Iso 3166-1 Alpha-2

ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes are the best known part of ISO 3166-1 and subsequent use as most of the country codes for Internet domain names (see also External Links below).

Uses and applications

The codes are used in different environments and are also part of other standards. In some cases there are not perfectly implemented.

Perfect implementations

The two-letter ISO 3166-1 codes form the first two letters of the three-letter ISO 4217 standard codes for currencies. It is used in International Bank Account Numbers, the ISO 6166 International securities identification numbering (ISIN) system, ISO 7372, ISO 9375, the ISO/IEC 7501-1 machine readable travel documents standard, UN/LOCODE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Recommendation 16, for encoding names of ports).

Imperfect implementations

Starting in 1985, the two-letter codes have been used in domain names on the Internet, where they are used to form country code ccTLDs, with some exceptions e.g. United Kingdom, where the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority did not follow the ISO 3166-1 and used UK instead of GB. For a complete list of exceptions, see the country code top-level domain article. WIPO standard ST.3 (for encoding country which issued a patent or trademark).

Changes

Changes to ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 are tracked by ISO 3166-3.

Current elements

Note that AA, ZZ and the ranges QM-QZ and XA-XZ are reserved for private use. If a country code cannot be found in the list then it is probably obsolete, in which case it should be found in the list of obsolete country codes, further below. The following is intended to be a complete list of current ISO 3166-1 two-letter codes.
urrent Two-letter Codes
lpha-2!!Country
tt>AD Andorra
tt>AE United Arab Emirates
tt>AF Afghanistan
tt>AG Antigua and Barbuda
tt>AI Anguilla (AI previously represented French Afars and Issas)
tt>AL Albania
tt>AM Armenia
tt>AN Netherlands Antilles
tt>AO Angola
tt>AQ Antarctica (defined here as everything south of latitude 60°S)
tt>AR Argentina
tt>AS American Samoa
tt>AT Austria
tt>AU Australia (including Ashmore and Cartier Islands and Coral Sea Islands)
tt>AW Aruba
tt>AX Åland Islands
tt>AZ Azerbaijan
tt>BA Bosnia and Herzegovina
tt>BB Barbados
tt>BD Bangladesh
tt>BE Belgium
tt>BF Burkina Faso
tt>BG Bulgaria
tt>BH Bahrain
tt>BI Burundi
tt>BJ Benin
tt>BM Bermuda
tt>BN Brunei Darussalam
tt>BO Bolivia
tt>BR Brazil
tt>BS Bahamas
tt>BT Bhutan
tt>BV Bouvet Island
tt>BW Botswana
tt>BY Belarus (formerly Byelorussia)
tt>BZ Belize
tt>CA Canada
tt>CC Cocos (Keeling) Islands
tt>CD Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire)
tt>CF Central African Republic
tt>CG Congo (Republic of the Congo)
tt>CH Switzerland (Confoederatio Helvetica)
tt>CI Côte d'Ivoire (formerly Ivory Coast)
tt>CK Cook Islands
tt>CL Chile
tt>CM Cameroon
tt>CN China (People's Republic of China)
tt>CO Colombia
tt>CR Costa Rica
tt>CS Serbia and Montenegro (formerly Yugoslavia) (CS previously represented Czechoslovakia)
tt>CU Cuba
tt>CV Cape Verde
tt>CX Christmas Island
tt>CY Cyprus
tt>CZ Czech Republic
tt>DE Germany (Deutschland)
tt>DJ Djibouti
tt>DK Denmark
tt>DM Dominica
tt>DO Dominican Republic
tt>DZ Algeria
tt>EC Ecuador
tt>EE Estonia
tt>EG Egypt
tt>EH Western Sahara (formerly Spanish Sahara)
tt>ER Eritrea
tt>ES Spain (España)
tt>ET Ethiopia
tt>FI Finland
tt>FJ Fiji
tt>FK Falkland Islands
tt>FM Federated States of Micronesia
tt>FO Faroe Islands
tt>FR France
