In the BPL variable, what does "Region, n.s." mean - an unspecified country in the region or an unlisted country?

The BPL variable includes several “non-specified” variables that refer only to a region of birth, rather than a specific country, such as “North America, n.s.,” “East Africa, n.s.”, and so on. However, I am wondering what non-specified means exactly. For instance, does “Caribbean, n.s.” mean that the respondent’s birthplace was in one of the countries that is listed among the Caribbean variables OR some other Caribbean country that is not listed among the possible Caribbean country choices… or both? Many thanks!

These respondents were typically coded this way in the original data, and I’m not aware of any documentation that explains exactly what the labels mean. Our understanding, though, is that a person coded this way could be living in a listed country or in an unlisted country. In other words, ‘Caribbean, n.s.’ only tells us that the person was born in a Caribbean country.