ISO 3166-1


ISO 3166-1 is part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization, and defines codes for the names of countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest. The official name of the standard is Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions - Part 1: Country codes. It defines three sets of country codes:
The alphabetic country codes were first included in ISO 3166 in 1974, and the numeric country codes were first included in 1981. The country codes have been published as ISO 3166-1 since 1997, when ISO 3166 was expanded into three parts, with ISO 3166-2 defining codes for subdivisions and ISO 3166-3 defining codes for former countries.
As a widely used international standard, ISO 3166-1 is implemented in other standards and used by international organizations to allow facilitation of the exchange of goods and information. However, it is not the only standard for country codes. Other country codes used by many international organizations are partly or totally incompatible with ISO 3166-1, although some of them closely correspond to ISO 3166-1 codes.

Criteria for inclusion

Currently 249 countries, territories, or areas of geographical interest are assigned official codes in ISO 3166-1. According to the ISO 3166 Maintenance Agency, the only way to enter a new country name into ISO 3166-1 is to have it registered in one of the following two sources:
To be listed in the bulletin Country Names, a country must be at least one of the following:
The list of names in Country and Region Codes for Statistical Use of the UN Statistics Division is based on the bulletin Country Names and other UN sources.
Once a country name or territory name appears in either of these two sources, it will be added to ISO 3166-1 by default.
The ISO 3166/MA may [|reserve code elements] for other entities that do not qualify for inclusion based on the above criteria. For example, because the European Union is not a country, it is not formally included in ISO 3166-1, but for practical reasons, the ISO 3166/MA has "reserved the two-letter combination for the purpose of identifying the European Union within the framework of ISO 3166-1".

Information included

ISO 3166-1 is published officially in both English and French. Since the second edition of ISO 3166-1, the following columns are included for each entry:
  1. Country Name – English short name
  2. English short name lower case
  3. English full name
  4. Alpha-2 code
  5. Alpha-3 code
  6. Numeric code
  7. Remarks
  8. Independent
  9. Additional information: Administrative language alpha-2 code element
  10. Additional information: Administrative language alpha-3 code element
  11. Additional information: Local short name

    Naming and code construction

Naming and disputes

The country names used in ISO 3166-1 are taken from the two UN sources mentioned above. Some country names used by the UN, and accordingly by ISO, are subject to dispute:
Short name upper case in ISO 3166Short name lower case in ISO 3166Listed as independent in ISO 3166Local short nameLanguageDisputesLinks to ISO 3166-2 with details
CHINAChinaZhongguoChineseDisputed sovereignty
CYPRUSCyprusKýpros
Kıbrıs
Greek
Turkish
Disputed sovereignty
FALKLAND ISLANDS Falkland Islands Falkland Islands EnglishDisputed sovereignty and naming
PALESTINE, STATE OFPalestine, State ofDawlat FilasţīnArabicDisputed sovereignty
TAIWAN, PROVINCE OF CHINATaiwan TaiwanChineseDisputed sovereignty and naming
WESTERN SAHARAWestern SaharaAş Şaḩrā' al GharbīyahArabicDisputed sovereignty

Coding

The codes are chosen, according to the ISO 3166/MA, "to reflect the significant, unique component of the country name in order to allow a visual association between country name and country code". For this reason, common components of country names like "Republic", "Kingdom", "United", "Federal" or "Democratic" are normally not used for deriving the code elements. As a consequence, for example, the United Kingdom is officially assigned the alpha-2 code rather than, based on its official name "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". Some codes are chosen based on the native names of the countries. For example, Germany is assigned the alpha-2 code, based on its native name "Deutschland".