tt>GA Gabon
tt>GB United Kingdom (including Isle of Man and Channel Islands)
tt>GD Grenada
tt>GE Georgia (GE previously represented the Gilbert and Ellice Islands)
tt>GF French Guiana
tt>GH Ghana
tt>GI Gibraltar
tt>GL Greenland
tt>GM Gambia
tt>GN Guinea
tt>GP Guadeloupe
tt>GQ Equatorial Guinea
tt>GR Greece
tt>GS South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
tt>GT Guatemala
tt>GU Guam
tt>GW Guinea-Bissau
tt>GY Guyana
tt>HK Hong Kong
tt>HM Heard Island and McDonald Islands
tt>HN Honduras
tt>HR Croatia (Hrvatska)
tt>HT Haiti
tt>HU Hungary
tt>ID Indonesia
tt>IE Ireland
tt>IL Israel
tt>IN India
tt>IO British Indian Ocean Territory (including Diego Garcia)
tt>IQ Iraq
tt>IR Iran
tt>IS Iceland
tt>IT Italy
tt>JM Jamaica
tt>JO Jordan
tt>JP Japan
tt>KE Kenya
tt>KG Kyrgyzstan
tt>KH Cambodia
tt>KI Kiribati
tt>KM Comoros
tt>KN Saint Kitts and Nevis
tt>KP Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea)
tt>KR Republic of Korea (South Korea)
tt>KW Kuwait
tt>KY Cayman Islands
tt>KZ Kazakhstan
tt>LA Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos)
tt>LB Lebanon
tt>LC Saint Lucia
tt>LI Liechtenstein
tt>LK Sri Lanka
tt>LR Liberia
tt>LS Lesotho
tt>LT Lithuania
tt>LU Luxembourg
tt>LV Latvia
tt>LY Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (Libya)
tt>MA Morocco
tt>MC Monaco
tt>MD Moldova
tt>MG Madagascar
tt>MH Marshall Islands
tt>MK Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
tt>ML Mali
tt>MM Myanmar (Burma)
tt>MN Mongolia
tt>MO Macao (Macau)
tt>MP Northern Mariana Islands
tt>MQ Martinique
tt>MR Mauritania
tt>MS Montserrat
tt>MT Malta
tt>MU Mauritius
tt>MV Maldives
tt>MW Malawi
tt>MX Mexico
tt>MY Malaysia
tt>MZ Mozambique
tt>NA Namibia
tt>NC New Caledonia
tt>NE Niger
tt>NF Norfolk Island
tt>NG Nigeria
tt>NI Nicaragua
tt>NL Netherlands
tt>NO Norway
tt>NP Nepal
tt>NR Nauru
tt>NU Niue
tt>NZ New Zealand
tt>OM Oman
tt>PA Panama
tt>PE Peru
tt>PF French Polynesia (including Clipperton Island)
tt>PG Papua New Guinea
tt>PH Philippines
tt>PK Pakistan
tt>PL Poland
tt>PM Saint-Pierre and Miquelon
tt>PN Pitcairn Islands
tt>PR Puerto Rico
tt>PS Palestinian Territories (i.e., West Bank and Gaza Strip)
tt>PT Portugal
tt>PW Palau
tt>PY Paraguay
tt>QA Qatar
tt>RE Réunion
tt>RO Romania
tt>RU Russia
tt>RW Rwanda
tt>SA Saudi Arabia
tt>SB Solomon Islands
tt>SC Seychelles
tt>SD Sudan
tt>SE Sweden
tt>SG Singapore
tt>SH Saint Helena (including Ascension Island and other dependencies)
tt>SI Slovenia
tt>SJ Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands
tt>SK Slovakia (SK previously represented Sikkim)
tt>SL Sierra Leone
tt>SM San Marino
tt>SN Senegal
tt>SO Somalia
tt>SR Suriname
tt>ST São Tomé and Príncipe
tt>SV El Salvador
tt>SY Syrian Arab Republic (Syria)
tt>SZ Swaziland
tt>TC Turks and Caicos Islands
tt>TD Chad (Tchad)
tt>TF French Southern Territories
tt>TG Togo
tt>TH Thailand
tt>TJ Tajikistan
tt>TK Tokelau
tt>TL Timor-Leste (East Timor)
tt>TM Turkmenistan
tt>TN Tunisia
tt>TO Tonga
tt>TR Turkey
tt>TT Trinidad and Tobago
tt>TV Tuvalu
tt>TW Taiwan (Republic of China)
tt>TZ United Republic of Tanzania
tt>UA Ukraine
tt>UG Uganda
tt>UM United States Minor Outlying Islands
tt>US United States
tt>UY Uruguay
tt>UZ Uzbekistan
tt>VA Holy See (Vatican City State)
tt>VC Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
tt>VE Venezuela
tt>VG British Virgin Islands
tt>VI U.S. Virgin Islands
tt>VN Viet Nam (Vietnam)
tt>VU Vanuatu
tt>WF Wallis and Futuna
tt>WS Samoa (formerly Western Samoa)
tt>YE Yemen
tt>YT Mayotte
tt>ZA South Africa (Zuid Afrika)
tt>ZM Zambia
tt>ZW Zimbabwe

ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2 Reserved Code Elements list

Reserved code elements are codes which, while not ISO 3166-1 codes, are in use for some applications in conjunction with the ISO 3166 codes. The ISO 3166 MA therefore reserves them, so that they are not used for new official ISO 3166 codes, thereby creating conflicts between the standard and those applications. The alpha-2 reserved code elements list, as of July 23, 2003, is divided into the following four categories.

Transitional reservations

A transitional reservation refers to a code which was formerly present in ISO 3166, but which since has been deleted. It will be maintained as a transitional reservation for at least five years, for the sake of users who still need to refer to the former entity or whose systems have not yet been updated to refer to the new code. The transitionally reserved alpha-2 code elements are:
ransitionally Reserved Two-letter Codes
lpha-2!!Country
tt>BU Burma (now Myanmar, MM)
tt>NT Neutral Zone, partitioned between Saudi Arabia and Iraq in 1983.
tt>SF Finland (now FI)
tt>SU Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (several successor codes; still used as ccTLD)
tt>TP East Timor (now Timor-Leste, TL)
tt>YU Yugoslavia (now Serbia and Montenegro, CS)
tt>ZR Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo, CD)

Indeterminate reservations

The indeterminately reserved alpha-2 code elements are code elements used to identify vehicles under the 1949 and 1968 United Nations Road Traffic Conventions. These codes differ from those used in ISO 3166. The ISO 3166 MA hopes that these codes will eventually be phased out and that ISO 3166-1 codes will be used instead; but in the meantime they are reserved, to avoid conflicts between ISO 3166-1 and the Conventions, and to facilitate any transition from the Convention codes to ISO 3166-1 codes. These codes are as follows:
ndeterminately Reserved Two-letter Codes
lpha-2!!Country
tt>DY Benin 1
tt>EW Estonia 1
tt>FL Liechtenstein 2
tt>JA Jamaica 3
tt>LF Libya Fezzan 2
tt>LT Libya Tripoli 2 (Note that LT has since been reassigned to Lithuania.)
tt>ME Western Sahara 2
tt>PI Philippines 3
tt>RA Argentina 3
tt>RB Bolivia 2,5
tt>RB Botswana 3,5
tt>RC China (People's Republic of China) 3
tt>RH Haiti 1
tt>RI Indonesia 3
tt>RL Lebanon 3
tt>RM Madagascar 3
tt>RN Niger 4
tt>RP Philippines 4
tt>RU Burundi 2 (Note that RU has since been reassigned to the Russian Federation.)
tt>WG Grenada 1
tt>WL Saint Lucia 1
tt>WV Saint Vincent 1
tt>YV Venezuela 1
Notes:
  1. Code notified to United Nations Secretary-General under 1949 and/or 1968 Road Traffic Conventions
  2. Code in use for road transport purposes, but not notified to United Nations Secretary-General under 1949 Road Traffic Convention
  3. Code under 1949 Road Traffic Convention
  4. Code under 1968 Road Traffic Convention
  5. This code is in use to refer to both Bolivia and Botswana

