ISO 3166-1 alpha-3

ISO 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 (ISO), to represent countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest. They allow a better visual association between the codes and the country names than the two-letter alpha-2 codes (the third set of codes is numeric and hence offers no visual association).[1] They were first included as part of the ISO 3166 standard in its first edition in 1974.

Uses and applications[edit]

The ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 codes are used most prominently in ISO/IEC 7501-1 for machine-readable passports, as standardized by the International Civil Aviation Organization, with a number of additional codes for special passports; some of these codes are currently reserved and not used at the present stage in ISO 3166-1.[2]

The United Nations uses a combination of ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 and alpha-3 codes, along with codes that pre-date the creation of ISO 3166, for international vehicle registration codes, which are codes used to identify the issuing country of a vehicle registration plate; some of these codes are currently indeterminately reserved in ISO 3166-1.[3]

Current codes[edit]Officially assigned code elements[edit]

The following is a complete list of the current officially assigned ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 codes,[4] using a title case version of the English short names officially defined by the ISO 3166 Maintenance Agency (ISO 3166/MA):

ABW ArubaAFG AfghanistanAGO AngolaAIA AnguillaALA Åland IslandsALB AlbaniaAND AndorraARE United Arab EmiratesARG ArgentinaARM ArmeniaASM American SamoaATA AntarcticaATF French Southern TerritoriesATG Antigua and BarbudaAUS AustraliaAUT AustriaAZE AzerbaijanBDI BurundiBEL BelgiumBEN BeninBES Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and SabaBFA Burkina FasoBGD BangladeshBGR BulgariaBHR BahrainBHS BahamasBIH Bosnia and HerzegovinaBLM Saint BarthélemyBLR BelarusBLZ BelizeBMU BermudaBOL Bolivia, Plurinational State ofBRA BrazilBRB BarbadosBRN Brunei DarussalamBTN BhutanBVT Bouvet IslandBWA BotswanaCAF Central African RepublicCAN CanadaCCK Cocos (Keeling) IslandsCHE SwitzerlandCHL ChileCHN ChinaCIV Côte d’IvoireCMR CameroonCOD Congo, Democratic Republic of theCOG CongoCOK Cook IslandsCOL ColombiaCOM ComorosCPV Cabo VerdeCRI Costa RicaCUB CubaCUW CuraçaoCXR Christmas IslandCYM Cayman IslandsCYP CyprusCZE CzechiaDEU GermanyDJI DjiboutiDMA DominicaDNK DenmarkDOM Dominican RepublicDZA AlgeriaECU EcuadorEGY EgyptERI EritreaESH Western SaharaESP SpainEST EstoniaETH EthiopiaFIN FinlandFJI FijiFLK Falkland Islands (Malvinas)FRA FranceFRO Faroe IslandsFSM Micronesia, Federated States ofGAB GabonGBR United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandGEO GeorgiaGGY GuernseyGHA GhanaGIB GibraltarGIN GuineaGLP GuadeloupeGMB GambiaGNB Guinea-BissauGNQ Equatorial GuineaGRC GreeceGRD GrenadaGRL GreenlandGTM GuatemalaGUF French GuianaGUM GuamGUY GuyanaHKG Hong KongHMD Heard Island and McDonald IslandsHND HondurasHRV CroatiaHTI HaitiHUN HungaryIDN IndonesiaIMN Isle of ManIND IndiaIOT British Indian Ocean TerritoryIRL IrelandIRN Iran, Islamic Republic ofIRQ IraqISL IcelandISR IsraelITA ItalyJAM JamaicaJEY JerseyJOR JordanJPN JapanKAZ KazakhstanKEN KenyaKGZ KyrgyzstanKHM CambodiaKIR KiribatiKNA Saint Kitts and NevisKOR Korea, Republic ofKWT KuwaitLAO Lao People’s Democratic RepublicLBN LebanonLBR LiberiaLBY LibyaLCA Saint LuciaLIE LiechtensteinLKA Sri LankaLSO LesothoLTU LithuaniaLUX LuxembourgLVA LatviaMAC MacaoMAF Saint Martin (French part)MAR MoroccoMCO MonacoMDA Moldova, Republic ofMDG MadagascarMDV MaldivesMEX MexicoMHL Marshall IslandsMKD North MacedoniaMLI MaliMLT MaltaMMR MyanmarMNE MontenegroMNG MongoliaMNP Northern Mariana IslandsMOZ MozambiqueMRT MauritaniaMSR MontserratMTQ MartiniqueMUS MauritiusMWI MalawiMYS MalaysiaMYT MayotteNAM NamibiaNCL New CaledoniaNER NigerNFK Norfolk IslandNGA NigeriaNIC NicaraguaNIU NiueNLD Netherlands, Kingdom of theNOR NorwayNPL NepalNRU NauruNZL New ZealandOMN OmanPAK PakistanPAN PanamaPCN PitcairnPER PeruPHL PhilippinesPLW PalauPNG Papua New GuineaPOL PolandPRI Puerto RicoPRK Korea, Democratic People’s Republic ofPRT PortugalPRY ParaguayPSE Palestine, State ofPYF French PolynesiaQAT QatarREU RéunionROU RomaniaRUS Russian FederationRWA RwandaSAU Saudi ArabiaSDN SudanSEN SenegalSGP SingaporeSGS South Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsSHN Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da CunhaSJM Svalbard and Jan MayenSLB Solomon IslandsSLE Sierra LeoneSLV El SalvadorSMR San MarinoSOM SomaliaSPM Saint Pierre and MiquelonSRB SerbiaSSD South SudanSTP Sao Tome and PrincipeSUR SurinameSVK SlovakiaSVN SloveniaSWE SwedenSWZ EswatiniSXM Sint Maarten (Dutch part)SYC SeychellesSYR Syrian Arab RepublicTCA Turks and Caicos IslandsTCD ChadTGO TogoTHA ThailandTJK TajikistanTKL TokelauTKM TurkmenistanTLS Timor-LesteTON TongaTTO Trinidad and TobagoTUN TunisiaTUR TürkiyeTUV TuvaluTWN Taiwan, Province of ChinaTZA Tanzania, United Republic ofUGA UgandaUKR UkraineUMI United States Minor Outlying IslandsURY UruguayUSA United States of AmericaUZB UzbekistanVAT Holy SeeVCT Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesVEN Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic ofVGB Virgin Islands (British)VIR Virgin Islands (U.S.)VNM Viet NamVUT VanuatuWLF Wallis and FutunaWSM SamoaYEM YemenZAF South AfricaZMB ZambiaZWE ZimbabweUser-assigned code elements[edit]

