Pick a random state
or province.
A random country subdivision generator: states, provinces, prefectures, regions, cantons, and emirates from 28 countries — 570+ in all. Choose one country, or let it pick a random country and one of its regions in a single draw.
Country & count
About this generator
Most random-place tools stop at the country. This one goes one level down: the first-level administrative subdivision — the state, province, prefecture, region, canton, county, or emirate that a country is officially divided into. It covers 28 countries and 570+ subdivisions, from the 50 US states and Japan's 47 prefectures to the four nations of the United Kingdom and the seven emirates of the UAE.
Two ways to use it. Pick a country in the settings and every draw comes from that country's list — "a random Canadian province", "a random Indian state", "a random Swiss canton". Or leave the country on Any and each draw first picks a random country, then a random subdivision inside it: a country-and-region pair in one click, which is what most people asking for a "random country and a state of it" actually want.
The pick uses crypto.getRandomValues with rejection sampling, so every subdivision in the chosen country has an exactly equal chance. Multi-pick batches are drawn without replacement — ask for ten and you get ten different ones. Territories, federal districts, union territories, and autonomous cities are included and labeled as such on the card, so a quiz round can tell Nunavut from Ontario.
Names follow common English usage: Bavaria rather than Bayern, Tuscany rather than Toscana, Zurich without the umlaut. If you only need the United States, the US state picker adds capitals, population, and admission year; for the country level alone, use the random country generator; for a city, the city picker.
What people use it for
Geography drills, travel games, and worldbuilding — anything where "country" is too coarse.
Geography quizzes
Pick ten random prefectures of Japan or Länder of Germany and have students place them on a blank map. Switch country each round to keep the class honest.
Country + region challenges
"Any country" mode gives you a nation and one of its regions together — the seed for a research project, a presentation topic, or a virtual road-trip on Street View.
Travel roulette
Already decided on Italy or Spain but not where? Let a random region choose: Molise this time, Extremadura the next.
Worldbuilding and fiction
Writers pull a random province as a setting anchor, then read about its landscape and history for texture no invented place would have.
Language practice
Learners of Spanish, French, Japanese, or Hindi draw a region and describe it in the target language — a vocabulary exercise with real places attached.
Test data
Developers seeding address forms grab a batch of real state and province names instead of inventing them, so validation rules get exercised on genuine values.
How it works
The picking
With a country selected, we draw from that country's subdivision list using crypto.getRandomValues with rejection sampling, so the result is exactly 1/N for each of its N subdivisions. In "Any country" mode, the country is drawn first (each of the 28 equally likely), then the subdivision. Multi-pick uses a Fisher-Yates partial shuffle so a single batch never repeats.
The data
All 570+ subdivisions ship inline with the page — no API call. The list reflects each country's current first-level divisions in everyday English naming. Disputed and special-status areas are kept minimal: China's list includes its two special administrative regions but not Taiwan; India's includes Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh as union territories, as currently administered.
State & sharing
The country filter and count live in the URL query string and mirror to localStorage. Share the URL and the recipient gets the same setup with a fresh draw. The last ten picks are kept locally.
Common questions
Which countries are included?
28 countries with their first-level subdivisions: the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, India, Pakistan, China, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Nigeria. More are added as the list is checked; email [email protected] to request one.
Can I pick a random country and one of its regions at the same time?
Yes. Leave the country filter on "Any country" and each pick first chooses a random country from the list, then a random subdivision inside it. Every card shows both, with the country's flag.
What counts as a subdivision?
The first-level administrative division of each country: states in the US, India, or Australia; provinces in Canada or China; prefectures in Japan; regions in France or Italy; cantons in Switzerland; counties in Ireland; emirates in the UAE. Territories, federal districts, and autonomous cities are included and labeled on the card.
Is every subdivision equally likely?
Within one country, yes — every subdivision has an exactly equal chance. In "Any country" mode the country is picked first, so a Swiss canton and a US state are equally likely to appear even though Switzerland has 26 and the US has 50.
Can I get more than one at a time?
Set count up to 10. With a single country selected, picks are drawn without replacement, so no repeats. In "Any country" mode each pick is an independent country-plus-region draw, so the same country can appear twice with different regions.
Why isn't my country on the list?
The list only includes countries whose subdivisions could be checked carefully — a wrong province name is worse than a missing country. Large countries with long or frequently changing lists (Russia, Indonesia, Turkey, Colombia) are next in line. For a country-level pick, the random country generator covers all 195.
Related generators
Same neighborhood — different question.