ISO 3166-1:2020(EN) Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions — Part 1: Country code

ISO 3166-1:2020 was created by Technical Committee ISO/TC 46, Information and documentation, in collaboration with the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) Technical Committee CEN/SS F17, Administrative documents, in accordance with the Agreement on technical cooperation between ISO and CEN (Vienna Agreement). ISO 3166-1:2020 edition cancels and replaces the descriptive text of the third edition (ISO 3166-1:2013), which has been technically revised.
ISO 3166-1:2020 specifies basic guidelines for the implementation and maintenance of country codes.
This code is intended for use in any application requiring the expression of current country names in coded form
1. Code
Set of data transformed or represented in different forms according to a pre-established set of rules
2. Code element
Result of applying a code to an element of a coded set
3. Country code
List of country names with their representations by code elements
Note 1 to entry: The country code types are alpha-2, alpha-3 and num-3.
4. Country name
Name of a country, dependency, or other area of particular geopolitical interest
5. Script
Set of graphic characters used for the written form of one or more languages
Note 1 to entry: Codes for the representation of names of scripts are defined in ISO 15924.
6. Language of the ISO 3166 standard
Language in which the terminology has been defined, the terminology shall be maintained current

7. Administrative language of the country
Written language used by the administration of the country at the national level
8. Status of alpha-2 country code element
Information whether the code element is assigned, unassigned or reserved transitionally, exceptionally, or for an indeterminate period
Note 1 to entry: Changes in status of alpha-2 country code elements have been kept by ISO 3166/MA since the first publication of ISO 3166 in 1974.
9. Alpha-2 country code element
Alphabetic 2 character (alpha-2) code
Note 1 to entry: An alpha-2 code is generally recommended to represent country names.
10. Alpha-3 country code element
Alphabetic 3 character (alpha-3) code
Note 1 to entry: Based on the alpha-2 country code when possible, it is intended for use in cases where a specific need has been identified.
11. Num-3 country code element
Three-digit numeric (num-3) code
Note 1 to entry: A numeric code is intended for use in cases where language independence is needed.
12. Short NAME of country
<Capital letters> short form of the country name, distinctive word first
Note 1 to entry: In language of the ISO 3166 standard.
13. Short name of country
Short form of the country name, distinctive word first, based on official short form in UNTERM
Note 1 to entry: In language of the ISO 3166 standard.
Note 2 to entry: This item might be inverted, listed with its articles if any, allowing an alphabetical order on the distinctive word. See Annex F, principles F.1.
14. Full name of country
Full name, as recorded in UNTERM
Note 1 to entry: If the full name of country is identical to the short name of country (3.15), then the full name shall be omitted.
Note 2 to entry: In language of the ISO 3166 standard.
Note 3 to entry: The full name of country is also called “formal name” in some UNTERM files.
15. Territory names
Names of geographically separated territories covered by the main entry
16. Remarks part 1
Remarks related to the country name, such as other widely-used country names
Sometimes “Variants” noted as remark part 1 are identical to local short country name (3.22) in an administrative language.
17. Independent or not
Political status of a country or territory indicated by “yes” if independent or “no” if not
18. Alpha-2 language code element
Alpha-2 ISO 639 language code element of each administrative language of the country
19. Alpha-3 language code element
Alpha-3 ISO 639 language code element (“T” terminological version) of each administrative language of the country (3.7)
20. Local short name of country
Short name of country given in an administrative language of the country
Note 1 to entry: It might be noted in language of the ISO 3166 standard as remark part 1 (3.18).
21. Romanization system used
Conversion of writing system from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script
The ISO 3166 series provides universally applicable coded representations of names of countries (current and non-current), dependencies, and other areas of particular geopolitical interest and their subdivisions.
ISO 3166-1 establishes codes that represent the current names of countries, dependencies, and other areas of particular geopolitical interest, on the basis of country names obtained from the United Nations.
ISO 3166-2:2020(EN) Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions — Part 2: Country subdivision code
ISO 3166-2:2020 specifies basic guidelines for the implementation and maintenance of country subdivision codes.
This code is intended for use in any application requiring the expression of current country subdivision names in coded form establishes a code that represents the names of the principal administrative divisions, or similar areas, of the countries and entities included in ISO 3166-1.
ISO 3166-3:2020(EN) Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions — Part 3: Code for formerly used names of countries
ISO 3166-3:2020 specifies basic guidelines for the implementation and maintenance of codes for formerly used names of countries.
This code is intended to represent non-current country names, i.e. the country names deleted from ISO 3166 since its first publication in 1974.
ISO 3166-3:2020 Establishes a code that represents non-current country names, i.e. the country names deleted from ISO 3166 since its first publication in 1974.
The ISO 3166 series do not express any opinion whatsoever concerning the legal status of any country, dependency, or other area named herein, or concerning its frontiers or boundaries.
The 2013 edition of the ISO 3166 series has been the last one published as paper standard, with the descriptive text, and the codes together.
At the end of 2013, the split had happened: ISO 3166 codes have been moved to the database format (de facto merging three contents together), with access from ISO Online Browsing Platform, while the descriptive text has been awaiting updates.
ISO 3166-1:2020 edition of the ISO 3166 series includes an update of the descriptive text (description of the codes) from 2013, for each of three parts. It takes into account the stricter database rules imposed on the code itself, as opposed to paper documents.
ISO 3166-1:2020 has been the very first ISO achievement of the concept of “standard as a database”, implemented in the end of 2013. The ISO OBP (Open Browsing Platform) is an application to visualize ISO3166 codes on the web interface, the data being stored in the unseen database.
ISO 3166-1:2020, for each of its three parts – three codes – is formed of two components: documented description of its content, and its related content inside a database.
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