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 in the updating process of the standard. The following alpha-3 codes can be user-assigned: AAA to AAZ, QMA to QZZ, XAA to XZZ, and ZZA to ZZZ.[5]

Examples[edit]

The following codes are used in ISO/IEC 7501-1 for special machine-readable passports:[2]

EUE is used for the European Union laissez-passer[6]XOM is used to represent the Sovereign Military Order of MaltaD, a single character, is used for Germany.XPO is used for Interpol travel documentsXXA is used to represent a stateless person, as defined in Article 1 of the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless PersonsXXB is used to represent a refugee, as defined in Article 1 of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees as amended by the 1967 ProtocolXXC is used to represent a refugee, other than as defined aboveXXX is used to represent a person of unspecified nationality

NATO STANAG 1059 INT is built upon ISO alpha-3 codes, but also defines alpha-2 codes incompatible with ISO 3166-1. It introduces several private use codes for fictional countries and organizational entities:

NATO also continues to use reserved codes for continents:

ABB AsiaEEE EuropeFFF AfricaNNN North AmericaSRR South AmericaUUU OceaniaNTT NATO countries

XKX is an ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 equivalent user-assigned code element for Kosovo in the European Union,[7] and XKK is used in the Unicode standard.[8]

Reserved code elements[edit]

Reserved code elements are codes which have become obsolete, or are required in order to enable 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 which it undertakes not to use for other than specified purposes during a limited or indeterminate period of time.

