP (or HDI) of a given region or county is compared with the GDP/HDI of some other country in the world; for example, in the "Sweden" article, the county of "Stockholm" was compared to the GDP of the Dominican Republic, as the two apparently have a similar GDP. However, this country-comparison column is WP:Original research, because no source contains this comparison; it is an invention of the Wikipedia editor who added the column.

Here is a (non-exhaustive) list of articles that may need attention for WP:SYNTH issues of this type:

Article list

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August 2022

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211 articles from 2022
  1.   Comparison between Indian states and countries by GDP (PPP)
  2.   Demographics of Pakistan
  3.   Economy of Indonesia
  4.   List of administrative divisions of Greater China by Human Development Index
  5.   List of administrative divisions of Myanmar by Human Development Index
  6.   List of administrative divisions of Vietnam by Human Development Index
  7.   List of administrative units of Pakistan by Human Development Index
  8.   List of Algerian regions by Human Development Index
  9.   List of Argentine provinces by Human Development Index
  10.   List of Armenian provinces by Human Development Index
  11.   List of Australian states and territories by Human Development Index
  12.   List of Austrian states by Human Development Index
  13.   List of Belgian provinces by Human Development Index
  14.   List of Bolivian departments by Human Development Index
  15.   List of Brazilian federative units by gross regional product
  16.   List of Brazilian states by life expectancy
  17.   List of Brazilian states by literacy rate
  18.   List of Bulgarian provinces by GDP
  19.   List of Bulgarian regions by Human Development Index
  20.   List of Cambodian provinces by Human Development Index
  21.   List of Canadian provinces and territories by gross domestic product
  22.   List of Canadian provinces and territories by Human Development Index
  23.   List of Canadian provinces and territories by life expectancy
  24.   List of ceremonial counties in England by gross value added
  25.   List of Chinese administrative divisions by GDP
  26.   List of Chinese administrative divisions by GDP per capita
  27.   List of Chinese administrative divisions by population
  28.   List of cities in Argentina by population
  29.   List of cities in China by life expectancy
  30.   List of Colombian departments by Human Development Index
  31.   List of Costa Rican provinces by Human Development Index
  32.   List of counties of Albania by Human Development Index
  33.   List of counties of Kenya by GDP
  34.   List of Croatian counties by Human Development Index
  35.   List of Cuban provinces by Human Development Index
  36.   List of Czech regions by GDP
  37.   List of Czech regions by Human Development Index
  38.   List of Danish regions by Human Development Index
  39.   List of departments of Benin by Human Development Index
  40.   List of departments of Haiti by Human Development Index
  41.   List of departments of the Republic of the Congo by Human Development Index
  42.   List of districts in Tamil Nadu by Human Development Index
  43.   List of districts of Belize by Human Development Index
  44.   List of districts of Bhutan by Human Development Index
  45.   List of districts of Botswana by Human Development Index
  46.   List of districts of Kosovo by Human Development Index
  47.   List of districts of Lesotho by Human Development Index
  48.   List of districts of Sierra Leone by Human Development Index
  49.   List of districts of West Bengal
  50.   List of Ecuadorian provinces by Human Development Index
  51.   List of Eritrean regions by Human Development Index
  52.   List of Ethiopian regions by Human Development Index
  53.   List of federal subjects of Russia by GDP per capita
  54.   List of federal subjects of Russia by Human Development Index
  55.   List of Finnish regions by GDP
  56.   List of Finnish regions by Human Development Index
  57.   List of French regions and overseas collectivities by GDP
  58.   List of French regions and overseas departments by GRP per capita
  59.   List of French regions by Human Development Index
  60.   List of Gabonese provinces by Human Development Index
  61.   List of Georgian regions by Human Development Index
  62.   List of German states by GRP
  63.   List of German states by GRP per capita
  64.   List of German states by Human Development Index
  65.   List of Ghanaian regions by Human Development Index
  66.   List of governorates of Egypt by Human Development Index
  67.   List of Governorates of Iraq by Human Development Index
  68.   List of Greek regions by Human Development Index
  69.   List of Guyanese regions by Human Development Index
  70.   List of Honduran departments by Human Development Index
  71.   List of Hungarian counties by GDP
  72.   List of Hungarian regions by Human Development Index
  73.   List of Indian states and union territories by GDP
  74.   List of Indian states and union territories by GDP per capita
  75.   List of Indian states and union territories by Human Development Index
  76.   List of Indonesian provinces by GDP
  77.   List of Indonesian provinces by GRP per capita
  78.   List of Iranian provinces by Human Development Index
  79.   List of Irish regions by Human Development Index
  80.   List of islands of the Comoros by Human Development Index
  81.   List of Italian regions by GRP per capita
  82.   List of Italian regions by Human Development Index
  83.   List of Japanese prefectures by GDP per capita
  84.   List of Japanese prefectures by Human Development Index
  85.   List of Jordanian governorates by Human Development Index
  86.   List of Liberian counties by Human Development Index
  87.   List of local government areas of the Gambia by Human Development Index
  88.   List of Malaysian states by Human Development Index
  89.   List of Mauritanian regions by Human Development Index
  90.   List of Mexican states by GDP
  91.   List of Mexican states by Human Development Index
  92.   List of Mongolian provinces by GDP
  93.   List of municipalities of East Timor by Human Development Index
  94.   List of Namibian regions by Human Development Index
  95.   List of Nepalese provinces by Human Development Index
  96.   List of Nigerian states by Human Development Index
  97.   List of Norwegian counties by GDP
  98.   List of Norwegian regions by Human Development Index
  99.   List of Philippine provinces and regions by Human Development Index
  100.   List of Polish voivodeships by GRP
