> [!WARNING]
> **Warning:** This page describes system behavior for Legacy Cloud Datastore databases that have not yet upgraded to Firestore in Datastore mode. For Firestore in Datastore mode databases, see [Firestore in Datastore mode Locations](https://docs.cloud.google.com/datastore/docs/locations#location-mr).

A multi-region location consists of a defined set of
[regions](https://cloud.google.com/docs/geography-and-regions#regions_and_zones) where multiple replicas of the database
are stored. Each replica is either a read-write replica which contains
all of the data in the database or a witness replica which does not
maintain a full set of data but participates in replication.

By replicating the data between multiple regions, data
can continue to be served even with the loss of an entire
region. Within a region, data is replicated across
[zones](https://cloud.google.com/docs/geography-and-regions#regions_and_zones) so that data can continue to be served
within that region even with the loss of a zone.

Each multi-region location includes at least two read-write regions that serve
read and write traffic. A third region is a witness region in `nam5` and
a read-write region in `eur3`.

The following multi-region locations are available:

| Multi-Region Name | Multi-Region Description | Read-Write Regions | Witness Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| `eur3` | Europe | `europe-west1` (Belgium), `europe-west4` (Netherlands), `europe-north1` (Finland) |   |
| `nam5` | United States | `us-central1` (Iowa), `us-central2` (Oklahoma---private GCP region) | `us-east1` (South Carolina) |