Current codes

Officially assigned code elements

The following is a complete ISO 3166-1 encoding list of the countries which are assigned official codes. It is listed in alphabetical order by the country's English short name used by the ISO 3166/MA.
Note: Each country's alpha-2 code is linked to more information about the assignment of its code elements.
English short name Alpha-2 codeAlpha-3 codeNumeric codeLink to ISO 3166-2 subdivision codesIndependent
AfghanistanISO 3166-1 alpha-2#AF|
ISO 3166-1 alpha-2#AX|
AlbaniaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#AL|
AlgeriaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#DZ|
American SamoaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#AS|
AndorraISO 3166-1 alpha-2#AD|
AngolaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#AO|
AnguillaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#AI|
AntarcticaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#AQ|
Antigua and BarbudaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#AG|
ArgentinaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#AR|
ArmeniaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#AM|
ArubaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#AW|
AustraliaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#AU|
AustriaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#AT|
AzerbaijanISO 3166-1 alpha-2#AZ|
BahamasISO 3166-1 alpha-2#BS|
BahrainISO 3166-1 alpha-2#BH|
BangladeshISO 3166-1 alpha-2#BD|
BarbadosISO 3166-1 alpha-2#BB|
BelarusISO 3166-1 alpha-2#BY|
BelgiumISO 3166-1 alpha-2#BE|
BelizeISO 3166-1 alpha-2#BZ|
BeninISO 3166-1 alpha-2#BJ|
BermudaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#BM|
BhutanISO 3166-1 alpha-2#BT|
Bolivia ISO 3166-1 alpha-2#BO|
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and SabaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#BQ|
Bosnia and HerzegovinaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#BA|
BotswanaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#BW|
Bouvet IslandISO 3166-1 alpha-2#BV|
BrazilISO 3166-1 alpha-2#BR|
British Indian Ocean TerritoryISO 3166-1 alpha-2#IO|
Brunei DarussalamISO 3166-1 alpha-2#BN|
BulgariaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#BG|
Burkina FasoISO 3166-1 alpha-2#BF|
BurundiISO 3166-1 alpha-2#BI|
Cabo VerdeISO 3166-1 alpha-2#CV|
CambodiaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#KH|
CameroonISO 3166-1 alpha-2#CM|
CanadaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#CA|
Cayman IslandsISO 3166-1 alpha-2#KY|
Central African RepublicISO 3166-1 alpha-2#CF|
ChadISO 3166-1 alpha-2#TD|
ChileISO 3166-1 alpha-2#CL|
ChinaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#CN|
Christmas IslandISO 3166-1 alpha-2#CX|
Cocos IslandsISO 3166-1 alpha-2#CC|
ColombiaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#CO|
ComorosISO 3166-1 alpha-2#KM|
CongoISO 3166-1 alpha-2#CG|
Congo, Democratic Republic of theISO 3166-1 alpha-2#CD|
Cook IslandsISO 3166-1 alpha-2#CK|
Costa RicaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#CR|
ISO 3166-1 alpha-2#CI|
CroatiaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#HR|
CubaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#CU|
ISO 3166-1 alpha-2#CW|
CyprusISO 3166-1 alpha-2#CY|
CzechiaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#CZ|
DenmarkISO 3166-1 alpha-2#DK|
DjiboutiISO 3166-1 alpha-2#DJ|
DominicaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#DM|
Dominican RepublicISO 3166-1 alpha-2#DO|
EcuadorISO 3166-1 alpha-2#EC|
EgyptISO 3166-1 alpha-2#EG|
El SalvadorISO 3166-1 alpha-2#SV|
Equatorial GuineaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#GQ|
EritreaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#ER|
EstoniaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#EE|
EswatiniISO 3166-1 alpha-2#SZ|
EthiopiaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#ET|
Falkland Islands ISO 3166-1 alpha-2#FK|
Faroe IslandsISO 3166-1 alpha-2#FO|
FijiISO 3166-1 alpha-2#FJ|
FinlandISO 3166-1 alpha-2#FI|
FranceISO 3166-1 alpha-2#FR|
French GuianaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#GF|
French PolynesiaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#PF|
French Southern TerritoriesISO 3166-1 alpha-2#TF|
GabonISO 3166-1 alpha-2#GA|
GambiaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#GM|
GeorgiaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#GE|
GermanyISO 3166-1 alpha-2#DE|
GhanaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#GH|
GibraltarISO 3166-1 alpha-2#GI|
GreeceISO 3166-1 alpha-2#GR|
GreenlandISO 3166-1 alpha-2#GL|
GrenadaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#GD|
GuadeloupeISO 3166-1 alpha-2#GP|
GuamISO 3166-1 alpha-2#GU|
GuatemalaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#GT|
GuernseyISO 3166-1 alpha-2#GG|
GuineaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#GN|
Guinea-BissauISO 3166-1 alpha-2#GW|
GuyanaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#GY|
HaitiISO 3166-1 alpha-2#HT|
Heard Island and McDonald IslandsISO 3166-1 alpha-2#HM|
Holy SeeISO 3166-1 alpha-2#VA|
HondurasISO 3166-1 alpha-2#HN|
Hong KongISO 3166-1 alpha-2#HK|
HungaryISO 3166-1 alpha-2#HU|
IcelandISO 3166-1 alpha-2#IS|
IndiaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#IN|
IndonesiaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#ID|
Iran ISO 3166-1 alpha-2#IR|
IraqISO 3166-1 alpha-2#IQ|
IrelandISO 3166-1 alpha-2#IE|
Isle of ManISO 3166-1 alpha-2#IM|
IsraelISO 3166-1 alpha-2#IL|
ItalyISO 3166-1 alpha-2#IT|
JamaicaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#JM|
JapanISO 3166-1 alpha-2#JP|
JerseyISO 3166-1 alpha-2#JE|
JordanISO 3166-1 alpha-2#JO|
KazakhstanISO 3166-1 alpha-2#KZ|
KenyaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#KE|
KiribatiISO 3166-1 alpha-2#KI|
Korea ISO 3166-1 alpha-2#KP|
Korea, Republic ofISO 3166-1 alpha-2#KR|
KuwaitISO 3166-1 alpha-2#KW|
KyrgyzstanISO 3166-1 alpha-2#KG|
Lao People's Democratic RepublicISO 3166-1 alpha-2#LA|
LatviaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#LV|
LebanonISO 3166-1 alpha-2#LB|
LesothoISO 3166-1 alpha-2#LS|
LiberiaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#LR|
LibyaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#LY|
LiechtensteinISO 3166-1 alpha-2#LI|
LithuaniaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#LT|
LuxembourgISO 3166-1 alpha-2#LU|
MacaoISO 3166-1 alpha-2#MO|
MadagascarISO 3166-1 alpha-2#MG|
MalawiISO 3166-1 alpha-2#MW|
MalaysiaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#MY|
MaldivesISO 3166-1 alpha-2#MV|
MaliISO 3166-1 alpha-2#ML|
MaltaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#MT|
Marshall IslandsISO 3166-1 alpha-2#MH|
MartiniqueISO 3166-1 alpha-2#MQ|
MauritaniaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#MR|
MauritiusISO 3166-1 alpha-2#MU|
MayotteISO 3166-1 alpha-2#YT|
MexicoISO 3166-1 alpha-2#MX|
Micronesia ISO 3166-1 alpha-2#FM|
Moldova, Republic ofISO 3166-1 alpha-2#MD|
MonacoISO 3166-1 alpha-2#MC|
MongoliaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#MN|
MontenegroISO 3166-1 alpha-2#ME|
MontserratISO 3166-1 alpha-2#MS|
MoroccoISO 3166-1 alpha-2#MA|
MozambiqueISO 3166-1 alpha-2#MZ|
MyanmarISO 3166-1 alpha-2#MM|
NamibiaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#NA|
NauruISO 3166-1 alpha-2#NR|
NepalISO 3166-1 alpha-2#NP|
NetherlandsISO 3166-1 alpha-2#NL|
New CaledoniaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#NC|
New ZealandISO 3166-1 alpha-2#NZ|
NicaraguaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#NI|
NigerISO 3166-1 alpha-2#NE|
NigeriaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#NG|
NiueISO 3166-1 alpha-2#NU|
Norfolk IslandISO 3166-1 alpha-2#NF|
North MacedoniaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#MK|
Northern Mariana IslandsISO 3166-1 alpha-2#MP|
NorwayISO 3166-1 alpha-2#NO|
OmanISO 3166-1 alpha-2#OM|
PakistanISO 3166-1 alpha-2#PK|
PalauISO 3166-1 alpha-2#PW|
Palestine, State ofISO 3166-1 alpha-2#PS|
PanamaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#PA|
Papua New GuineaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#PG|
ParaguayISO 3166-1 alpha-2#PY|
PeruISO 3166-1 alpha-2#PE|
PhilippinesISO 3166-1 alpha-2#PH|
PitcairnISO 3166-1 alpha-2#PN|
PolandISO 3166-1 alpha-2#PL|
PortugalISO 3166-1 alpha-2#PT|
Puerto RicoISO 3166-1 alpha-2#PR|
QatarISO 3166-1 alpha-2#QA|
ISO 3166-1 alpha-2#RE|
RomaniaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#RO|
Russian FederationISO 3166-1 alpha-2#RU|
RwandaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#RW|
ISO 3166-1 alpha-2#BL|
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da CunhaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#SH|
Saint Kitts and NevisISO 3166-1 alpha-2#KN|
Saint LuciaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#LC|
Saint Martin ISO 3166-1 alpha-2#MF|
Saint Pierre and MiquelonISO 3166-1 alpha-2#PM|
Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesISO 3166-1 alpha-2#VC|
SamoaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#WS|
San MarinoISO 3166-1 alpha-2#SM|
Sao Tome and PrincipeISO 3166-1 alpha-2#ST|
Saudi ArabiaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#SA|
SenegalISO 3166-1 alpha-2#SN|
SerbiaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#RS|
SeychellesISO 3166-1 alpha-2#SC|
Sierra LeoneISO 3166-1 alpha-2#SL|
SingaporeISO 3166-1 alpha-2#SG|
Sint Maarten ISO 3166-1 alpha-2#SX|
SlovakiaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#SK|
SloveniaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#SI|
Solomon IslandsISO 3166-1 alpha-2#SB|
SomaliaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#SO|
South AfricaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#ZA|
South Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsISO 3166-1 alpha-2#GS|
South SudanISO 3166-1 alpha-2#SS|
SpainISO 3166-1 alpha-2#ES|
Sri LankaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#LK|
SudanISO 3166-1 alpha-2#SD|
SurinameISO 3166-1 alpha-2#SR|
Svalbard and Jan MayenISO 3166-1 alpha-2#SJ|
SwedenISO 3166-1 alpha-2#SE|
SwitzerlandISO 3166-1 alpha-2#CH|
Syrian Arab RepublicISO 3166-1 alpha-2#SY|
Taiwan, Province of ChinaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#TW|
TajikistanISO 3166-1 alpha-2#TJ|
Tanzania, United Republic ofISO 3166-1 alpha-2#TZ|
ThailandISO 3166-1 alpha-2#TH|
Timor-LesteISO 3166-1 alpha-2#TL|
TogoISO 3166-1 alpha-2#TG|
TokelauISO 3166-1 alpha-2#TK|
TongaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#TO|
Trinidad and TobagoISO 3166-1 alpha-2#TT|
TunisiaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#TN|
TurkeyISO 3166-1 alpha-2#TR|
TurkmenistanISO 3166-1 alpha-2#TM|
Turks and Caicos IslandsISO 3166-1 alpha-2#TC|
TuvaluISO 3166-1 alpha-2#TV|
UgandaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#UG|
UkraineISO 3166-1 alpha-2#UA|
United Arab EmiratesISO 3166-1 alpha-2#AE|
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandISO 3166-1 alpha-2#GB|
United States of AmericaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#US|
United States Minor Outlying IslandsISO 3166-1 alpha-2#UM|
UruguayISO 3166-1 alpha-2#UY|
UzbekistanISO 3166-1 alpha-2#UZ|
VanuatuISO 3166-1 alpha-2#VU|
Venezuela ISO 3166-1 alpha-2#VE|
Viet NamISO 3166-1 alpha-2#VN|
Virgin Islands ISO 3166-1 alpha-2#VG|
Virgin Islands ISO 3166-1 alpha-2#VI|
Wallis and FutunaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#WF|
Western SaharaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#EH|
YemenISO 3166-1 alpha-2#YE|
ZambiaISO 3166-1 alpha-2#ZM|
ZimbabweISO 3166-1 alpha-2#ZW|

