UCDP Candidate Events Dataset Codebook
Version 1.1
Uppsala Conflict Data Program
Department of Peace and Conflict Research
Uppsala University

This version authored by Stina Högbladh (2020)
Data extracted from UCDP systems on the 19th of every month
When using this data, please always cite:
Hegre, Håvard, Mihai Croicu, Kristine Eck, and Stina Högbladh, July 2020. Introducing
the UCDP Candidate Events Dataset”, Research & Politics
doi:10.1177/2053168020935257

When appropriate, also cite this codebook: Högbladh Stina, 2019, “UCDP Candidate
Events Dataset Codebook, v.1.0”, Department of Peace and Conflict Research,
Uppsala University.

Contents
Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 2
Definitions ............................................................................................................................................ 3
Variables in the UCDP Candidate dataset .................................................................................. 4
Main difference between UCDP Candidate and UCDP GED ............................................... 9
Data Collection Methods .............................................................................................................. 10
Africa ............................................................................................................................................. 11
Middle East ................................................................................................................................. 18
Format availability ............................................................................................................................ 20
References ......................................................................................................................................... 20
Appendix 1 UCDP definitions ..................................................................................................... 21
Definition of State-based Armed Conflict ....................................................................... 21
Definition of Non-State conflict .......................................................................................... 22
Definition of One-sided violence ........................................................................................ 23
Appendix 2 Temporal Precision and Date Estimation Rules............................................... 24
Appendix 3 Geo-precision Coding Rules ................................................................................. 28

Introduction
The UCDP Candidate data includes the same variables as the UCDP GED dataset, themain difference being that UCDP Candidate has a monthly release cycle and UCDP GED
is released annually. Not all events in UCDP Candidate will make it into the final UCDPGED and new events will be added. The UCDP Candidate is a dataset containing events
that have a high probability of being included in the final annual version of UCDP GED.
The basic unit of analysis for the UCDP-Candidate dataset is the “event”, i.e. an
individual incident (phenomenon) of lethal violence occurring at a given time and place.
An event is defined the as: “An incident where armed force was used by an organised actor
against another organized actor, or against civilians, resulting in at least 1 direct death at a
specific location and a specific date”.
UCDP Candidate can only be retrieved from the UCDP API for GED events; see
http://ucdp.uu.se/apidocs/,
http://ucdpapi.pcr.uu.se/api/gedevents/<version>?<pagesize=x>&<page=x>
The current downloadable versions are:18.0.1 to 18.0.12, 19.0.1 to 19.0.12, 20.0.1, 20.0.2, 20.0.3, 20.0.4, 20.0.5, 20.0.6, 20.0.7,
20.0.8 the eight last with data for January-August 2020, new releases will follow the same
naming convention (year.0.month)2

For example: http://ucdpapi.pcr.uu.se/api/gedevents/20.0.1?pagesize=1
All versions until 20.0.4 only covered Africa, 20.0.5-20.0.7 covered Africa and Middle
East. Version 20.0.8 covered Africa, Asia, Europe and Middle East.
UCDP Candidate is also released as a global version covering the first 6 months of 2020
version 20.1.20.6.

Definitions
The UCDP Candidate include data on the three core UCDP types of organized violence.
For definitions related to the three types State-based violence, Non-state violence andOne-sided violence, please consult Appendix X
An event is defined as:
An incident where armed force was used by an organised actor against another organizedactor, or against civilians, resulting in at least 1 direct death at a specific location and a
specific date.
These are the specific elements of the definition:
1. Armed force: use of arms in order to promote the parties’ general position in theconflict, resulting in deaths.
- arms: any material means e.g. manufactured weapons but also sticks,
stones, fire, water etc.
2. Organized actor: a government of an independent state, a formally organized group or
an informally organized group according to UCDP criteria:
a. Government of an independent state: The party controlling the capital of astate.
b. Formally organized group: Any non-governmental group of people having
announced a name for their group and using armed force against agovernment (state-based), another similarly formalized group (non-state
conflict) or unorganized civilians (one-sided violence). The focus is on
armed conflict involving consciously conducted and planned political
campaigns rather than spontaneous violence.
c.

3

Informally organized groups: Any group without an announced name, butwhich uses armed force against another similarly organized group (nonstate conflict), where the violent activity indicates a clear pattern ofviolent incidents that are connected and in which both groups use armed
force against the other3. direct death : a death relating to either combat between warring parties or violenceagainst civilians.
UCDP Candidate provides three estimates for deaths for each event, thus creating
an uncertainty interval:- a low estimate, containing the most conservative estimate of deaths that is
identified in the source material;- a best estimate, containing the most reliable estimate of deaths identified in thesource material;- a high estimate, containing the highest reliable estimate of deaths identified in
the source material. Note that UCDP attempts to distinguish and not include
unreasonable claims in the high estimate of fatalities, and tends to be highly
conservative when counting fatalities1.
In order for an event to exist, at least one dead needs to be registered in the high,best or low estimate.
4. Specific location: a name and one pair of latitude and longitude coordinates that
relate to the geographical information specified in the source material.
The maximum (best) spatial resolution of the dataset is the individual village or town.
The dataset is fully geocoded.
5. Specific date: a specified time period during which armed interactions cause atleast 1 fatality. The normal temporal unit to which an event can be related is a 24hour day starting at midnight.
The maximum (best) temporal resolution of the dataset is the day.
- In some cases it is impossible, based on the source material, to reduce thespecific date to a single day as reporting only refers to wider time spans (multipledays) or information on the exact day is not clear. For these events, a wider timespan is provided through the use of the date_start, date_end and date_prec variables.

Variables in the UCDP Candidate dataset
Variable nameContent

Typeid

A unique numeric id identifying each event.

integer

relid

Used as a unique sting in the dataset, the relid will change between
the monthly and annual release if the event changes dyad or year.

string(255)

1 For a more elaborate discussion on aspects concerning point 1-4, please refer to UCDP Codebooks

for State-Based Armed Conflicts, Non-state Conflicts and One-Sided Violence.

