A country code is a short alphanumeric identification code for countries and dependent areas. Its primary use is in data processing and communications. Several identification systems have been developed.
23-624: The term country code frequently refers to ISO 3166-1 alpha-2, as well as the telephone country code, which is embodied in the E.164 recommendation by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The standard ISO 3166-1 defines short identification codes for most countries and dependent areas: The two-letter codes are used as the basis for other codes and applications, for example, Other applications are defined in ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 . In telecommunications ,
46-577: A country code , or international subscriber dialing (ISD) code, is a telephone number prefix used in international direct dialing (IDD) and for destination routing of telephone calls to a country other than the caller's. A country or region with an autonomous telephone administration must apply for membership in the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to participate in the international public switched telephone network (PSTN). County codes are defined by
69-516: 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
92-582: 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 for a certain use for 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 four categories: (follow
115-540: 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. Codes for 249 countries, territories, or areas of geographical interest are assigned in ISO 3166-1. According to
138-435: Is in data processing and communications. Several identification systems have been developed. The term country code frequently refers to ISO 3166-1 alpha-2, as well as the telephone country code, which is embodied in the E.164 recommendation by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The standard ISO 3166-1 defines short identification codes for most countries and dependent areas: The two-letter codes are used as
161-436: Is normally 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 country names that have been deleted from ISO 3166-1 are published in ISO 3166-3 . ISO formerly announced changes in newsletters which updated
184-589: Is the first part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization . 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
207-508: The ITU-T section of the ITU in standards E.123 and E.164 . Country codes constitute the international telephone numbering plan , and are dialed only when calling a telephone number in another country. They are dialed before the national telephone number. International calls require at least one additional prefix to be dialing before the country code, to connect the call to international circuits,
230-501: The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to participate in the international public switched telephone network (PSTN). County codes are defined by the ITU-T section of the ITU in standards E.123 and E.164 . Country codes constitute the international telephone numbering plan , and are dialed only when calling a telephone number in another country. They are dialed before the national telephone number. International calls require at least one additional prefix to be dialing before
253-431: The international call prefix . When printing telephone numbers this is indicated by a plus-sign ( + ) in front of a complete international telephone number, per recommendation E164 by the ITU. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) created country codes for international dialing, first introduced in 1960 for Europe and expanded globally in 1964. Numbers were typically allocated by landmass and then subdivided by
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#1732802614083276-625: The ISO 3166 Maintenance Agency (ISO 3166/MA), 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
299-470: 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
322-526: The alpha-2 code GB rather than UK , based on its official name "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" (although UK is reserved on the request of the United Kingdom). Some codes are chosen based on the native names of the countries. For example, Germany is assigned the alpha-2 code DE , based on its native name "Deutschland". The complete ISO 3166-1 list of countries and their assigned codes, listed in alphabetical order by
345-467: The basis for other codes and applications, for example, Other applications are defined in ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 . In telecommunications , a country code , or international subscriber dialing (ISD) code, is a telephone number prefix used in international direct dialing (IDD) and for destination routing of telephone calls to a country other than the caller's. A country or region with an autonomous telephone administration must apply for membership in
368-529: The capacity of each network at the time. France, the United Kingdom, the USA and USSR obtained preferential numbers due to their dominance in telecommunications at the time whilst China was able to ensure that Taiwan was officially left unlisted whilst being allocated the code "886". The developers of ISO 3166 intended that in time it would replace other coding systems. Country identities may be encoded in
391-415: The capacity of each network at the time. France, the United Kingdom, the USA and USSR obtained preferential numbers due to their dominance in telecommunications at the time whilst China was able to ensure that Taiwan was officially left unlisted whilst being allocated the code "886". The developers of ISO 3166 intended that in time it would replace other coding systems. Country identities may be encoded in
414-496: The country code, to connect the call to international circuits, the international call prefix . When printing telephone numbers this is indicated by a plus-sign ( + ) in front of a complete international telephone number, per recommendation E164 by the ITU. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) created country codes for international dialing, first introduced in 1960 for Europe and expanded globally in 1964. Numbers were typically allocated by landmass and then subdivided by
437-428: The country's English short name used by the ISO 3166/MA: Each country's alpha-2 code is linked to more information about the assignment of its code elements. The officially assigned code elements may be expanded by using either reserved codes or user-assigned codes. Reserved code elements are codes which have become obsolete, are used in other coding systems such as WIPO ST.3 , or are required in order to enable
460-406: The following coding systems: A - B - C - D–E - F - G - H–I - J–K - L - M - N - O–Q - R - S - T - U–Z 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
483-422: The links for the reserved codes of each category) 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 when updating the standard. These codes can be user-assigned: The ISO 3166/MA updates ISO 3166-1 when necessary. A country
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#1732802614083506-449: The standard, and periodically released new editions which consolidated the newsletter changes. As of July 2013, changes are published in the online catalogue of ISO only, and newsletters are no longer published. Past newsletters remain available via the search option on the ISO website. Country code#Other country codes A country code is a short alphanumeric identification code for countries and dependent areas. Its primary use
529-576: The two-letter combination EU for the purpose of identifying the European Union within the framework of ISO 3166-1". 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: The country names used in ISO 3166-1 are taken from the two UN sources. Some country names used by the UN, and accordingly by ISO, are disputed: The codes are chosen, according to
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