"It depends"! This is always the case. If you have a "Customer" table, you should have a Primary Key for the "Customer" table, and could have three foriegn keys on city, state, and country, as an example. This would be "more normalized", than repeating redundant information into the "Customer" table. You do not have to do it that way, but it is one of the "rules "defined by Codd. What are rules for, anyway! Some people like flat files. To each his/her own! If it works, use it. If you designed it, think first, and code last. You might have to support it.

Tom