The reserved alpha-3 codes are divided into the following three categories: exceptional reservations, transitional reservations, and indeterminate reservations.[5]

Exceptional reservations[edit]

Exceptionally reserved code elements are codes reserved at the request of national ISO member bodies, governments and international organizations, which are required in order to support a particular application, as specified by the requesting body and limited to such use; any further use of such code elements is subject to approval by the ISO 3166/MA. The following alpha-3 codes are currently exceptionally reserved:

ASC Ascension Island – Reserved on request of Universal Postal Union (UPU), also used by International Telecommunication Union (ITU)CPT Clipperton Island – Reserved on request of ITUCRQ Sark – Reserved on request of the United KingdomDGA Diego Garcia – Reserved on request of ITUFXX France, Metropolitan – Reserved on request of France; Officially assigned before being deleted from ISO 3166-1SUN USSR – From June 2008; Transitionally reserved from September 1992; Officially assigned before being deleted from ISO 3166-1TAA Tristan da Cunha – Reserved on request of UPU

The following alpha-3 codes were previously exceptionally reserved, but are now officially assigned:

GGY Guernsey – Reserved on request of UPUIMN Isle of Man – Reserved on request of UPUJEY Jersey – Reserved on request of UPUTransitional reservations[edit]

Transitional reserved code elements are codes reserved after their deletion from ISO 3166-1. These codes may be used only during a transitional period of at least five years while new code elements that may have replaced them are taken into use. These codes may be reassigned by the ISO 3166/MA after the expiration of the transitional period. The following alpha-3 codes are currently transitionally reserved:

ANT Netherlands Antilles – From December 2010BUR Burma – From December 1989BYS Byelorussian SSR – From June 1992CSK Czechoslovakia – From June 1993NTZ Neutral Zone – From July 1993ROM Romania – From February 2002; Code changed to ROU[9]SCG Serbia and Montenegro – From September 2006TMP East Timor – From May 2002YUG Yugoslavia – From July 2003ZAR Zaire – From July 1997Indeterminate reservations[edit]

Indeterminately reserved code elements are reserved for use in a particular way, usually due to their presence in other coding systems. For example, several codes are reserved because they are used for international intellectual property organizations in WIPO Standard ST.3.

The following codes used to designate road vehicles are indeterminately reserved under the 1949 and 1968 United Nations Conventions on Road Traffic:

ADN AdenBDS Barbados (current code BRB)BRU Brunei (current code BRN)CDN Canada (current code CAN)EAK Kenya (current code KEN)EAT Tanganyika [Part of Tanzania, United Republic of]EAU Uganda (current code UGA)EAZ Zanzibar [Part of Tanzania, United Republic of]GBA AlderneyGBG Guernsey (current code GGY)GBJ Jersey (current code JEY)GBM Isle of Man (current code IMN)GBZ Gibraltar (current code GIB)GCA Guatemala (current code GTM)HKJ Jordan (current code JOR)MAL Malaysia (current code MYS)RCA Central African Republic (current code CAF)RCB Congo, People’s Republic of (current code COG)RCH Chile (current code CHL)RMM Mali (current code MLI)RNR Zambia (current code ZMB)ROK Korea, Republic of (current code KOR)RSM San Marino (current code SMR)RSR Southern Rhodesia [now Zimbabwe]SLO Slovenia (current code SVN)SME Suriname (current code SUR)TMN Turkmenistan (current code TKM)WAG Gambia (current code GMB)WAL Sierra Leone (current code SLE)WAN Nigeria (current code NGA)ZRE Zaire (current code COD)

The following alpha-3 code was previously indeterminately reserved, but has been reassigned to another country as its official code:

The following are used in ISO/IEC 7501-1 for special machine-readable passports:

