AtlasNLP: A Country-Aware Atlas of Dataset Representation in NLP
Not on the map. Why?
Abstract (arXiv)
Understanding which countries are represented in NLP datasets is essential for identifying gaps, targeting data collection, measuring progress, and informing AI policy. However, geographic metadata is very rarely available, and country-level representation is often hidden behind broad language-level claims. We introduce AtlasNLP, a country-aware atlas of over 13,000 NLP dataset records across normalized NLP task categories, tracking both the populations represented and where datasets are produced. AtlasNLP includes AtlasNLP-Gold, a human-curated reference set, and AtlasNLP-Core, an ACL-derived large-scale collection. Using this resource, we show that (1) dataset coverage is highly uneven across countries and tasks; (2) dataset production and representation are geographically asymmetric; and (3) language coverage does not imply geographic representation. These findings reveal blind spots in current dataset documentation practices and motivate more explicit geographic metadata for country-aware NLP evaluation.
Key facts. No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026). Builds on 23 of its 34 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 31 Aug 2026.
Builds on
23 of 34 references.
References · 23
- 2018Datasheets for Datasetscited by 1,386
- 2020Language (Technology) is Power: A Critical Survey of "Bias" in NLPcited by 956
- 2020The State and Fate of Linguistic Diversity and Inclusion in the NLP Worldcited by 798
- 2020XTREME: A Massively Multilingual Multi-task Benchmark for Evaluating Cross-lingual Generalizationcited by 742
- 2021The FLORES-101 Evaluation Benchmark for Low-Resource and Multilingual Machine Translationcited by 560
- 2022Challenges and Strategies in Cross-Cultural NLPcited by 218
- 2017No Classification without Representation: Assessing Geodiversity Issues in Open Data Sets for the Developing Worldcited by 153
- 2023Having Beer after Prayer? Measuring Cultural Bias in Large Language Modelscited by 153
- 2019Does Object Recognition Work for Everyone?cited by 151
- 2024Survey of Cultural Awareness in Language Models: Text and Beyondcited by 103
- 2023NLPositionality: Characterizing Design Biases of Datasets and Modelscited by 94
- 2022One Country, 700+ Languages: NLP Challenges for Underrepresented Languages and Dialects in Indonesiacited by 66
11 more
- 2022Some Languages are More Equal than Others: Probing Deeper into the Linguistic Disparity in the NLP Worldcited by 55
- 2024Natural Language Processing for Dialects of a Language: A Surveycited by 40
- 2022Beyond Counting Datasets: A Survey of Multilingual Dataset Construction and Necessary Resourcescited by 25
- 2024From Languages to Geographies: Towards Evaluating Cultural Bias in Hate Speech Datasetscited by 25
- 2021Dataset Geography: Mapping Language Data to Language Userscited by 22
- 2025Charting the Landscape of African NLP: Mapping Progress and Shaping the Road Aheadcited by 16
- 2024Data Authenticity, Consent, & Provenance for AI are all broken: what will it take to fix them?cited by 15
- 2023Bridging the Digital Divide: Performance Variation across Socio-Economic Factors in Vision-Language Modelscited by 11
- 2025Voice of a Continent: Mapping Africa's Speech Technology Frontiercited by 4
- 2024Uplifting Lower-Income Data: Strategies for Socioeconomic Perspective Shifts in Large Multi-modal Modelscited by 2
- 2025Culture Affordance Atlas: Reconciling Object Diversity Through Functional Mappingcited by 1
Built on by
Not cited yet.