4

year

The year of the event.

integer

active_year

1: if the event belongs to an active conflict/dyad/actor-year where
events with codestatus-clear have passed the 25 battle-related
deaths threshold.
0: otherwise

Integer

code_status

Clear
Check Type of violence
Check Dyad
Check Deaths
Check Incompatibility
Check Vague/biased source
Check Geography
Check Other

string(50)type_of_violenceType of UCDP organized violence:
1: state-based conflict
2: non-state conflict
3: one-sided violence

Integerconflict_dset_id

This id column is only in the dataset to ensure the same structure
between old and new UCDP GED outputs please use
conflict_new_id.

string(255)

UCDP/PRIO conflict id for state based conflicts as per the
UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflict Dataset.
UCDP dyad id code for non-state dyad as per the UCDP Non-State
Dataset.
UCDP actor id code for the one-sided violence actor as per the
UCDP One-Sided Dataset.
For violence, not part of the datasets the same rule applies, for events
involving actors where UCDP lacks credible information on theidentity type of violence -XXX followed by the Gleditsch and Ward
numeric identifier of the country where the event takes place is used.
The conflict_dset_id is not unique and can clash between different
types of violence.
conflict_new_id

A unique conflict id code for each individual conflict in the dataset.

integer

Please use this variable to aggregate, subset or filter by conflict within
GED.
conflict_name

Name of the UCDP conflict to which the event belongs. For
statebased conflicts all dyads and episodes fought over the same
incompatibility has the same conflict name. For non-state conflicts
and one-sided violence, this is the same as the dyad name.

string(9999)

dyad_dset_id

This id column is only in the dataset to ensure the same structure
between old and new UCDP GED outputs please use dyad_new_id.

string(255)

UCDP dyad id code for state based dyad as per the UCDP Dyadic
Dataset.
UCDP dyad id code for non-state dyad as per the UCDP Non-State
Dataset.

5

UCDP actor id code for the one-sided violence actor as per the
UCDP One-Sided Dataset.
For violence, not part of the datasets the same rule applies, for events
involving actors where UCDP lacks credible information on theidentity type of violence -XXX followed by The Gleditsch and Ward
numeric identifier of the country where the event takes place is used.
Note that the same dyad_id in GED can represent two separate
dyads, as the dyad_id is unique only within each type of violence (i.e.
a non state dyad can an identical id with a state-based dyad).
dyad_new_id

A unique dyad id code for each individual dyad in the dataset.

integer

Please use this variable to aggregate, subset or filter by dyad within
GED.
dyad_nameName of the conflict dyad creating the event.

string(9999)

A dyad is the pair of two actors engaged in violence (in the case of
one-sided violence, the perpetrator of violence and civilians).
The two sides are separated by an ASCII dash (e.g. Government of
Russia - Caucasus Emirate, Taleban – civilians).
side_a_dset_id

The unique ID of side A, for actors where UCDP lacks credible
information on the identity XXX followed by the Gleditsch and Ward
numeric identifier of the country where the event takes place is used.

side_a_new_id

A unique id of side A.

side_astring(255)

integer
The name of Side A in the dyad. In state-based conflicts always a string(9999)
government. In one-sided violence always the perpetrating party.

side_b_dset_id

The unique id of side B, for actors where UCDP lacks credible
information on the identity XXX followed by the Gleditsch and Ward
numeric identifier of the country where the event takes place is used.

string(255)side_b_new_id

A unique ID of side B.

integerside_b

The name of Side B in the dyad. In intrastate armed conflicts (statebased) always the rebel group, in interstate armed conflicts (statebased) the government last in alphabetical order. In one-sided
violence always “civilians”. In non-state conflicts the name of theorganized group last in alphabetical order (or that were last when the
dyad was first entered in the data).

string(9999)

number_of_sources

Number of total sources entered, containing information for an
event.

integersource_article

References to the names, dates and titles of the source material fromwhich information on the event is gathered.

text

source_office

The name of the organizations publishing the source materials.

textsource_date

The dates the source materials were published on.

text

source_headline

The titles of the source materials.

text

6

source_original

The name or type of person or organization from which theinformation about the event originates in the original report. This canalso be the name of a news outlet.

string(9999)

e.g. “police”, “Lt. Col. Johnson”, ”eyewitnesses”, “rebel spokesman”.
where_prec

The precision with which the coordinates and location assigned tothe event reflects the location of the actual event.

integer

1: exact location of the event known and coded.
2: event occurred within at maximum a ca. 25 km radius around a
known point.
3: only the second order administrative division where an event
happened is known. That administrative division is coded with a point
representing it (typically the centroid).
4: only the first order administrative division where an event
happened is known. That administrative division is coded with a point
representing it (typically the centroid).
5: Linear features (e.g. a long river, a border, a longer road or the line
connecting two locations further afield than 25 km) or a fuzzy
polygon without defined borders (informal regions, large radiusesetc.). Or an administrative region that is not an admin 1 or 2 andlarger so that the point might be further than 25 km from thecentroid. A representation point is chosen for the feature andemployed.
6: only the country where the event took place in is known.
7: event in international waters or airspace.
where_coordinates

Name of the location to which the event is assigned. Fully
standardized and normalized.

string(9999)

where_description

An extracted snippet of text from the source material describing thelocation. Is often left empty if where_coordinates contain all relevant
information.

text

adm_1

Name of the first order (largest) administrative division where theevent took placestring(9999)

adm_2

Name of the second order administrative division where the event
took place.

string(9999)

latitudeLatitude (in decimal degrees).

numeric(9,6)

longitude

Longitude (in decimal degrees).

numeric(9,6)

geom_wkt

An Open Geospatial Consortium textual representation of thelocation of each individual point. Formatted as OGC WKT (wellknown text) without SRID.

string(9999)

priogrid_gid

The PRIO-grid cell id (gid) in which the event took place.
Compatibility with PRIO-grid (Tollefsen, 2012) is guaranteed forboth PRIO-grid 1 and 2.

integer

Warning: We associate every point to the PRIO-grid that contains
it, even if the point is in another country than the one officially.
assigned to the respective PRIO-grid cell through their majority area
rule. It is your responsibility to make sure the covariates for the
PRIO-grid cell are correct for each event. Further, for the same
reason, DO NOT, under any circumstances, first clip out (subset)
PRIO-grid by country before merging with UCDP GED as data loss

7

will certainly occur. Refer to your copy of the PRIO-grid for further
details on PRIO-grid's majority assignment rule (p.3).
country

Name of the country in which the event takes place.

