ISO 3166-3

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ISO 3166-3 defines codes for outdated ISO 3166-1 country codes and is part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). 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.

ISO 3166-3 contains an entry for each formerly used country name whose codes were withdrawn from ISO 3166 since the first edition was published in 1974, and assigns a four-character alphabetic code for each entry. The first two characters are the withdrawn ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code of the country, while the last two characters are allocated according to following rules:

  • If the country changed its name, the new ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code is used (e.g., Burma changed its name to Myanmar, whose new code is MM).
  • If the country merged to form part of an existing country, the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code of this country is used (e.g., German Democratic Republic merged to form part of Germany, whose code is DE).
  • If the country split up into several parts, the special code HH is used to indicate that there is no single successor code, with the exception of Serbia and Montenegro, which uses XX to avoid confusion with Czechoslovakia, since the same code CS was assigned to the two countries during different periods.

[edit] Current codes

Following is a list of current ISO 3166-3 codes. For each entry, the ISO 3166-3 four-letter code is given first, followed by the former country name, its original code elements (alpha-2, alpha-3, numeric), their period of validity, and finally any related notes.

Once five years have passed from the time of withdrawal, the two-letter code is free to be reassigned, as has been done with AI, CS, GE, and SK. However, some of the two-letter codes remain transitionally reserved for a longer period.

Many of the two-letter codes were withdrawn before the introduction of the domain name system, and so were never used for the Internet's country code top-level domains (ccTLDs). However, some ccTLDs using withdrawn codes are still currently active, such as .su, .tp, and .yu.

The alpha-2 code CS had been withdrawn twice, the first time due to the split of Czechoslovakia and the second time due to the split of Serbia and Montenegro. On 2006-09-26 (Newsletter I-4), the code CSHH was assigned to Serbia and Montenegro, even though it had already been used for Czechoslovakia. To avoid confusion, since 2006-12-01 (Newsletter I-5), the code CSXX is used for Serbia and Montenegro.

If the country only changed its name without any territorial changes, its numeric code remains the same.

