ISO 3166
Encyclopedia
ISO 3166 is a standard
published by the International Organization for Standardization
(ISO). It defines code
s for the names of countries
, dependent territories
, special areas of geographical interest, and their principal subdivisions (e.g., province
s or states). The official name of the standard is Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions. It consists of three parts:
The first edition of ISO 3166 was published in 1974, which included only alphabetic country codes. The second edition, published in 1981, also included numeric country codes, with the third and fourth editions published in 1988 and 1993 respectively. The fifth edition, published between 1997 and 1999, was expanded into three parts to include codes for subdivisions and former countries.
, Switzerland
. Originally it was located at the Deutsches Institut für Normung
(DIN) in Berlin
, Germany
. Its principal tasks are:
s:
The other five are representatives of major United Nations agencies or other international organization
s who are all users of ISO 3166-1:
The ISO 3166/MA has further associated members who do not participate in the votes but who, through their expertise, have significant influence on the decision taking procedure in the maintenance agency.
Standardization
Standardization is the process of developing and implementing technical standards.The goals of standardization can be to help with independence of single suppliers , compatibility, interoperability, safety, repeatability, or quality....
published by the International Organization for Standardization
International Organization for Standardization
The International Organization for Standardization , widely known as ISO, is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. Founded on February 23, 1947, the organization promulgates worldwide proprietary, industrial and commercial...
(ISO). It defines code
Code
A code is a rule for converting a piece of information into another form or representation , not necessarily of the same type....
s for the names of countries
Country
A country is a region legally identified as a distinct entity in political geography. A country may be an independent sovereign state or one that is occupied by another state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign political division, or a geographic region associated with a previously...
, dependent territories
Dependent territory
A dependent territory, dependent area or dependency is a territory that does not possess full political independence or sovereignty as a State, and remains politically outside of the controlling state's integral area....
, special areas of geographical interest, and their principal subdivisions (e.g., province
Province
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...
s or states). The official name of the standard is Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions. It consists of three parts:
- ISO 3166-1ISO 3166-1ISO 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...
, Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions – Part 1: Country codes, defines codes for the names of countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest. It defines three sets of country codeCountry codeCountry codes are short alphabetic or numeric geographical codes developed to represent countries and dependent areas, for use in data processing and communications. Several different systems have been developed to do this. The best known of these is ISO 3166-1...
s:- ISO 3166-1 alpha-2ISO 3166-1 alpha-2ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes are two-letter country codes defined in ISO 3166-1, part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization , to represent countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest...
— two-letter country codes which are the most widely used of the three, and used most prominently for the InternetInternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
's country code top-level domainCountry code top-level domainA country code top-level domain is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country, a sovereign state, or a dependent territory....
s (with a few exceptions). - ISO 3166-1 alpha-3ISO 3166-1 alpha-3ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 codes are three-letter country codes defined in ISO 3166-1, part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization , to represent countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest...
— three-letter country codes which allow a better visual association between the codes and the country names than the alpha-2 codes. - ISO 3166-1 numericISO 3166-1 numericISO 3166-1 numeric codes are three-digit country codes defined in ISO 3166-1, part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization , to represent countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest...
— three-digit country codes which are identical to those developed and maintained by the United Nations Statistics Division, with the advantage of script (writing systemWriting systemA writing system is a symbolic system used to represent elements or statements expressible in language.-General properties:Writing systems are distinguished from other possible symbolic communication systems in that the reader must usually understand something of the associated spoken language to...
) independence, and hence useful for people or systems using non-LatinLatin alphabetThe Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
scripts.
- ISO 3166-1 alpha-2
- ISO 3166-2ISO 3166-2ISO 3166-2 is part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization , and defines codes for the names of the principal subdivisions of all countries coded in ISO 3166-1...
, Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions – Part 2: Country subdivision code, defines codes for the names of the principal subdivisions (e.g., provinces or states) of all countries coded in ISO 3166-1. - ISO 3166-3ISO 3166-3ISO 3166-3 is part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization , and defines codes for country names which have been deleted from ISO 3166-1 since its first publication in 1974...
, Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions – Part 3: Code for formerly used names of countries, defines codes for country names which have been deleted from ISO 3166-1 since its first publication in 1974.