string(999)regionRegion where the event took place. One of following:
Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Middle East

string(999)

event_clarity

1 (high) for events where the reporting allows the coder to identify
the event in full. That is, events where the individual happening is
described by the original source in a sufficiently detailed way as to
identify individual incidents, i.e. separate activities of fighting in a single
location:

integer

Example of such reporting: “2 people where killed in Banda Aceh town
on the 9th of December in fighting between the government and GAM
when a car exploded in a main market.”
2 (lower) for events where an aggregation of information was alreadymade by the source material that is impossible to undo in the coding
process. Such events are described by the original source only as
aggregates (totals) of multiple separate activities of fighting spanningover a longer period than a single, clearly defined day.
Examples of such reporting: “The Ukrainian government informs that
29 people have died in the past six days in a number of clashes withthe separatists along the line of conflict”.
date_prec

How precise the information is about the date of an event.
1: exact date of event is known;
2: the date of the event is known only within a 2-6 day range.
3: only the week of the event is known
4: the date of the event is known only within an 8-30 day range or
only the month when the event has taken place is known
5: the date of the event is known only within a range longer than one
month but not more than one calendar year.

integer

date_start

The earliest probable date when the event has taken place.

date_end

The last probable date when the event has taken place.

deaths_a

The best estimate of deaths sustained by side a.

Date
YYYY-MM-DD
Date
YYYY-MM-DD
integer

Always 0 for one-sided violence events.
deaths_b

The best estimate of deaths sustained by side b.

integer

Always 0 for one-sided violence events.
deaths_civilians

The best estimate of dead civilians in the event.

integer

For non-state or state-based events, this is the number of collateral
damage resulting in fighting between side a and side b. For one-sided
violence, it is the number of civilians killed by side a.
deaths_unknown

The best estimate of deaths of persons of unknown status.

integerbest

The best (most likely) estimate of total fatalities resulting from an
event.

integer8

It is always the sum of deaths_a, deaths_b, deaths_civilians anddeaths_unknown.
high

The highest reliable estimate of total fatalities.

integerlow

The lowest reliable estimate of total fatalities.

integergwnoa

The Gleditsch and Ward numeric identifier of the country for theactor on side A if a government.
The Gleditsch and Ward alphabetic identifier for the actor on side B
if a government.

integergwnob

string(3)For a more detailed overview of the variables please consult: Croicu,
Mihai and Ralph Sundberg, 2017, “UCDP GED Codebook version
18.1”, Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala
University

Main difference between UCDP Candidate and UCDP GED
The main difference between UCDP Candidate and UCDP GED is that UCDP
Candidate relaxes some of UCDPs criteria for inclusion in order to release the data early
without having extra time to research an event. A code status is used to flag the events
included with a higher uncertainty (see a description of the different code statuses
below). This means that events are included which with current information do not fully
meet the definition of an event, but which have a high likelihood of doing so withadditional information.
Earlier UCDP datasets have always relied on the 25 deaths in a calendar year thresholdfor inclusion in its datasets. In UCDP-GED this threshold is relaxed to include years withfewer deaths, but only for dyads having reached the level of inclusion in at least one year.
UCDP Candidate relaxes this criterion further and include all events that meet thedefinition of an event regardless of the annual threshold.
Code status
Clear is used when we know what parties are involved, that the actors are organizedenough (see definition of organized actor), that there is a reported number of deaths,
that we trust the source, that we have geo-coded the location, and for state-based
violence that we have identified a stated incompatibility. The clear events are included
in UCDP GED if the dyad has ever reached the 25-fatality threshold for inclusion.
Check Type of Violence: In many conflict areas all types of UCDP organized violence arepresent at the same time. The code status check type of violence is used when we know
the number of deaths, but the deaths may be the result of more than one type ofviolence and we cannot yet disaggregate the deaths by type due to insufficient
information.

9

Check Dyad: In some cases more than one dyad fights in an area, in cases where weknow the type of violence the dyad can still be unclear. These events are flagged withcheck dyad, the event can still be attributed to the most probable dyad.
Check Deaths is used:
1. if information on deaths is likely to be revised;
2. if information on large attacks is still unclear in terms of fatalities;
3. if information is of a “summary” nature, and it is likely that the coder will haveto make new calculations as more information with higher clarity becomes available.
Check Incompatibility is used when we have a new state-based dyad where we have not
yet looked for an incompatibility, or the incompatibility is unclear.
Check Vague Or Biased Source is used when we have reports of violent deaths between
actors or by an unclear actor but the source is known to be biased in some significant
way.
Check Geography is used when an event is geocoded but the coder thinks that the
geocoding can become more precise if more geographic sources are consulted.
Check is used when it is unclear if the same event already has been coded but with slightly
different information.
The code status will signal the highest degree of uncertainty in cases were more than
one aspect is unclear. The order set for the degree of uncertainty is:-

Check type of violence
Check dyad
Check incompatibility
Check vague or biased source
Check deaths
Check geography
Check

For further UCDP definitions please consult the "Definitions" section of UCDPs
webpage available at http://pcr.uu.se/research/ucdp/definitions/

Data Collection Methods
The UCDP Candidate is manually curated and compiled, with automatic assistance in data
retrieval, filtering, data storage and manipulation, as well as data validation. The following

sources are consulted for the monthly update of UCDP Candidate:10

Africa
Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Western Sahara
Factiva: Agence France Presse, All Africa, Associated Press Newswires, BBC Monitoring
Middle East, BBC Monitoring Africa, BBC Monitoring Media, Reuters
Extra Sources: Africa Confidential, Africa Research Bulletin, Amnesty International,
Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: Terrorism Monitor, UN Mission report to Western Sahara
Angola, Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Rwanda
Factiva: Agence France Presse, All Africa, BBC Monitoring Africa, Reuters
Factiva Extra search: Portugese factiva search for FLEC
Extra Sources: Africa Confidential, Africa Research Bulletin, Amnesty International,
Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: LRA crisis tracker
Benin, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau,
Liberia, Sierra Leone, Togo, Cote d Ivoire, Senegal
Factiva: Agence France Presse, All Africa, BBC Monitoring Africa, Reuters, Xinhua
Extra Sources: Africa Confidential, Africa Research Bulletin, Amnesty International,
Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group
Botswana, Comoros, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia,
Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, South Africa
Factiva: Agence France Presse, All Africa, BBC Monitoring Africa, Xinhua
Extra Sources: Africa Confidential, Africa Research Bulletin, Amnesty International,
Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: Mozambique: Terrorism Monitor, Carta de Mocambique(cartamz.com)
Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania:
Factiva: Agence France Presse, All Africa, Associated Press Newswires, BBC Monitoring
Africa, BBC Monitoring Middle East, French Burkina 24, Reuters, Xinhua,
Extra Sources: Africa Confidential, Africa Research Bulletin, Amnesty International,
Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: Sahel Memo, CTC Sentinel articles, Terrorism Monitor