GBD identifies a British Passport holder who is a British Overseas Territories citizenGBN identifies a British Passport holder who is a British National (Overseas)GBO identifies a British Passport holder who is a British Overseas citizenGBP identifies a British Passport holder who is a British protected personGBS identifies a British Passport holder who is a British subjectUNA is used as a substitute for nationality where the holder is an Official of a Specialized Agency of the UN OrganizationUNK identifies Kosovo residents to whom travel documents were issued by the United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK)UNO is used to designate the UN Organization as the issuer and used as a substitute for nationality where the holder is an Official of the UN OrganizationDeleted codes[edit]

Besides the codes currently transitionally reserved and two other codes currently exceptionally reserved (FXX for France, Metropolitan and SUN for USSR), the following alpha-3 codes have also been deleted from ISO 3166-1:[10]

AFI French Afars and IssasATB British Antarctic TerritoryATN Dronning Maud LandCTE Canton and Enderbury IslandsDDR German Democratic RepublicDHY DahomeyGEL Gilbert and Ellice IslandsHVO Upper VoltaJTN Johnston IslandMID Midway IslandsNHB New HebridesPCI Pacific Islands (Trust Territory)PCZ Panama Canal ZonePHI Philippines – Code changed to PHL in 1976[11]PUS United States Miscellaneous Pacific IslandsRHO Southern RhodesiaSKM SikkimVDR Viet-Nam, Democratic Republic ofWAK Wake IslandYMD Yemen, DemocraticSee also[edit]List of IOC country codes, used by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)List of FIFA country codes, used by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)Comparison of alphabetic country codesReferences[edit]^ “ISO 3166 – FAQs – General questions”. International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Archived from the original on 2011-05-14.^ a b “Codes for Nationality, Place of Birth, Location of Issuing State/Authority and Other Purposes”, Doc 9303, Machine Readable Travel Documents, Part 3: Specifications Common to all MRTDs (PDF) (Eighth ed.), International Civil Aviation Organization, 2021, pp. 21–23^ “Distinguishing signs used on vehicles in international traffic” (PDF). United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.^ “Country names and code elements”. ISO.^ a b “Glossary for ISO 3166 – Codes for countries and their subdivisions”. ISO.^ “European Union laissez-passer (video at 0:47)”. Laissez-passer.eu. Retrieved 4 June 2016.^ “Geospatial reference data: Corporate list of countries and territories”. Retrieved 2024-04-25.^ Davis, Mark (2023-10-25). “Unicode Locale Data Markup Language (LDML)”. unicode.org. Retrieved 13 December 2023. XK XKK 983 Kosovo industry practice private use^ ISO International Organization for Standardization, ISO 3166 Maintenance Agency (1 February 2002). “RE: Change of alpha-3 Code Element” (PDF). ISO 3166-1 NEWSLETTER No. V-3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 26 June 2017. Description of change: Change of the alpha-3 Code element for Romania from ROM to ROU following a request of the Government of Romania.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)^ Clive Feather (2003-07-25). “Country codes in ISO 3166 (Table 2: codes withdrawn from use)”. Davros.org.^ Gwillim Law (2014-07-17). “Changes in ISO 3166-1”. Statoids.com.Sources[edit]ISO 3166 Maintenance Agency, International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Reserved code elements under ISO 3166-1 “Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions – Part 1: Country codes”, available on request from ISO 3166/MAStandard Country or Area Codes for Statistical Use, United Nations Statistics Division Countries or areas, codes and abbreviations – list of alpha-3 and numeric codes (a few territories officially assigned codes in ISO 3166-1 are not included in this list)The World Factbook (public domain), Central Intelligence Agency Appendix D – Country Data Codes – comparison of FIPS 10, ISO 3166, and STANAG 1059 country codesAdministrative Divisions of Countries (“Statoids”), Statoids.com Country codes – comparison of ISO 3166-1 country codes with other country codesISO 3166-1 Change History, Statoids.com