diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 1a18d6cc08a..af2d06bdf21 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -2232,11 +2232,6 @@
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/core-util-is/-/core-util-is-1.0.2.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha1-tf1UIgqivFq1eqtxQMlAdUUDwac="
     },
-    "country-regex": {
-      "version": "1.1.0",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/country-regex/-/country-regex-1.1.0.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha1-UcMz3N8Sknt+XuucEKyBEqYSCJY="
-    },
     "create-ecdh": {
       "version": "4.0.3",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/create-ecdh/-/create-ecdh-4.0.3.tgz",
@@ -5526,6 +5521,11 @@
       "integrity": "sha1-7AbBDgo0wPL68Zn3/X/Hj//QPHM=",
       "dev": true
     },
+    "i18n-iso-countries": {
+      "version": "4.1.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/i18n-iso-countries/-/i18n-iso-countries-4.1.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-ttqCFBUvVSwUCgyjjIG95lilFg/61INah89ih/znBYHrZAcD5HsFUr8CJBmEgIOPbw0jZFgAPAsYRPGQexMTeA=="
+    },
     "iconv-lite": {
       "version": "0.4.24",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/iconv-lite/-/iconv-lite-0.4.24.tgz",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 1bddc774a1b..16644a20150 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -66,7 +66,6 @@
     "color-normalize": "^1.5.0",
     "color-rgba": "^2.1.1",
     "convex-hull": "^1.0.3",
-    "country-regex": "^1.1.0",
     "d3": "^3.5.17",
     "d3-force": "^1.2.1",
     "d3-hierarchy": "^1.1.9",
@@ -95,6 +94,7 @@
     "has-passive-events": "^1.0.0",
     "is-mobile": "^2.2.1",
     "mapbox-gl": "1.10.1",
+    "i18n-iso-countries": "^4.1.0",
     "matrix-camera-controller": "^2.1.3",
     "mouse-change": "^1.4.0",
     "mouse-event-offset": "^3.0.2",
diff --git a/src/lib/geo_location_utils.js b/src/lib/geo_location_utils.js
index 21521f058b9..6921ef000a3 100644
--- a/src/lib/geo_location_utils.js
+++ b/src/lib/geo_location_utils.js
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
 'use strict';
 
 var d3 = require('d3');
-var countryRegex = require('country-regex');
 var turfArea = require('@turf/area');
 var turfCentroid = require('@turf/centroid');
 var turfBbox = require('@turf/bbox');
@@ -19,9 +18,10 @@ var loggers = require('./loggers');
 var isPlainObject = require('./is_plain_object');
 var nestedProperty = require('./nested_property');
 var polygon = require('./polygon');
+var countries = require("i18n-iso-countries");
 
-// make list of all country iso3 ids from at runtime
-var countryIds = Object.keys(countryRegex);
+// Minimize for browser.
+countries.registerLocale(require("i18n-iso-countries/langs/en.json"));
 
 var locationmodeToIdFinder = {
     'ISO-3': identity,
@@ -30,16 +30,14 @@ var locationmodeToIdFinder = {
 };
 
 function countryNameToISO3(countryName) {
-    for(var i = 0; i < countryIds.length; i++) {
-        var iso3 = countryIds[i];
-        var regex = new RegExp(countryRegex[iso3]);
-
-        if(regex.test(countryName.trim().toLowerCase())) return iso3;
+    // Remove trailing and double spaces
+    countryName = countryName.trim().replace(/ +(?= )/g, '');
+    var iso3 = countries.getAlpha3Code(countryName, 'en');
+    if(!iso3) {
+        loggers.log('Unrecognized country name: ' + countryName + '.');
+        return false;
     }
-
-    loggers.log('Unrecognized country name: ' + countryName + '.');
-
-    return false;
+    return iso3;
 }
 
 function locationToFeature(locationmode, location, features) {
diff --git a/test/jasmine/tests/geo_test.js b/test/jasmine/tests/geo_test.js
index 426c9a7e745..fb8755df349 100644
--- a/test/jasmine/tests/geo_test.js
+++ b/test/jasmine/tests/geo_test.js
@@ -769,7 +769,7 @@ describe('geojson / topojson utils', function() {
         });
 
         it('with *country names* locationmode', function() {
-            var out = _locationToFeature(topojson, 'United States', 'country names');
+            var out = _locationToFeature(topojson, 'United States of America', 'country names');
 
             expect(Object.keys(out)).toEqual(['type', 'id', 'properties', 'geometry']);
             expect(out.id).toEqual('USA');
@@ -788,8 +788,8 @@ describe('geojson / topojson utils', function() {
         var topojson = GeoAssets.topojson[topojsonName];
 
         var shouldPass = [
-            'Virgin Islands (U.S.)',
-            ' Virgin   Islands (U.S.) '
+            'Virgin Islands, U.S.',
+            ' Virgin   Islands, U.S. '
         ];
 
         shouldPass.forEach(function(str) {