11

Burundi:
Factiva: All Sources
Extra Sources: Africa Confidential, Africa Research Bulletin, Amnesty International,
Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: ITEKA, UN Independent Panel or Commission of Inquiry on
Burundi, BHRI
Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria
Factiva: Agence France Presse, All Africa, BBC Monitoring Newsfile, BBC Monitoring
Africa, Reuters, Vanguard (Nigeria)
Factiva Extra search: French Journal du Cameroun.com
Extra Sources: Africa Confidential, Africa Research Bulletin, Amnesty International,
Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: Bareta News, CTC Sentinel articles, Nigeria watch,
Terrorism Monitor, Vox Peccavi
Central African Republic
Factiva: All Sources
Extra Sources: Africa Confidential, Africa Research Bulletin, Amnesty International,
Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: UN Panel of Experts and MINUSCA reports, LRA crisis
tracker, RJDH, OCHA, Humanitarian Response - documents and data
Democratic Republic of the Congo:
Factiva: All Sources
Extra Sources: Africa Confidential, Africa Research Bulletin, Amnesty International,
Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: Radio Okapi, UN Group of Experts Reports, Congo
Research Group, LRA crisis tracker
Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti:
Factiva: Agence France Presse, All Africa, BBC Monitoring Africa, BBC Middle East,
Reuters, Xinhua
Factiva Extra search: Extra search with "OLF or ONLF" for all sources.
Extra Sources: Africa Confidential, Africa Research Bulletin, Amnesty International,
Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: OCHA Ethiopia: Humanitarian Access Situation Reports

12

Kenya, Somalia:
Factiva: Agence France Presse, All Africa, BBC Monitoring Africa, Reuters, The Star
Kenya, Xinhua
Extra Sources: Africa Confidential, Africa Research Bulletin, Amnesty International,
Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: Terrorism Monitor, CTC Sentinel, Secretary General'sReports (Somalia)
Libya:
Factiva: Agence France Presse, Associated Press, BBC Monitoring European, BBC
Monitoring Middle East, BBC Monitoring Central Asia, BBC Monitoring Newsfile,
Reuters, Xinhua
Extra Sources: Africa Confidential, Africa Research Bulletin, Amnesty International,
Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: UN Secretary General's Reports, Terrorism Monitor, CTC
Sentinel, UNSMIL Human Rights Report on Civilian Casualties, Eye on ISIS in Libya,
Libya24, alsaaa24, Air Wars, Libya Observer
South Sudan, Sudan:
Factiva: Agence France Presse, All Africa, BBC monitoring Africa, BBC Monitoring
Middle East, Reuters, Sudan Tribune, Xinhua
Extra Sources: Africa Confidential, Africa Research Bulletin, Amnesty International,
Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: Africa Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS)
including South Sudan Human Rights Monitor, CTSAMM reports, LRA crisis tracker,
OHCHR (UN Human Rights Council), reports from the UN-missions in the countries,
SUDO (UK), Nuba Reports, Small Arms Survey, WHO South Sudan Humanitarian
Situation Reports (bi-weekly); HUDO Centre

Americas
Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada,
Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,
Sao Tome and Principe, Trinidad and Tobago:
Factiva: Associated Press, BBC Monitoring Americas, EFE, Reuters
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela:
Factiva: Agence France Presse, BBC Monitoring Americas, EFE, Reuters

13

Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: Jamestown, Latin News
Canada:Factiva: Agence France Presse, Associated Press, BBC Monitoring Americas
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Colombia:
Factiva: Associated Press, BBC Monitoring Americas, EFE, Reuters
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: InSight Crime, Latin News
Guatemala:Factiva: Agence France Presse, Associated Press, BBC Monitoring Americas, EFE,
Reuters
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Mexico:Factiva: Agence France Presse, Associated Press, BBC Monitoring Americas, EFE,
Reuters
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: Borderland Beat, InSight Crime, Proceso, Stratfor
Peru:
Factiva: Associated Press, BBC Monitoring Americas, EFE, Reuters
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: InSight Crime, Latin News
United States:
Factiva: Reuters
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group

14

Asia
Afghanistan:Factiva: Agence France Presse, Associated Press, Bakhtar News Agency, BBC
Monitoring Central Asia, BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union, BBC Monitoring SouthAsia, NYTimes.com Feed, Reuters, Xinhua
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: Pajhwok News, CTC Sentinel, Terrorism Monitor, HRW,
AI, ICG, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (dronewars), UNAMA
Australia, Cook Island, Fiji, Kiribati, Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Samoa,
Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu:
Factiva: Agence France Presse, BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific, Bangkok Post
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Bangladesh:
Factiva: Agence France Presse, BBC Monitoring Central Asia, BBC Monitoring SouthAsia, Indo-Asian News Service, Press Trust of India, Reuters, Xinhua
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: CTC Sentinel, SATP Bangladesh Timeline, Terrorism
MonitorBhutan, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Singapore:
Factiva: Agence France Presse, Bangkok Post, BBC Monitoring, Reuters, The Nation(Thailand)
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Cambodia, Laos, Paracel Islands, Vietnam:
Factiva: Agence France Presse, Bangkok Post, BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific,
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
China:
Factiva: Agence France Presse, BBC Monitoring Central Asia, BBC Monitoring Former
Soviet Union, BBC Monitoring Asia-Pacific ,Reuters, Xinhua
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group15