Reserved and user-assigned code elements

Besides the officially assigned codes, code elements may be expanded by using either [|reserved] codes or user-assigned codes.
Reserved code elements are codes which have become obsolete, or are required in order to enable a particular user application of the standard but do not qualify for inclusion in ISO 3166-1. To avoid transitional application problems and to aid users who require specific additional code elements for the functioning of their coding systems, the ISO 3166/MA, when justified, reserves these codes which it undertakes not to use for other than specified purposes during a limited or indeterminate period of time. Codes are usually reserved for former countries, overseas territories, international organizations, and special nationality status. The reserved alpha-2 and alpha-3 codes can be divided into the following four categories :
User-assigned code elements are codes 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 these codes in the updating process of the standard. The following codes can be user-assigned:
The ISO 3166/MA updates ISO 3166-1 when necessary. A country is usually assigned new ISO 3166-1 codes if it changes its name or its territorial boundaries. In general, new alphabetic codes are assigned if a country changes a significant part of its name, while a new numeric code is assigned if a country changes its territorial boundaries. Codes for formerly used country names that were deleted from ISO 3166-1 are published in ISO 3166-3.
ISO used to announce changes in newsletters which updated the currently valid standard, and releasing new editions which comprise a consolidation of newsletter changes. As of July 2013, changes are published in the online catalogue of ISO only, and no newsletters are published anymore. Past newsletters remain available through the search option on the ISO website.
Edition/NewsletterDate issuedContents
1974First edition of ISO 3166
1981Second edition of ISO 3166
1988-08-15Third edition of ISO 3166
1994-02-10Fourth edition of ISO 3166
First edition of ISO 3166-1
Change of official name '
Inclusion of new country name and code elements '
Change of alpha-3 Code Element '
Name changes '
Change of names and alphabetical code elements of East Timor
Change of names of East Timor
Change of official name of Comoros
Deletion of "Yugoslavia"; inclusion of "Serbia and Montenegro" with new alphabetical code elements
Inclusion of an entry for Åland Islands
Name changes '
Inclusion of an entry for Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man. Change of remark for the United Kingdom
Inclusion of the new entries for "Serbia" and "Montenegro" '
Second edition of ISO 3166-1
First Technical Corrigendum to ISO 3166-1:2006
Assignment of code elements for Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin and update of France and other French Territories '
Name changes for Moldova, Montenegro and other minor corrections '
Name change for Nepal and other minor corrections '
Name change for the Republic of Moldova and other minor corrections '
Name change for Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and other minor corrections '
Name change for Plurinational State of Bolivia
Name change for Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
Code elements for Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten, update of other territories ' and minor corrections '

'
Name changes for Fiji and Myanmar as well as other minor corrections '
Code elements for South Sudan '
Name change for Libya
Name change for Hungary and other minor corrections '
Name change for Eritrea and other minor corrections '
Name change for State of Palestine and other minor corrections , Seychelles, Sint Maarten
Name change for Papua New Guinea
Name change for Somalia
Third edition of ISO 3166-1