The first edition of ISO 3166 was published in 1974, which included only alphabetic country codes. The second edition, published in 1981, also included numeric country codes, with the third and fourth editions published in 1988 and 1993 respectively. The fifth edition, published between 1997 and 1999, was expanded into three parts to include codes for subdivisions and former countries.
ISO 3166 Maintenance Agency
The ISO 3166 standard is maintained by the ISO 3166 Maintenance Agency (ISO 3166/MA), located at the ISO central office in GenevaGeneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. Originally it was located at the Deutsches Institut für Normung
Deutsches Institut für Normung
is the German national organization for standardization and is that country's ISO member body. DIN is a Registered German Association headquartered in Berlin...
(DIN) in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Its principal tasks are:
- To add and to eliminate country names (respectively, country subdivision names) and to assign code elements to them;
- To publish lists of country names (respectively, country subdivision names) and code elements;
- To maintain a reference list of all country code elements and country subdivision code elements used and their period of use;
- To issue newsletters announcing changes to the code tables;
- To advise users on the application of ISO 3166.
Members
There are ten experts with voting rights on the ISO 3166/MA. Five are representatives of national standards organizationStandards organization
A standards organization, standards body, standards developing organization , or standards setting organization is any organization whose primary activities are developing, coordinating, promulgating, revising, amending, reissuing, interpreting, or otherwise producing technical standards that are...
s:
- Association française de normalisation (AFNOR) — FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
- American National Standards InstituteAmerican National Standards InstituteThe American National Standards Institute is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organization also coordinates U.S. standards with international...
(ANSI) — United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... - British Standards Institution (BSI) — United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
- Deutsches Institut für NormungDeutsches Institut für Normungis the German national organization for standardization and is that country's ISO member body. DIN is a Registered German Association headquartered in Berlin...
(DIN) — GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... - Swedish Standards InstituteSwedish Standards InstituteSIS, Swedish Standards Institute, is an independent organization, founded in 1922, with members from the private and public sector.-Activities:...
(SIS) — SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
The other five are representatives of major United Nations agencies or other international organization
International organization
An intergovernmental organization, sometimes rendered as an international governmental organization and both abbreviated as IGO, is an organization composed primarily of sovereign states , or of other intergovernmental organizations...
s who are all users of ISO 3166-1:
- International Atomic Energy AgencyInternational Atomic Energy AgencyThe International Atomic Energy Agency is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. The IAEA was established as an autonomous organization on 29 July 1957...
(IAEA) - International Telecommunication UnionInternational Telecommunication UnionThe International Telecommunication Union is the specialized agency of the United Nations which is responsible for information and communication technologies...
(ITU) - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
- Universal Postal UnionUniversal Postal UnionThe Universal Postal Union is an international organization that coordinates postal policies among member nations, in addition to the worldwide postal system. The UPU contains four bodies consisting of the Congress, the Council of Administration , the Postal Operations Council and the...
(UPU) - United Nations Economic Commission for EuropeUnited Nations Economic Commission for EuropeThe United Nations Economic Commission for Europe was established in 1947 to encourage economic cooperation among its member states. It is one of five regional commissions under the administrative direction of United Nations headquarters. It has 56 member states, and reports to the UN Economic and...
(UNECE)
The ISO 3166/MA has further associated members who do not participate in the votes but who, through their expertise, have significant influence on the decision taking procedure in the maintenance agency.
See also
- ISO 639ISO 639ISO 639 is a set of standards by the International Organization for Standardization that is concerned with representation of names for language and language groups....
— Codes for the representation of names of languages - ISO 15924ISO 15924ISO 15924, Codes for the representation of names of scripts, defines two sets of codes for a number of writing systems . Each script is given both a four-letter code and a numeric one....
— Codes for the representation of names of scripts - ISO 4217ISO 4217ISO 4217 is a standard published by the International Standards Organization, which delineates currency designators, country codes , and references to minor units in three tables:* Table A.1 – Current currency & funds code list...
— Currency codes - FIPS 10-4FIPS 10-4The FIPS 10-4 standard, Countries, Dependencies, Areas of Special Sovereignty, and Their Principal Administrative Divisions, lists two-letter country codes that are used by the U.S. Government for geographical data processing in many publications, such as the CIA World Factbook. The standard is...
External links
- ISO 3166 Maintenance Agency, International Organization for Standardization (ISO)