Indonesia:
Factiva: Agence France Presse, Bangkok Post, BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific, The Nation(Thailand)
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: CTC Sentinel, IPAC, Terrorism Monitor
India:
Factiva: Press Trust of India, Telegraph (India), Deccan Chronicle, Imphal Free Press,
The Pioneer, and the Assam Tribune
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: SATP
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan:Factiva: Agence France Presse, BBC Monitoring Central Asia, Interfax Central Asia
General Newswire, Reuters, Xinhua
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: SATP
Malaysia:
Factiva: Agence France Presse, Associated Press, Bangkok Post, BBC Monitoring SouthAsia, Press Trust of India, Reuters
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Myanmar (Burma):
Factiva: Associated Press, BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific, Frontier Myanmar, Reuters, The
Irrawaddy, Xinhua
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: EBO Myanmar, Fortify Rights, Free Burma Rangers,
Myanmar Peace Monitor database, Radio Free Asia,
Pakistan:
Factiva: Agence France Presse, Associated Press, BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific, New
Straits Times (Malaysia), Reuters, The Nation (Thailand)

16Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Papua New Guinea:
Factiva: Agence France Presse, Associated Press, Bangkok Post, BBC Monitoring Asia
Pacific, Papua New Guinea Today, Reuters, The Nation (Thailand)
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Philippines:
Factiva: Agence France Presse, Associated Press, BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific,
Inquirer.net, Philippines News Agency, Reuters, Xinhua
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: Terrorism Monitor, CTC Sentinel, IPAC
Sri Lanka:
Factiva: Agence France Presse, Associated Press, BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific, AsianNews International, Reuters, Xinhua
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Tajikistan, Uzbekistan:Factiva: Agence France Presse, Associated Press, BBC Monitoring Central Asia, BBC
Monitoring Former Soviet Union, Interfax Central Asia General Newswire, Reuters,
XinhuaExtra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Thailand:Factiva: Bangkok Post, BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific, Reuters
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: Benar News, Deep South Watch, The Nation Thailand, The
Thaiger

EuropeAlbania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia,
North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia
Factiva: Agence France Presse, BBC, Reuters

17

Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco,
Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
Turkish Cyprus, Vatican:
Factiva: Agence France Presse, Associated Press, Reuters
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Ireland, United Kingdom:
Factiva: Associated Press, Reuters
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Russia, Ukraine:
Factiva: Agence France Presse, Associated Press, BBC Monitoring European, BBC
Monitoring FSU, BBC Monitoring Caucasus, BBC Monitoring Central Asia, Interfax:
Ukrainian General Newswire, Reuters, RIA Novosti, World Service Wire (f.d. TASS),
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: Euromaidan Press on Twitter, OHCHR, OSCE Daily
Reports

Middle East
Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates:
Factiva: Agence France Presse, BBC Monitoring Middle East, Reuters
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis GroupEgypt:
Factiva: Agence France Presse, Associated Press, BBC, Reuters, Xinhua
Extra Sources: Africa Confidential, Africa Research Bulletin, Amnesty International,
Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: Terrorism Monitor,
Iran:
Factiva: Agence France Presse, Associated Press Newswires, BBC Monitoring Middle
East, BBC Monitoring Newsfile, Reuters, Xinhua

18Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: CTC Sentinel, Rudaw, Terrorism Monitor
Iraq:
Factiva: Agence France Presse, Associated Press Newswires, BBC Monitoring Middle
East, Al Jazeera English
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: Airwars, CTC Sentinel, Terrorism Monitor, UNAMI
Israel:Factiva: Agence France Presse, BBC Monitoring Middle East, Reuters
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: Btselem, Janes Intelligence Review, Terrorism Monitor
Lebanon:Factiva: Agence France Presse, BBC Monitoring Middle East, Reuters, Daily Star
(Lebanon)
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Saudi Arabia:
Factiva: Agence France Presse, BBC Monitoring Middle East, Reuters
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: CTC Sentinel, Terrorism Monitor
Syria:
Factiva: No factiva sources
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: Air Wars, SOHR
Turkey:Factiva: Agence France Presse, BBC Monitoring European, BBC Monitoring Central
Asia, BBC Monitoring newsfile, BBC Monitoring Middle East, FARS News Agency,
National Iraqi News Agency, Sputnik News Service, Reuters

19

Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific:
General Directorate of Security, Mehmetçik Foundation, People’s Defense Forces,
People’s Voice TV, Turkish Armed Forces
Yemen:
Factiva: Agence France Presse, BBC Monitoring Middle East, Reuters
Extra Sources: Amnesty International, Crisis Watch, Human Rights Watch, International
Crisis Group
Extra Sources area specific: Chatham House, CIMP, Congressional Research Service(USA), Critical Threats, CTC Sentinel, Stratfor, Terrorism Monitor, UN-OHCHR

Format availability
UCDP Candidate data is only available as a web-service through a RESTful API under
the DaaS paradigm. Descriptions on how to use the UCDP API are available at
http://ucdp.uu.se/apidocs/

References
Hegre, Håvard, Mihai Croicu, Kristine Eck, and Stina Högbladh, July 2020. Introducing
the UCDP Candidate Events Dataset”, Research & Politics
doi:10.1177/2053168020935257

Sundberg, Ralph, and Erik Melander, 2013, “Introducing the UCDP Georeferenced
Event Dataset”, Journal of Peace Research, vol.50, no.4, 523-532
UCDP GED Codebook version 19.1:
http://ucdp.uu.se/downloads/ged/ged191.pdf
UCDP/PRIO Conflict Dataset Codebook :http://ucdp.uu.se/downloads/ucdpprio/ucdp-prio-acd-191.pdf
UCDP Non-State Conflict Dataset Codebook:
http://ucdp.uu.se/downloads/nsos/ucdp-nonstate-191.pdf
UCDP One-Sided Dataset Codebook:
http://ucdp.uu.se/downloads/nsos/ucdp-onesided-191.pdf
UCDP Actor Dataset Codebook:
http://ucdp.uu.se/downloads/old/actor/ucdp-actor-dataset-22-2014.pdf

