Online PHP editor | refs for 7pjIL

<?php $data = [ 'Wellington New Zealand', 'Florida United States of America', 'Quebec Canada', 'Something Country XYZ (formally ABC)', ]; $countries = [ 'United States of America', 'Canada', 'New Zealand', 'Country XYZ (formally ABC)', ]; $branches = array_map(fn($country) => preg_quote($country, '/'), $countries); $result = []; foreach ($data as $string) { $result[] = preg_split('/ (?=(?:' . implode('|', $branches) . ')$)/', $string, 2); } var_export($result);