'ISO 3166-1 alpha-2' codes are two-letter
country codes in the
ISO 3166-1 standard to represent
countries and
dependent territories. They are published by the
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) as part of its
ISO 3166 standard. They are the most widely used of the country codes published by ISO, and are used most prominently for
country code top-level domains (with a few changes). They were first included as part of the ISO 3166 standard in its first edition in 1974.
Uses and applications
The codes are used in different environments and are also part of other standards. In some cases they are not perfectly implemented.
Perfect implementations
The two-letter ISO 3166-1 codes are used in:
★
ISO 3901 — International Standard Recording Code
★
ISO 4217 — Currency codes
★
ISO 6166 — International Securities Identifying Number (
ISIN) system
★
ISO 7372 — Trade data interchange (Trade data elements directory)
★
ISO 9362 —
SWIFT codes (Bank Identifier Codes)
★
ISO 9375
★
ISO 13616 — International Bank Account Numbers
★
UN/LOCODE — United Nations Code for Trade and Transport Locations, implemented by the
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
★
IETF language tags
Imperfect implementations
Starting in 1985, two-letter codes have been used in the
domain name system as
country code top-level domains (ccTLDs). Nowadays, the
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority assign the
ccTLDs, mostly following the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes, but with a few exceptions (e.g., the
United Kingdom requested an
exceptional reservation of
.uk for their ccTLD instead of their native
.gb)
The
WIPO coding standard ST.3 uses alpha-2 codes for encoding states, other entities and intergovernmental organizations (and their
Patent/
Trademark Offices), but includes a number of additional codes. For these additional codes, see the section ''
Codes currently agreed not to use''.
NATO country codes are also based on ISO 3166-1 alpha-2.
Changes
Changes to ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 are tracked by
ISO 3166-3.
Current codes
Decoding table
Below is a color-coded decoding table of all ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code elements. Click on a cell to see the corresponding entry.
Officially assigned code elements
Below is a complete list of the current officially assigned ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes, with three columns:
★ 'Alpha-2' – 2-letter country code (with link to each country's ISO 3166-2 geocodes)
★ 'Country name' – English short country name officially used by the ISO 3166 Maintenance Agency (ISO 3166/MA)
★ 'Notes' – Any unofficial notes
| Alpha-2 | Country name | Notes |
|---|
| Andorra | |
| United Arab Emirates | |
| Afghanistan | |
| Antigua and Barbuda | |
| Anguilla | AI previously represented ''French Afar and Issas'' |
| Albania | |
| Armenia | |
| Netherlands Antilles | |
| Angola | |
| Antarctica | Consisting of all territory south of latitude 60°S
Code taken from "Antarctique", its French name |
| Argentina | |
| American Samoa | |
| Austria | |
| Australia | |
| Aruba | |
| Åland Islands | |
| Azerbaijan | |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | |
| Barbados | |
| Bangladesh | |
| Belgium | |
| Burkina Faso | Previously named "Upper Volta" HV |
| Bulgaria | |
| Bahrain | |
| Burundi | |
| Benin | Previously named "Dahomey" DY |
| Bermuda | |
| Brunei Darussalam | |
| Bolivia | |
| Brazil | |
| Bahamas | |
| Bhutan | |
| Bouvet Island | |
| Botswana | |
| Belarus | Previously named "Byelorussian S.S.R."