20

Appendix 1 UCDP definitions
Definition of State-based Armed Conflict
UCDP defines state-based armed conflict as: “a contested incompatibility thatconcerns government and/or territory where the use of armed force between two
parties, of which at least one is the government of a state, results in at least 25 battlerelated deaths in a calendar year.”
The separate elements of the definition are operationalized as follows:(1) Use of armed force: use of arms, resulting in deaths.
(1.1) Arms: any material means, e.g. manufactured weapons but also sticks, stones,
fire, water etc.
(2) 25 deaths: A minimum of 25 battle-related deaths per year and per dyad (see Item
3.3 in this definition) in an incompatibility.2(3) Party: A government of a state or any opposition organization or alliance oforganizations. UCDP distinguishes between primary and secondary parties. Primaryparties are those that form an incompatibility by stating incompatible positions (seeItem 5 in this definition). At least one of the primary parties is the government of astate.
Secondary parties are states that enter a conflict with troops to actively support oneof the primary parties. The secondary party must share the position of the primary
party it is supporting in the incompatibility.
(3.1) Government: The party controlling the capital of a state.
(3.2) Opposition organization: Any non-governmental group of people having
announced a name for their group and using armed force to influence theoutcome of the stated incompatibility (see Item 5 in this definition). The
UCDP only deals with formally organized opposition. The focus is on armed
conflict involving consciously conducted and planned political campaigns
rather than spontaneous violence.
(3.3) Dyad: A dyad consists of two conflicting primary parties. At least one of the
primary parties must be the government of a state. In interstate conflicts, bothprimary parties are state governments. 3 In intrastate and extrasystemic
conflicts, the non-governmental primary party includes one or more
opposition organization(s). A conflict can include more than one dyad. If e.g.
a government is opposed by three rebel groups over the same incompatibility,
the conflict is made up of three dyads. Note that secondary parties (i.e.
intervening states supplying troops to one of the primary parties) do not leadto the formation of additional dyads.

2 Note that an incompatibility involving two opposition groups, each involved in clashes with the government resulting in 20

deaths, would not be recorded as a conflict (neither dyad reached the minimum casualty threshold), whereas an incompatibility
involving a single opposition group that caused 25 battle-deaths would be included in the dataset.
3With three exceptions, the primary parties in interstate conflicts consist of only one actor on each side (and thus only constituteone dyad). See description of Location (Section 4.1) below for further information on these cases.

21

(4) State: A state is an internationally recognised sovereign government controlling a
specific territory or an internationally unrecognised government controlling a
specified territory whose sovereignty is not disputed by another internationallyrecognized sovereign government previously controlling the same territory.
(5) Incompatibility concerning government or territory: The incompatibility, as stated by theparties, must concern government and/or territory.
(5.1) Incompatibility: The stated general incompatible positions.
(5.2) Incompatibility concerning government: Incompatibility concerning type ofpolitical system, the replacement of the central government, or the change ofits composition.
(5.3) Incompatibility concerning territory: Incompatibility concerning the status of aterritory, e.g. the change of the state in control of a certain territory(interstate conflict), secession or autonomy (internal conflict).
As a country can experience several simultaneous conflicts, it is essential to differentiate
between them, UCDP collects information on conflicts where the incompatibility, i.e.
the general incompatible positions, concerns either government or territory or both.
Note that the incompatibility expressed in terms of government or a specific territory is
crude in the sense that possible underlying incompatibilities are not considered. In otherwords, the stated incompatibility is what the parties are (or claim to be) fighting over,but it says nothing about why the parties are fighting. However, classifying
incompatibilities as stated manifestations of possible underlying incompatibilities or goals
allows for the intersubjective compilation of the list of armed conflicts.
While a state can only experience one intrastate conflict over government in a given
year, that same state can simultaneously be a primary party to one or more interstate
conflicts over government and/or territory. In the case of intrastate territorial conflicts,
multiple conflicts can be recorded over different territories in a state in a given year.

Definition of Non-State conflict
A non-state conflict is defined by the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) as “theuse of armed force between two organized armed groups, neither of which is the governmentof a state, which results in at least 25 battle-related deaths in a year.”
The separate elements of the definition are operationalized as follows:(1) Use of armed force: the use of arms, resulting in deaths.
(1.1) Arms: any material means, e.g. manufactured weapons but also sticks,
stones, fire, water, etc.
(2) 25 deaths: a minimum of 25 battle-related deaths per year(2.1) battle-related deaths: deaths directly related to the use of armed force
between the warring groups(3) Organized groups: consists of either22(3.1) formally organized groups: any non-governmental group of people having
announced a name for their group and using armed force against anothersimilarly formally organized group, or(3.2) informally organized groups: any group without an announced name, but
who uses armed force against another similarly organized group, where theviolent activity meets the following requirement:(3.2.a.) there is a clear pattern of violent incidents that are connected andin which both groups use armed force against the other(4) State: a state is(4.1) an internationally recognized sovereign government controlling a specified
territory, or(4.2) an internationally unrecognized government controlling a specified territory
whose sovereignty is not disputed by another internationally recognized sovereign
government previously controlling the same territory.
(5) Government: the party controlling the capital of the state

Definition of One-sided violenceOne-sided violence is the use of armed force by the government of a state or by aformally organized group against civilians which results in at least 25 deaths.
Extrajudicial killings in custody are excluded.
The separate elements of the definition are operationalized as follows:(1) Use of armed force: use of arms in order to exert violent force, resulting in death(1.1) Arms: any material means, e.g. manufactured weapons but also sticks,
stones,fire, water, etc(2) 25 deaths: a minimum of 25 civilian deaths per year and per actor(3) Government: the party controlling the capital of the state(4) Formally organized group: any non-governmental group of people having announced
a name for their group and using armed force(5) State: a state is(5.1) an internationally recognized sovereign government controlling a specified
territory, or(5.2) an internationally unrecognized government controlling a specified
territory whose sovereignty is not disputed by another internationallyrecognized sovereign government previously controlling the same territory.

23

(6) Civilians: unarmed people who are not active members of the security forces of thestate, or members of an organized armed militia or opposition group. Government
officials, such as members of parliament, governors, and councilors, are also excluded
and are instead seen as representatives of the government of a state.
Note that the UCDP definition of civilian does not refer to the definition of civilian
under international law.
(7) Extrajudicial killings in custody: when the government of a state kills a person in its
custody(7.1) custody: when the person is located in a prison or another type ofgovernmental facility

Appendix 2 Temporal Precision and Date Estimation Rules
This document specifies the qualifications for all temporal precision variable values
according to the rules constructed by the UCDP for the GED. It also sets rules forinterpretation of time-related expressions and estimation of events’ start and end dates.
The appendix presents concrete examples that guide temporal precision coding anddate estimation procedures.
Estimation of Start and End Dates
1. Start and end dates of the events are set according to information in the original
sources.
2. Ambiguous time-related expressions (e.g. past few days) are interpreted on the basisof the rules presented below. This ensures uniform estimation of the events’ startand end dates throughout the entire GED.
3. If the source does not provide any information about the time period during which
the event took place, dates are estimated for three days, counting backwards fromthe day of reporting and excluding the day of reporting:a. “24 rebel soldiers were killed”;
b. “Security forces stepped up operations against the largest insurgent
group in Assam state, where a new government was set to take charge
on Friday. A police spokesman said four members of the outlawed ULFA
were killed in the battles”;
c. “10 bodies found buried in a mass grave in territory controlled by the
ULFA rebels”.