Exceptional reservations

Exceptionally reserved alpha-2 code elements are reserved permanently because they are needed for particular purposes. ISO 3166 MA only authorizes their use for the particular purpose for which they were established. The list is as follows:
xceptionally Reserved Two-letter Codes
lpha-2!!Country
tt>AC Ascension Island - Reserved on request of UPU (also used as ccTLD)
tt>CP Clipperton Island - Reserved on request of ITU
tt>DG Diego Garcia - Reserved on request of ITU
tt>EA Ceuta and Melilla - Reserved on request of WCO to represent area outside EU customs territory
tt>EU European Union - originally requested by ISO 4217 MA to provide country code for Euro; later extended for use in ISO 6166 International Securities Identification Numbering (ISIN) system; later extended by ISO 3166 MA for use for any purposes for which code EU required
tt>FX Metropolitan France - reserved on request of France
tt>GG Guernsey - reserved on request of UPU; also used as ccTLD
tt>IC Canary Islands - reserved on request of WCO to represent area outside EU customs territory
tt>IM Isle of Man - reserved on request of UPU, also used as ccTLD
tt>JE Jersey - reserved on request of UPU, also used as ccTLD
tt>TA Tristan da Cunha - reserved on request of UPU
tt>UK United Kingdom - reserved on request of the United Kingdom, to prevent any other country from using code UK; also used as ccTLD

Other reservations

In addition, the ISO 3166 MA has undertaken, for the time being, not to use the following alpha-2 codes from WIPO Standard ST.3. However, this undertaking is not classified as an transitional, indeterminate or transitional reservation, since the codes do not refer to countries, dependent areas or other geographic regions or localities:
ther Reserved Two-letter Codes
lpha-2!!Country
tt>AP African Regional Industrial Property Organization
tt>BX Benelux Trademarks and Design Offices
tt>EF Union of Countries under the European Community Patent Convention
tt>EM European Trademark Office
tt>EP European Patent Organisation
tt>GC Patent Office of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC)
tt>IB International Bureau of WIPO
tt>OA Organisation Africaine de la Proprit Intellectuelle or African Intellectual Property Organization
tt>WO World Intellectual Property Organization
In addition, WIPO Standard ST.3 also uses EA to code the Eurasian Patent Organization. However, ISO 3166 MA has stated it cannot guarantee to reserve the code EA from use, since it is already used for customs purposes to represent Ceuta and Melilla. ISO 3166 MA proposed in 1995 that EV be used by WIPO for the purpose of representing the Eurasian Patent Organization; however, this request was not honoured by WIPO.

Other withdrawn codes

See ISO 3166-3 for a full list of withdrawn codes.
ther Withdrawn Codes
lpha-2!!Country
tt>AI French Territory of the Afars and the Issas
tt>BQ British Antarctic Territory
tt>CS Czechoslovakia
tt>CT Canton and Enderbury Islands
tt>DD East Germany
tt>DY Dahomey (Benin)
tt>FQ French Southern and Antarctic Territories
tt>HV Upper Volta
tt>JT Johnston Island
tt>MI Midway Atoll
tt>NH New Hebrides (Vanuatu)
tt>NQ Queen Maud Land
tt>NT Saudi-Iraqi neutral zone
tt>PC Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
tt>PU various United States Pacific Islands
tt>PZ Panama Canal Zone
tt>RH Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)
tt>SK Sikkim
tt>VD North Vietnam
tt>WK Wake Island
tt>YD South Yemen

Fictional codes

The novel Cryptonomicon uses the code KK to refer to its fictional country Kinakuta. The Kingdom of Fyksland (Fyksian: Vaijskr Kohnklije) uses the code VK. These are not part of the real ISO 3166.

External links

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