Code taken from "Byelorussia", its former name |
| Belize | |
| Canada | |
| Cocos (Keeling) Islands | |
| Congo, the Democratic Republic of the | Previously named "Zaire" ZR |
| Central African Republic | |
| Congo | |
| Switzerland | Code taken from "Confoederatio Helvetica", its official Latin name |
| Côte d'Ivoire | |
| Cook Islands | |
| Chile | |
| Cameroon | |
| China | |
| Colombia | |
| Costa Rica | |
| Cuba | |
| Cape Verde | |
| Christmas Island | |
| Cyprus | |
| Czech Republic | |
| Germany | Previously named "Germany, Federal Republic of"
Code taken from "Deutschland", its German name |
| Djibouti | Previously named "French Afar and Issas" AI |
| Denmark | |
| Dominica | |
| Dominican Republic | |
| Algeria | Code taken from "Ledzayer", its Berber name |
| Ecuador | |
| Estonia | Code taken from "Eesti", its Estonian name |
| Egypt | |
| Western Sahara | Previously named "Spanish Sahara"
Code taken from "Sáhara Español", its former Spanish name |
| Eritrea | |
| Spain | Includes Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla
Code taken from "España", its Spanish name |
| Ethiopia | |
| Finland | |
| Fiji | |
| Falkland Islands (Malvinas) | |
| Micronesia, Federated States of | Previously named "Micronesia" |
| Faroe Islands | |
| France | |
| Gabon | |
| United Kingdom | Code taken from "Great Britain", part of its official name "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland"
UK also exceptionally reserved on request of the United Kingdom |
| Grenada | |
| Georgia | GE previously represented ''Gilbert and Ellice Islands'' |
| French Guiana | |
| Guernsey | |
| Ghana | |
| Gibraltar | |
| Greenland | |
| Gambia | |
| Guinea | |
| Guadeloupe | Includes Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin |
| Equatorial Guinea | |
| Greece | |
| South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands | |
| Guatemala | |
| Guam | |
| Guinea-Bissau | |
| Guyana | |
| Hong Kong | |
| Heard Island and McDonald Islands | |
| Honduras | |
| Croatia | Code taken from "Hrvatska", its Croatian name |
| Haiti | |
| Hungary | |
| Indonesia | |
| Ireland | |
| Israel | |
| Isle of Man | |
| India | |
| British Indian Ocean Territory | Includes Diego Garcia |
| Iraq | |
| Iran, Islamic Republic of | |
| Iceland | Code taken from "Ísland", its Icelandic name |
| Italy | |
| Jersey | |
| Jamaica | |
| Jordan | |
| Japan | |
| Kenya | |
| Kyrgyzstan | |
| Cambodia | Previously named "Kampuchea"
Code taken from "Kampuchea", its former name |
| Kiribati | |
| Comoros | Code taken from "Komori", its Comorian name |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | Previously named "Saint Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla" |
| Korea, Democratic People's Republic of | i.e., North Korea |
| Korea, Republic of | i.e., South Korea |
| Kuwait | |
| Cayman Islands | |
| Kazakhstan | Previously named "Kazakstan" |
| Lao People's Democratic Republic | |
| Lebanon | |
| Saint Lucia | |
| Liechtenstein | |
| Sri Lanka | |
| Liberia | |
| Lesotho | |
| Lithuania | |
| Luxembourg | |
| Latvia | |
| Libyan Arab Jamahiriya | |
| Morocco | Code taken from "Maroc", its French name |
| Monaco | |
| Moldova, Republic of | |
| Montenegro | |
| Madagascar | |
| Marshall Islands | |
| Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of | Designated as such due to naming dispute
Code taken from "Makedonija", its Macedonian name |
| Mali | |
| Myanmar | Previously named "Burma" BU |
| Mongolia | |
| Macao | Previously named "Macau" |
| Northern Mariana Islands | |
| Martinique | |
| Mauritania | |
| Montserrat | |
| Malta | |
| Mauritius | |
| Maldives | |
| Malawi | |
| Mexico | |
| Malaysia | |
| Mozambique | |
| Namibia | |
| New Caledonia | |
| Niger | |
| Norfolk Island | |
| Nigeria | |
| Nicaragua | |
| Netherlands | |
| Norway | |
| Nepal | |
| Nauru | |
| Niue | |
| New Zealand | |
| Oman | |
| Panama | |
| Peru | |
| French Polynesia | Includes Clipperton Island |
| Papua New Guinea | |
| Philippines | |
| Pakistan | |