24Temporal Precision 1 – Daily Precision of Time
1. If the exact date of an event is known the temporal precision code of 1 is applied.
Such events have the same start and end dates that are precisely specified in thenews sources either by dates, day names, hours or other specific temporal concepts:
a. “14th January”, “today”, “yesterday”, “last Tuesday” - date for specified
day;
b. “Monday night” - date for Monday;
c. “Last night” - date for preceding day of reporting;d.

“The other day”- date for the preceding day of reporting.

Temporal Precision 2 – Imprecise Time (2-6 days)
1. Temporal precision value of 2 should be used in those cases when start and end
dates for events are of unspecified character, spanning more than one calendar day
though no longer than six days, i.e. shorter than a week:
a. “Recently”, “recent attacks” - dates for 3 days preceding and notincluding the day of reporting;b. “Past/last few days” - dates for 3 days preceding and not including the
day of reporting;c. “Around 2 July” - dates for three days, 1-3 July, with the stated date +/one calendar day;d. “Over the weekend” - dates for Saturday and Sunday, if source does notinclude Friday in the concept of weekend and unless specific dates/daysfor the weekend are provided in the source;e. “Since the beginning of the week”, ”this week” - dates from Monday tothe day of reporting;f.

“Night between Sunday and Monday” - dates for 2 days;

g. “Past 24 hours” - dates for the day of reporting and the preceding day;h. “Past 48 hours” - dates for the day of reporting and 2 preceding days;i.

“Past 72 hours” - dates for the day of reporting and 2 preceding days;j.

“Past 2 days” - dates for 2 days preceding and not including the day ofreporting;k. “Since Thursday” – dates from Thursday until the day of reporting;

25

l.

“Five-day offensive” - dates for 5 days of fighting including the day ofreporting;m. “Continuous fighting between 13-16 February” - specified dates;
n. “Night-long battle” - dates for 2 days covering the whole night;
o. “Night of clashes” - dates for 2 days covering the whole night;
p. “Last 6 days of January” - dates for 25-30 January, including final date ofmonth;
q. “Late last week” - dates for Friday to Sunday of the preceding week.
Temporal Precision 3 – Weekly Precision of Time
1. Temporal precision value of 3 should be used in those cases when start and end
dates for events are specified to a certain week, but specific dates are not provided:a. “Last week” - dates for Monday-Sunday of the preceding week.
Exceptions can be made if there are reasons to believe that the event
took place during the week of the reporting (e.g. sometimes “a raid lastweek” reported on Sunday might refer to the period Monday-Saturdayof the same week, then dates for Monday-Saturday of that week should
be used);b. “Past week” - dates for 7 days including the day of the reporting, unlesstext indicates that past week refers to an ongoing week (starting
Monday);c.

“First week of August” - dates for August 1-7.

d. “Week-old offensive” - dates for a week of fighting, 7 days, including the
day of reporting;Temporal Precision 4 – Monthly Precision of Time
1. Temporal precision value of 4 should be used in those cases when start and end
dates for events are specified to a certain month, but specific dates are not provided:a. “Beginning of/early March” – March 1 to March 10/day of reporting;b. “Middle of March” – March 15 +/- 5 calendar days, i.e. March 10-20;
c. “End of/late March” – March 15 to the last day of March/day ofreporting;d. “A number of weeks”, “recent weeks” - dates for 3 weeks counting
backwards from the day of reporting;26

e. “Several weeks” – dates for 3 weeks;f.

“Earlier this month” – starting the 1st day of the month and ending on
the day preceding the day of reporting;g. “Last month” - dates for the month preceding the one on which the event
was reported;h.

“A fortnight ago” - dates for preceding 14 days including the day ofreporting.

Temporal Precision 5 – Annual Precision of Time
1. Temporal precision value of 5 should be used in those cases when start and end
dates for events are specified to a certain year, but specific dates are not provided:a. “1995” - 1995-01-01 to 1995-12-31;
b. “Last year” - dates covering the year, YYYY-01-01 to YYYY-12-31;
c. “Past year” – All dates from the date of reporting back to YYYY-01-01
d. “Early 1999” – 1999-01-01 to 1999-04-30;
e. “Mid 1999” – 1999-05-01 to 1999-08-31;f.

“Late 1999” – 1999-09-01 to 1999-12-31;

g. “Past 3 months” - dates for 3 months counting backwards from the dayof reporting (may not cross over into another calendar year);h. “Past few months” – dates for 3 months counting backwards from thedate of reporting (may not cross over into another calendar year).

27

Appendix 3 Geo-precision Coding Rules
This document gives an overview of the coding rules for geo-precision codes coupledwith examples and comments.
General rules
1. All geographical locations are coded with moderation with preference given to morecertain locations even if they represent a higher level of aggregation over thoselocations which are less certain but represent a lower level of aggregation.
2. Unclear geographical references with several possible levels of aggregation arecoded as the highest possible one. For instance, if there is a town, a district (ADM2)
and a province (ADM1) of the same name and the source does not specify to which
type of location it refers, then the location will be coded as ADM1.
3. If event location (camp, bridge, road etc.) has the same name as a certain suburb,
town or village (e.g. Uppsala IDP camp and Uppsala town), the coordinates for thattown or village should be used only if it is known that the event location is within or
close to (within 25 km) that town or village. If information about the locations’proximity to that town or village is not available, the location is aggregated to thelowest available administrative division. For instance, if it is not known that Uppsala
IDP camp is within 25 km from Uppsala town, coordinates for Uppsala municipality(ADM2) should be used.
4. If the source refers to a certain location (e.g. river, forest, lake, park, mountains etc.)that is not similar in size with a locality, or that is not a point, a representation pointis created with precision 5. If that location lies within an ADM2 or ADM1, the ADM2
or ADM1 is attached to the representation point. Do not aggregate e.g. rivers or
national parks to administrative divisions if representation points can be made.
5. When coding historical observations the GED uses the names of the administrative
divisions in force at the time of the reporting. If the boundaries of ADM1 havechanged over time in a country, the dataset uses estimated coordinates for older
provinces based on the relevant seat of the ADM1 at the time of the event.
A history of administrative changes is tracked internally by the UCDP system in adata structure referred to as a geotree. If you require access to such files, contactus.

