ISO 3166-3 is part of the
ISO 3166
ISO 3166 is a standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that defines codes for the names of countries, dependent territories, special areas of geographical interest, and their principal subdivisions (e.g., ...
standard Standard may refer to:
Symbols
* Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs
* Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification
Norms, conventions or requirements
* Standard (metrology), an object th ...
published by the
International Organization for Standardization
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ) is an international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Membership requirements are given in Ar ...
(ISO), and defines
code
In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...
s for
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...
names which have been deleted from
ISO 3166-1
ISO 3166-1 (''Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions – Part 1: Country codes'') is a standard defining codes for the names of countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest. It ...
since its first publication in 1974. The official name of the standard is ''Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions – Part 3: Code for formerly used names of countries''. It was first published in 1999.
Each former country name in ISO 3166-3 is assigned a four-letter alphabetic code. The first two letters are the
ISO 3166-1 alpha-2
ISO 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 (ISO), to represent countries, dependent territories, and special areas of ...
code of the former country, while the last two letters are allocated according to the following rules:
* If the country changed its name, the new ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code is used (e.g.,
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
changed its name to Myanmar, whose new alpha-2 code is ), or the special code is used if its alpha-2 code was not changed (e.g.,
Byelorussian SSR
The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор ...
changed its name to
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
, which has kept the same alpha-2 code).
* If the country merged into an existing country, the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code of this country is used (e.g., the
German Democratic Republic
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
merged into
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, whose alpha-2 code is ).
* If the country was divided into several parts, the special code is used to indicate that there is no single successor country (e.g.,
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
was divided into the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
and
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
), with the exception of
Serbia and Montenegro
Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...
, for which is used to avoid duplicate use of the same ISO 3166-3 code, as the alpha-2 code had twice been deleted from ISO 3166-1, the first time due to the split of Czechoslovakia and the second time due to the split of Serbia and Montenegro.
Besides the former country name and its ISO 3166-3 code, each entry in ISO 3166-3 also contains its former ISO 3166-1 codes, its period of validity, and the new country names and ISO 3166-1 codes used after its deletion from ISO 3166-1.
After a country is deleted from ISO 3166-1, its alpha-2 and alpha-3 codes will be
transitionally reserved for a transitional period of at least fifty years. After the expiration of the transitional period, these codes are free to be reassigned.
If a country changes its name without any territorial change, its ISO 3166-1 numeric code remains the same. For example, when
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
was renamed Myanmar without territorial change in 1989, its alphabetic codes were changed, but its numeric code has remained the same.
Currently, a few ccTLDs using deleted alpha-2 codes are still active or being phased out. However, alpha-2 codes which were deleted before the popularization of the
Domain Name System
The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and distributed naming system for computers, services, and other resources in the Internet or other Internet Protocol (IP) networks. It associates various information with domain names assigned to ...
in the late 1980s and early 1990s were never used for the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
's
country code top-level domain
A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country, sovereign state, or dependent territory identified with a country code. All ASCII ccTLD identifiers are two letters long, and all t ...
s (ccTLDs). Likewise,
ISO 3166-2
ISO 3166-2 is part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and defines codes for identifying the principal subdivisions (e.g., provinces or states) of all countries coded in ISO 3166-1. The ...
, the ISO standard for country subdivision codes which was first published in 1998, predated the deletion of many alpha-2 codes.
Current codes
The following is a list of current ISO 3166-3 codes, with the following columns:
* Former country name – English short country name officially used by the ISO 3166 Maintenance Agency (ISO 3166/MA)
* Former codes – ISO 3166-1
alpha-2,
alpha-3, and
numeric codes
* Period of validity – Years when codes were officially assigned
* ISO 3166-3 code – Four-letter code assigned for former country name
* New country names and codes – Successor countries and their ISO 3166-1 codes
''Click on the button in the header to sort by ISO 3166-3 code.''
; Notes
Changes
The ISO 3166/MA updates ISO 3166-3 when necessary. The updating of ISO 3166-3 is totally dependent on the updating of ISO 3166-1.
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 on the ISO website.
See also
*
International Organization for Standardization
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ) is an international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Membership requirements are given in Ar ...
**
ISO 3166
ISO 3166 is a standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that defines codes for the names of countries, dependent territories, special areas of geographical interest, and their principal subdivisions (e.g., ...
***
ISO 3166-1
ISO 3166-1 (''Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions – Part 1: Country codes'') is a standard defining codes for the names of countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest. It ...
***
ISO 3166-2
ISO 3166-2 is part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and defines codes for identifying the principal subdivisions (e.g., provinces or states) of all countries coded in ISO 3166-1. The ...
***ISO 3166-3
**
List of ISO 3166 country codes
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) created and maintains the ISO 3166 standard – ''Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions''. The ISO 3166 standard contains three parts:
* ISO 3166-1 ...
*
Lists of countries and territories
This is a list of lists of countries and territories by various criteria. A country or territory is a geographical area, either in the sense of ''nation'' (a cultural entity) or '' state'' (a political entity).The Oxford English Dictionary, Second ...
**
Sovereign state
A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a polity, political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defin ...
***
List of sovereign states
The following is a list providing an overview of sovereign states around the world with information on their status and recognition of their sovereignty.
The 206 listed states can be divided into three categories based on membership withi ...
***
List of states with limited recognition
A number of polities have declared independence and sought diplomatic recognition from the international community as sovereign states, but have not been universally recognised as such. These entities often have ''de facto'' control of thei ...
**
Dependent territory
A dependent territory, dependent area, or dependency (sometimes referred as an external territory) is a territory that does not possess full political independence or sovereignty as a sovereign state, yet remains politically outside the controlli ...
*
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
**
Member states of the United Nations
The United Nations member states are the sovereign states that are members of the United Nations (UN) and have equal representation in the UN General Assembly. The UN is the world's largest intergovernmental organization.
The criteria ...
**
United Nations list of non-self-governing territories
Chapter XI of the United Nations Charter defines a non-self-governing territory (NSGT) as a territory "whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government". In practice, an NSGT is a territory deemed by the United Nations Gener ...
References
Sources and external links
ISO 3166 Maintenance Agency International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
*
Country codes - Online Browsing Platform (OBP)Administrative Divisions of Countries ("Statoids") Statoids.com
*
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Lists of former countries