| Poland | |
| Saint Pierre and Miquelon | |
| Pitcairn | |
| Puerto Rico | |
| Palestinian Territory, Occupied | Consisting of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip |
| Portugal | |
| Palau | |
| Paraguay | |
| Qatar | |
| Réunion | |
| Romania | |
| Serbia | |
| Russian Federation | |
| Rwanda | |
| Saudi Arabia | |
| Solomon Islands | Code taken from "British Solomon Islands", its former name |
| Seychelles | |
| Sudan | |
| Sweden | |
| Singapore | |
| Saint Helena | Includes Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha |
| Slovenia | |
| Svalbard and Jan Mayen | Consisting of Svalbard and Jan Mayen |
| Slovakia | SK previously represented ''Sikkim'' |
| Sierra Leone | |
| San Marino | |
| Senegal | |
| Somalia | |
| Suriname | |
| Sao Tome and Principe | |
| El Salvador | |
| Syrian Arab Republic | |
| Swaziland | |
| Turks and Caicos Islands | |
| Chad | Code taken from "Tchad", its French name |
| French Southern Territories | Covers the current jurisdiction of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands except Adélie Land |
| Togo | |
| Thailand | |
| Tajikistan | |
| Tokelau | |
| Timor-Leste | Previously named "East Timor" TP |
| Turkmenistan | |
| Tunisia | |
| Tonga | |
| Turkey | |
| Trinidad and Tobago | |
| Tuvalu | |
| Taiwan, Province of China | Covers the current jurisdiction of the Republic of China except Kinmen and Lienchiang
Designated as such due to its political status within the UN |
| Tanzania, United Republic of | |
| Ukraine | Previously named "Ukrainian S.S.R." |
| Uganda | |
| United States Minor Outlying Islands | Consisting of Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll, Navassa Island, Palmyra Atoll, and Wake Island |
| United States | |
| Uruguay | |
| Uzbekistan | |
| Holy See (Vatican City State) | Administered by the Holy See
Previously named "Vatican City State (Holy See)" |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | |
| Venezuela | |
| Virgin Islands, British | |
| Virgin Islands, U.S. | |
| Viet Nam | |
| Vanuatu | Previously named "New Hebrides" NH |
| Wallis and Futuna | |
| Samoa | Code taken from "Western Samoa", its former name |
| Yemen | Previously named "Yemen, Republic of" |
| Mayotte | |
| South Africa | Code taken from "Zuid-Afrika", its Dutch name |
| Zambia | |
| Zimbabwe | Previously named "Southern Rhodesia" RH |
User-assigned code elements
The following alpha-2 codes can be user-assigned:
AA, from
QM to
QZ, from
XA to
XZ, and
ZZ. These code elements are at the disposal of users who need to add further names of countries, territories or other geographical entities to their in-house application of ISO 3166-1, and the ISO 3166/MA will never use them in the updating process of the standard. For example:
★
UN/LOCODE assigns
XZ to Installations in International Waters.
★ The Directorate General of Customs of the Ministry of Finance of the
Republic of China administering
Taiwan assigns four private-use codes for the statistic needs
[1] [2] (external links in Chinese only):
★
★
XA –
Ryukyu Islands, which are never recognized as
Japanese territories by the Republic of China
★
★
XB –
Nevis
★
★
XC –
Tahiti
★
★
ZZ – Other countries
Reserved code elements
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 is divided into the following four categories.
Exceptional reservations
Exceptionally reserved alpha-2 code elements are reserved permanently at the request of national ISO member bodies, governments and international organizations because they are needed for particular purposes. ISO 3166/MA only authorizes their use for the particular purpose for which they were established. The following alpha-2 codes are currently exceptionally reserved:
The following three codes were also under exceptional reservation, until the update from
2006-03-29 included them in the standard as official codes:
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 following alpha-2 codes are currently transitionally reserved:
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