28

Geo-precision 1
Geo-precision value of 1 is used if the location information corresponds exactly to thegeographical coordinates available. Each pair of coordinates is also coupled with names
for ADM1 and ADM2 when available.
1. “City”, “town”, “village” , “location”, “locality”- centroid point coordinates;
2. “District”, ”quarter”, ”neighbourhood”, “locality” (of town) - coordinates for town
centroid point are applied here, and not the specific section of it, though the nameand details are kept in text in parenthesis in “Where";
3. Air battles if location is clear, i.e. “a plane was shot down over Kitgum”.
Geo-precision 2
If the location information refers to a limited area around a specified location,
coordinates for that location together with the geo-precision value of 2 are used.
1. “Near/in the vicinity of/adjacent to/just outside/around Kitgum town” –coordinates for Kitgum town;
2. “Pietermaritzburg area” – coordinates for Pietermaritzburg town;
3. “Outskirts/suburbs of Bujumbura city” – since outskirts and suburbs are understoodas relatively independent and distant entities coordinates for Bujumbura city should
be used;4. “17 km from Uppsala town” – if the event takes place within a distance of 25 kmfrom a specified location, coordinates for that specified location are used;
5. “North of Luanda city”, “southeast of Y mountain” - unspecified distances from a
specified location are understood to be near the stated location;
6. “Bujumbura city towards Gishingano village” – if coordinates for Gishingano village
can not be retrieved, then coordinates for Bujumbura city will be used;
7. “Niuland village near Dimapur town” - if coordinates for Niuland village are notavailable, but coordinates for Dimapur town exist, the latter are used;
8. “Dungu territory in DRC” – third level administrative divisions (ADM3), if smallenough to have an approximate radius of 25 km or less, receive a precision code of2.
Geo-precision 3
If the source refers to or can be specified to a larger location at the level of second orderadministrative divisions (ADM2), such as district or municipality, the GED uses centroid
point coordinates for that ADM2. If these are not available, representation coordinates

29for a town within that ADM2 are used. The name of the ADM2 in force at the time ofreporting is recorded in the variable ADM2.
1. “Arusha district, Arusha province” - coordinates for Arusha district (ADM2);
2. “Burambi commune, Burundi” – coordinates for Burambi commune (ADM2);
3. Air battles if unclear location - if the battle takes place “over” a certain ADM2,
coordinates for that ADM2 will be used;
Geo-precision 4
If the location information refers to a first order administrative division, such as aprovince (ADM1), the GED uses the coordinates for the centroid point of ADM1.
1. “Cibitoke province, Burundi” – coordinates for Cibitoke province (ADM1);
2. Air battles if unclear location - if the battle takes place “over” a certain ADM1,
coordinates for that ADM1 are used;
3. If the ADM2 in which the event took place in unclear (e.g. different sources refer todifferent ADM2s in which the same event took place), the location is aggregated to
the ADM1 level;
Geo-precision 5
Geo-precision value of 5 is used in these cases:
1. If the location information refers to parts of a country which are larger than ADM1,
but smaller than the entire country such as “Southern Lebanon”, “Northern
Uganda”. In these cases, a representation point is created for that part of the country
and used as a representation of that area together with geo-precision value of 5.
Note that these points are stored and reused consistently by the UCDP (thus, allevents assigned to “Northern DR Congo” will have the same coordinates recorded).
2. If a pair of coordinates is estimated as a representation point for a linear, nonadministrative polygon or fuzzy geographic feature (river, informal area, large lakeetc.). For example, if the location is on the border between two countries and thelocation of such point is not precisely known, a pair of estimated coordinates will be
used together with geo-precision value of 5. For example, “on the border between
Uganda and Sudan” will be coded as “Uganda/Sudan border” with the coordinates
for a selected point on the border between Uganda and Sudan; Note that thesepoints are stored and reused consistently by the UCDP (thus, all events assigned to“Uganda/Sudan border” will have the same coordinates recorded).
3. If the location information refers to islands which are not an ADM1 or 2 of theirown. For example, “Zanzibar island” will be understood as eastern part of Tanzania
and receive geo-precision value of 5. If a pair of coordinates for that island is notavailable in the gazetteers, it can be represented by an ADM1 in that island.

30

4. If the location is not specific and need to be estimated (for example, “road between
Pader and Kitgum”, “along Aswa river” etc.), or the location is more than 25 km
away from another location (for example, 75 km south of Kitgum town), then arepresentation point is created for that point. This is done even if the two points
are located in the same ADM2 As such, if an event is described as taking place on“the road between Yei and Rasul in Yei district of Equatoria State”, then a point isestimated on that road, with precision 5, with both the ADM1 (Equatoria state) andthe ADM2 (Yei district) coded.
Geo-precision 6
If the location information refers to an entire country, centroid point coordinates of thatcountry are used. Also, if the location is not provided/is unclear/refers to several
locations which can not be split and covers the whole country and a particular activity
area of the actor is not clear, centroid point coordinates of that country are used.
1. "Germany" - centroid point coordinates;
Geo-precision 7
If the event takes place over water or in international airspace, the geographicalcoordinates in the dataset either represent the centroid point of a certain water area or
estimated coordinates according to similar techniques as presented above for geoprecision code 5.
For air events, precision code 7 is used only if the death is not the effect of or did not
result in the airplane crashing (in such a case, 1-5 precision codes are used with thelocation of the crash).
1. “Southern ocean” – centroid point coordinates;
2. “Bay of Bengal” – centroid point coordinates;
3. “37 km off the coast from Stockholm city” – estimated coordinates for a point 37
km and 90 degrees off the coast of Stockholm.
4. “the minister was stabbed on an airplane en route to Delhi after departing
Islamabad” – coordinates for Islamabad airport, precision code 7.

31