Table 2.

Number of geographies and causes at each hierarchical level for GBD 2015

		Number of geographies
Geographical levels
Super-region		7
Regions		21
Nations and territories		195
Subnational level 1		480
Subnational level 2		519
Cause levels
Level 1
	Total causes	3
	YLD causes	3
	YLL causes	3
Level 2
	Total	21
	YLD	21
	YLL	21
Level 3
	Total causes	166
	YLD causes	161
	YLL causes	144
Level 4
	Total causes	261
	YLD causes	256
	YLL causes	200

Nations and territories includes countries, territories, and non-sovereign states. Subnational level 1 includes countries that, in the GBD analysis, have been subdivided into the first subnational level such as states or provinces. Subnational level 2 applies only to India and England. In India, states have been divided into urban and rural units. England has been divided into nine regions. For each level, the number of geographies includes the geographies at that level plus the number of most-detailed geographies at each higher level such that at each level of the hierarchy, all geographies create a collectively exhaustive and mutually exclusive set covering the world. Likewise, the GBD cause list is mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive. The three Level 1 GBD causes consist of communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional disorders; non-communicable diseases; and injuries. Level 2 causes consist of 21 cause groups, such as neoplasms and cardiovascular diseases. Levels 3 and 4 consist of disaggregated causes, such as liver cancer and cerebrovascular disease (Level 3), and liver cancer due to hepatitis C and ischaemic stroke (Level 4). GBD=Global Burden of Disease. YLD=years lived with disability. YLL=years of life lost.