  101.   List of Polish voivodeships by Human Development Index
  102.   List of Portuguese administrative divisions by GDP
  103.   List of Portuguese regions by Human Development Index
  104.   List of provinces and indigenous regions of Panama by Human Development Index
  105.   List of prefectures of the Central African Republic by Human Development Index
  106.   List of provinces of Angola by Human Development Index
  107.   List of provinces of Equatorial Guinea by Human Development Index
  108.   List of provinces of Kenya by Human Development Index
  109.   List of provinces of Laos by Human Development Index
  110.   List of provinces of Mozambique by Human Development Index
  111.   List of provinces of Papua New Guinea by Human Development Index
  112.   List of provinces of Rwanda by Human Development Index
  113.   List of provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo by Human Development Index
  114.   List of provinces of the Netherlands by Human Development Index
  115.   List of regions of Afghanistan by Human Development Index
  116.   List of regions of Azerbaijan by Human Development Index
  117.   List of regions of Baltic States by Human Development Index
  118.   List of regions of Bangladesh by Human Development Index
  119.   List of regions of Barbados by Human Development Index
  120.   List of regions of Belarus by Human Development Index
  121.   List of regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Human Development Index
  122.   List of regions of Burkina Faso by Human Development Index
  123.   List of regions of Burundi by Human Development Index
  124.   List of regions of Cameroon by Human Development Index
  125.   List of regions of Eswatini by Human Development Index
  126.   List of regions of Guatemala by Human Development Index
  127.   List of regions of Guinea by Human Development Index
  128.   List of regions of Guinea-Bissau by Human Development Index
  129.   List of regions of Jamaica by Human Development Index
  130.   List of regions of Kazakhstan by Human Development Index
  131.   List of regions of Kuwait by Human Development Index
  132.   List of regions of Kyrgyzstan by Human Development Index
  133.   List of regions of Lebanon by Human Development Index
  134.   List of regions of Libya by Human Development Index
  135.   List of regions of Madagascar by Human Development Index
  136.   List of regions of Mali by Human Development Index
  137.   List of regions of Moldova by Human Development Index
  138.   List of regions of Mongolia by Human Development Index
  139.   List of regions of Montenegro by Human Development Index
  140.   List of regions of Morocco by Human Development Index
  141.   List of regions of New Zealand by Human Development Index
  142.   List of regions of Nicaragua by Human Development Index
  143.   List of regions of Niger by Human Development Index
  144.   List of regions of North Macedonia by Human Development Index
  145.   List of regions of Palestine by Human Development Index
  146.   List of regions of Paraguay by Human Development Index
  147.   List of regions of Peru by GDP
  148.   List of regions of Peru by Human Development Index
  149.   List of regions of Saudi Arabia by Human Development Index
  150.   List of regions of Somalia by Human Development Index
  151.   List of regions of South Korea by Human Development Index
  152.   List of regions of Switzerland by Human Development Index
  153.   List of regions of Tajikistan by Human Development Index
  154.   List of regions of Tanzania by GDP
  155.   List of regions of Tanzania by Human Development Index
  156.   List of regions of the Dominican Republic by Human Development Index
  157.   List of regions of the Philippines by GDP
  158.   List of regions of the United Kingdom by GRP
  159.   List of regions of the United Kingdom by GRP per capita
  160.   List of regions of the United Kingdom by Human Development Index
  161.   List of regions of Trinidad and Tobago by Human Development Index
  162.   List of regions of Tunisia by Human Development Index
  163.   List of regions of Turkmenistan by Human Development Index
  164.   List of regions of Uganda by Human Development Index
  165.   List of regions of Uruguay by Human Development Index
  166.   List of regions of Uzbekistan by Human Development Index
  167.   List of regions of Yemen by Human Development Index
  168.   List of Romanian counties by GDP
  169.   List of Romanian regions by Human Development Index
  170.   List of Russian federal subjects by GRP
  171.   List of Senegalese regions by Human Development Index
  172.   List of Serbian regions by GDP
  173.   List of Serbian regions by Human Development Index
  174.   List of Slovak regions by GDP
  175.   List of Slovak regions by Human Development Index
  176.   List of Slovenian regions by Human Development Index
  177.   List of South African provinces by gross domestic product
  178.   List of South African provinces by gross domestic product per capita
  179.   List of South African provinces by Human Development Index
  180.   List of South Korean regions by GDP
  181.   List of Spanish autonomous communities by gross domestic product
  182.   List of Spanish autonomous communities by Human Development Index
  183.   List of states and union territories of India by area
  184.   List of states and union territories of India by population
  185.   List of states of South Sudan by Human Development Index
  186.   List of Sudanese states by Human Development Index
  187.   List of Swedish counties by GDP
  188.   List of Swedish regions by Human Development Index
  189.   List of Swiss cantons by GRP
  190.   List of the largest country subdivisions by area
  191.   List of Togolese regions by Human Development Index
  192.   List of Turkish provinces by GDP
  193.   List of Turkish regions by Human Development Index
  194.   List of U.S. states and territories by Human Development Index
  195.   List of U.S. states and territories by life expectancy
  196.   List of Ukrainian oblasts and territories by area
  197.   List of Ukrainian regions by Human Development Index
  198.   List of Vietnamese regions by Human Development Index
  199.   List of Zambian provinces by Human Development Index
  200.   List of Zimbabwean provinces by Human Development Index
  201.   Provinces of Zambia
  202.   Ranked list of French regions
  203.   Ranked list of Paraguayan departments
  204.   Ranked lists of Chilean regions
  205.   Ranked lists of Spanish autonomous communities
  206.   Regions of Tanzania
  207.   Regions of Thailand
  208.   States of Venezuela
  209.   West Java
  210.   West Sumatra

