http://www.economist.com/style-guide/capitals:
PLACES
Use upper case for definite geographical places, regions, areas and countries (The Hague, Transylvania, Germany), and for vague but recognised political or geographical areas: the Middle East, South Atlantic, East Asia (which is to be preferred to the Far East), the West (as in the decline of the West; adjective, Western), the Gulf, the North Atlantic, South-East Asia, the Midlands, Central America, the West Country.
Lower case for east, west, north, south except when part of a name (North Korea, South Africa, West End) or part of a thinking group: the South, the Midwest, the West (in the United States, but lower case for vaguer areas such as the American north-east, north-west, south-east, south-west), the Highlands (of Scotland), the Midlands (of England). If you are, say, comparing regions some of which would normally be upper case and some lower case, and it would look odd to leave them that way, put them all lower case: House prices in the north-east and the south are rising faster than those in the midwest and the south-west.
ähnlich der Guardian style guide z.B. für east/East auf
http://www.theguardian.com/guardian-observer-...:
east Africa
East Anglia
east Asia
or south-east Asia rather than far east
east coast mainline
but the train operating company set up by the government in 2009 is East Coast
East End
inner east London north of the river; the equivalent district south of the Thames is south-east London
EastEnders
TV soap; in real life, people from the East End are East Enders
Easter
The day between Good Friday and Easter Day is Holy Saturday, not Easter Saturday, which falls a week later
eastern Europe
East Jerusalem
east Midlands
but East Midlands airport
East Riding of Yorkshire council
