How to Add Custom Regions for a Specific Country in Magento 2 (Step-by-Step Guide)

Magento 2 provides predefined regions (states or provinces) only for select countries such as the United States, Canada, and India. These appear as dropdowns during checkout and address creation. However, for countries like the United Kingdom, UAE, or Singapore, Magento 2 lacks built-in regions, requiring customers to manually enter their state or province, often leading to data inconsistencies or typos.

When regions exist for a country, Magento 2 displays them in a dropdown list, ensuring consistent and accurate input. Otherwise, a text field appears, which can cause shipping or tax calculation errors if customers enter incorrect region names. This often results in delivery delays or failed address validations for store owners.

In this post, we’ll explore two easy ways to add new region for specific country in Magento 2:

Using a direct SQL query (for developers)
Using the free Magento 2 Region Manager extension (recommended)

1. Add New Regions Using Direct SQL Queries

If you’re comfortable with SQL and database operations, you can directly insert region data into Magento’s database tables. Magento stores region-related information in two main tables:

directory_country_region
directory_country_region_name

Here’s an example SQL query to add new regions for the United Kingdom (GB):

INSERT INTO directory_country_region (country_id, code, default_name) VALUES
('GB', 'ENG', 'England'),
('GB', 'SCT', 'Scotland'),
('GB', 'WLS', 'Wales'),
('GB', 'NIR', 'Northern Ireland');

INSERT INTO directory_country_region_name (locale, region_id, name)
SELECT 'en_US', region_id, default_name FROM directory_country_region WHERE country_id = 'GB';

After executing the above SQL commands, clear Magento’s cache and reindex the data, the United Kingdom will now have its regions displayed as a dropdown in the frontend.

2. Add New Regions Using the Free Region Manager Extension (Recommended)

If you prefer an easier, safer, and more user-friendly method, you can use the Magento 2 Region Manager extension by MageArmy.

This extension allows you to add, edit, and delete regions for any country directly from the Magento 2 admin panel, no database editing required.

Key Benefits:

Add or edit regions from the admin without SQL knowledge
Prevent customer address errors with dropdown region selection
Support for multilingual region names
100% free and compatible with all Magento 2 versions

This extension is ideal for merchants who frequently deal with international customers or who want a clean, reliable checkout experience without worrying about incorrect region entries.