June 2024

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Please check the box after fixing any SYNTH issue.

Methodology

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The tables usually involve four columns, of which the fourth is a "comparable country" column. Generally, the fix involves three things:

  1. Remove the header cell which contains the term Comparable country (or similar expression like Equivalent country etc.) and the source reference included with it.
  2. Certain cells occupy the whole row, that is, they span the whole width of the table. If the table is four columns, you'll find something like | colspan="4" The "4" needs to be changed to "3" (or whatever one less than the previous number of table columns would be).
  3. In rows that have an individual cell in the last column (i.e., not a colspan), the cell needs to be removed. Typically it contains a country name template (like {{NAM}}) or a flag (like {{flag|GER}}), sometimes a flag icon (like {{flagicon|FRA}}). It may be preceded by a rowspan (when two adjacent rows have the same country name in the last column), or by a style statement; these need to be taken into account. The last cell in a table is always followed by a new row delimiter (|-, usually by itself, but could have a style attribute), so you can look for a country or flag template, followed by |- on the next line.

If you normally use the source editor, try the Visual Editor, which has tools for removing columns from tables.

Some "comparable" expressions: Comparable country, Comparable countries, Comparable economy, Equivalent country, Country similar in area, Country/Indian state, Country comparison, Countries of comparable size, Comparable entity/-ies.

Find candidates

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These are all list articles, so you can search for "List of" along with some of the other strings frequently seen, like, "List of * by Human Development Index", or "List of * by GDP", and so on.

You can also target just list articles that have tables in them, plus the string "comparable country" or "equivalent country" that appears in the header of the column that normally should be deleted, like this (ideally, all of these links should show no search results):

Note that if an "insource" search returns a result for an article, but upon viewing it, there doesn't appear to be such a column, you should investigate further. The article may contain the table embedded within html hidden comment delimiters, those columns should be removed as well. This was the case, for example, in List of Indonesian provinces by GDP, through revision 1105861293‎ of 22 August 2022.

As of 1 September 2022, all three searches above come up empty, so it may be that all articles are repaired, or at least, any that are left don't fit the pattern.