The “state” field is not universal. Canada has provinces, Japan has prefectures, France has regions, and some countries do not use a middle-level field at all.
Use the local label
Change the label with the country: State for the US, Province for Canada, Prefecture for Japan, Region for France, and so on. A generic “State/Province” label is better than “State” alone.
Allow an empty value
Do not require a region for a country that does not need one. If the field is optional, say so and do not block submission when it is blank.
Do not validate against the wrong list
A US state dropdown should not appear for a German address. Validate the region against the selected country, not against a global list.
Questions
- It is a similar middle-level administrative unit. Use the local name so users recognize it.
- Hong Kong does not use a state or postal code. The district can be part of the city or region line.
Is a province a state?+
What about Hong Kong?+
Examples are synthetic. Do not use a generated address for identity checks, account registration, or delivery.