Ever wondered how many overseas correspondents the BBC has, and where they all are?

Welcome to the BBC Correspondents Map! It's in a constant state of production, as correspondents move around the world as stories happen or are expected to happen. Also, there's bound to be some I've missed due to the sheer number of places the BBC is in.

Correspondents marked as 'stringers' are paid per on-air appearance, as opposed to correspondents who are employed as staff on a full-time basis. Freelancers (who may be employed by another media organisation but also report for the BBC, or just someone local who is available to report if required) and World Service Regions staff (those who report for the local language output in various regions but also report on World Service English News) are also marked as stringers.

The correspondent I clicked on has stories from another city or country!
Correspondents often move around as stories happen. What's marked on this map is their normal base - however, they will travel around the country to gather stories. For example, staff in Russia will often leave their base in Moscow to travel around the country as stories happen, or to get opinion from outside the capital. Also, where extra support is required in a particular country, staff from around the region will be deployed; for example for the arrest of Radovan Karadzic in 2008, reporters based in Sarajevo, Budapest, Rome, London and Brussels were sent to Belgrade and The Hague to cover the story. See recent updates or the update schedule.

Couldn't this be used as a kidnapping guide in hostile territories?
This has come up a few times in feedback - and the answer is simple: every correspondent on this map has entries and articles on the public BBC News Online website which states their name, location and the date they filed the article. No extra information is included on this map which is not already published on the BBC website, and therefore already in the public domain.

No wonder the license fee is this much with all these correspondents!
Not all correspondents and stringers here are funded by the license fee; plenty are funded by the World Service, which is funded by the UK Foreign Office to promote the UK overseas.

Who on earth are you?!
I work in the Traffic Unit at the BBC - nothing to do with the motorways and flight delays - but moving correspondents around studios from where the BBC's news output originates, and recording their despatches for use in news bulletins and programmes. The Traffic Unit acts as the first point of call for all foreign correspondents around the world to get their audio material into London. You can find out more here, read a day in the life of here or read correspondent Nick Robinson's experience of Traffic here.

How do I give you feedback?
Please let me know your thoughts, any errors you spot or any improvements you can think of through the feedback page.