ISO 3166-1

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ISO 3166-1 is part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and defines codes for the names of countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest. It is the first part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the ISO. The purpose of ISO 3166-1 is to establish internationally recognized codes for the representation of names of countries, territories, or areas of geographical interest, and to promote uniformity and simplicity in their application.

The ISO 3166-1 standard is divided into three parts:

ISO 3166-1 alpha-2: Two-letter country codes which are the most widely used of the three, and are used most prominently for the country's top-level domain (TLD) on the internet.
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3: 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 numeric: Three-digit country codes, which are identical to those developed and maintained by the United Nations Statistics Division.

The codes are used in various global, regional, and national systems around the world, including for banking, shipping, and logistics, sports competitions, and in many cases, as an abbreviation for countries' names in international transactions.

Updates and Maintenance[edit | edit source]

The maintenance of ISO 3166-1 is carried out through the ISO 3166 Maintenance Agency (ISO 3166/MA). This agency is responsible for the addition of new codes, the deletion of codes, and any changes to the names of countries as they occur. Changes are usually made in response to new countries being created, countries changing their names, or territories changing status. The ISO 3166/MA publishes newsletters detailing updates to the standard.

Criticism and Issues[edit | edit source]

While ISO 3166-1 is widely used and accepted, it has faced criticism for not being updated frequently enough to reflect geopolitical changes promptly. Additionally, some critics argue that the standard reflects a political view of the world that may not be universally accepted, such as the inclusion or exclusion of certain territories.

Usage[edit | edit source]

ISO 3166-1 codes are used in a variety of contexts. They are used in international shipping and logistics, as well as by international organizations to ensure consistency in country names and codes across different databases and systems. The codes are also used in the creation of domain names, which are managed by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) under the country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs) section.

See Also[edit | edit source]

ISO 3166-2, which defines codes for the principal subdivisions (e.g., provinces or states) of all countries coded in ISO 3166-1.
ISO 3166-3, which defines codes for former countries that have been dissolved, split, or undergone a significant change of territory.

ISO 3166-1 Resources
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