ISO 3166-3 code Former country name Former code elements Period of validity Notes
AIDJ French Afar and Issas AI, AFI, 262 1974–1977 Changed its name to Djibouti (DJ, DJI, 262)
AI has been reassigned to Anguilla
BQAQ British Antarctic Territory BQ, ATB, 080 1974–1979 Merged to form part of Antarctica (AQ, ATA, 010)
BUMM Burma BU, BUR, 104 1974–1989 Changed its name to Myanmar (MM, MMR, 104)
BU is currently transitionally reserved
CSHH Czechoslovakia CS, CSK, 200 1974–1993 Split up into Czech Republic (CZ, CZE, 203) and Slovakia (SK, SVK, 703)
CS was reassigned to Serbia and Montenegro until its split in 2006
CSXX Serbia and Montenegro CS, SCG, 891 2003–2006 Alphabetical codes taken from "Srbija i Crna Gora", its Serbian name
Split up into Montenegro (ME, MNE, 499) and Serbia (RS, SRB, 688)
CS is currently transitionally reserved
CTKI Canton and Enderbury Islands CT, CTE, 128 1974–1984 Merged to form part of Kiribati (KI, KIR, 296)
DDDE German Democratic Republic DD, DDR, 278 1974–1990 Alphabetical codes taken from "Deutsche Demokratische Republik", its German name
Merged to form part of Germany (DE, DEU, 276)
DYBJ Dahomey DY, DHY, 204 1974–1977 Changed its name to Benin (BJ, BEN, 204)
FQHH French Southern and Antarctic Territories FQ, ATF, 260 1974–1979 Split up into Adélie Land, which merged to form part of Antarctica (AQ, ATA, 010), and French Southern Territories (TF, ATF, 260)
FXFR France, Metropolitan FX, FXX, 249 1993–1997 Deleted, now covered by France (FR, FRA, 250)
FX is currently exceptionally reserved
GEHH Gilbert and Ellice Islands GE, GEL, 296 1974–1979 Split up into Kiribati (KI, KIR, 296) and Tuvalu (TV, TUV, 798)
GE has been reassigned to Georgia
HVBF Upper Volta HV, HVO, 854 1974–1984 Alphabetical codes taken from "Haute-Volta", its French name
Changed its name to Burkina Faso (BF, BFA, 854)
JTUM Johnston Island JT, JTN, 396 1974–1986 Merged to form part of United States Minor Outlying Islands (UM, UMI, 581)
MIUM Midway Islands MI, MID, 488 1974–1986 Merged to form part of United States Minor Outlying Islands (UM, UMI, 581)
NHVU New Hebrides NH, NHB, 548 1974–1980 Changed its name to Vanuatu (VU, VUT, 548)
NQAQ Dronning Maud Land NQ, ATN, 216 1974–1983 Alphabetical codes taken from "Norwegian Antarctic Territory"
Merged to form part of Antarctica (AQ, ATA, 010)
NTHH Neutral Zone NT, NTZ, 536 1974–1993 Split up into two parts, which merged to form parts of Iraq (IQ, IRQ, 368) and Saudi Arabia (SA, SAU, 682) respectively
NT is currently transitionally reserved
PCHH Pacific Islands, Trust Territory of the PC, PCI, 582 1974–1986 Split up into Federated States of Micronesia (FM, FSM, 583), Marshall Islands (MH, MHL, 584), Northern Mariana Islands (MP, MNP, 580), and Palau (PW, PLW, 585)
PUUM U.S. Miscellaneous Pacific Islands PU, PUS, 849 1974–1986 Consisting of Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Kingman Reef, and Palmyra Atoll
Merged to form part of United States Minor Outlying Islands (UM, UMI, 581)
PZPA Panama Canal Zone PZ, PCZ, 594 1974–1980 Merged to form part of Panama (PA, PAN, 591)
RHZW Southern Rhodesia RH, RHO, 716 1974–1980 Changed its name to Zimbabwe (ZW, ZWE, 716)
SKIN Sikkim SK, SKM, 698 1974–1975 Merged to form part of India (IN, IND, 356)
SK has been reassigned to Slovakia
SUHH U.S.S.R. SU, SUN, 810 1974–1992 Alphabetical codes taken from "Soviet Union"
Split up into Armenia (AM, ARM, 051), Azerbaijan (AZ, AZE, 031), Estonia (EE, EST, 233), Georgia (GE, GEO, 268), Kazakhstan (KZ, KAZ, 398), Kyrgyzstan (KG, KGZ, 417), Latvia (LV, LVA, 428), Lithuania (LT, LTU, 440), Republic of Moldova (MD, MDA, 498), Russian Federation (RU, RUS, 643), Tajikistan (TJ, TJK, 762), Turkmenistan (TM, TKM, 795), and Uzbekistan (UZ, UZB, 860) (note: Belarus and Ukraine already had their separate codes)
SU is currently transitionally reserved, and still used for the Internet ccTLD .su
TPTL East Timor TP, TMP, 626 1974–2002 Alphabetical codes taken from "Portuguese Timor", used by ISO from 1974 to 1977
Changed its name to Timor-Leste (TL, TLS, 626)
TP is currently transitionally reserved, and still used for the Internet ccTLD .tp
VDVN Viet-Nam, Democratic Republic of VD, VDR, – 1974–1977 Merged to form part of Viet Nam (VN, VNM, 704)
WKUM Wake Island WK, WAK, 872 1974–1986 Merged to form part of United States Minor Outlying Islands (UM, UMI, 581)
YDYE Yemen, Democratic YD, YMD, 720 1974–1990 Merged to form part of Yemen (YE, YEM, 887)
YUCS Yugoslavia YU, YUG, 891 1974–2003 Used numeric code 890 until 1993 (i.e., SFR Yugoslavia) and numeric code 891 from 1993 to 2003 (i.e., FR Yugoslavia)
Changed its name to Serbia and Montenegro (CS, SCG, 891)
YU is currently transitionally reserved, and still used for the Internet ccTLD .yu
ZRCD Zaire ZR, ZAR, 180 1974–1997 Changed its name to Democratic Republic of the Congo (CD, COD, 180)
ZR is currently transitionally reserved

[edit] Updates

Since the first publication of ISO 3166-3 in 1999, five newsletters have been published which announce changes to the standard:

  1. ISO 3166-3 Newsletter I-1 – Published 2002-11-15
  2. ISO 3166-3 Newsletter I-2 – Published 2002-11-22
  3. ISO 3166-3 Newsletter I-3 – Published 2003-07-23
  4. ISO 3166-3 Newsletter I-4 – Published 2006-09-26
  5. ISO 3166-3 Newsletter I-5 – Published 2006-12-01

[edit] External links