Country codes

For example, www.whatever.es is a Spanish web site, because ES is Spain's country code. In this example ES is the TLD (or ccTLD) and 'whatever' is the Second Level Domain. The www is traditional and if the web server is set up "properly", it might not be necessary, or it could refer to a Third Level domain.

ISO 3166 also defines three letter codes for countries, as well as the two letter codes used on the Internet. There are also other coding systems in use: for example the FIPS two-letter coding system used by the US government and the CIA World Factbook.

The two-letter ISO 3166 codes form the first two letters of the three-letter ISO standard codes for currencies. There are also several other currency codes defined by the ISO standard beginning with X, connected with international currency unions (e.g. the BCEAO) and with other currency-like assets (gold (XAU), SDRs). The Euro however gets the code EUR, and therefore EU is reserved under ISO 3166 to refer to the European Union. There are also plans to establish a European Union ccTLD using that code.

The following is intended to be a complete list of ISO 3166 two-letter codes, and also includes codes which are in use as TLDs even though not ISO 3166 codes. For information, obsolete ISO 3166 codes are also listed and marked as obsolete. However, the list of obsolete codes is likely to be incomplete at the moment. Note that AA, ZZ and the ranges QM-QZ and XA-XZ are reserved for private use. In addition, OO is designated as an escape code. The United Kingdom occurs twice in the list; this anomalous situation is explained at the end.

 AC - Ascension Island (not an ISO 3166 code, but used as a TLD)
 AD - Andorra 
 AE - United Arab Emirates 
 AF - Afghanistan 
 AG - Antigua and Barbuda 
 AI - Anguilla 
 AL - Albania 
 AM - Armenia 
 AN - Netherlands Antilles 
 AO - Angola 
 AQ - Antarctica 
 AR - Argentina 
 AS - American Samoa 
 AT - Austria 
 AU - Australia
 AW - Aruba 
 AZ - Azerbaijan

 BA - Bosnia and Herzegovina
 BB - Barbados 
 BD - Bangladesh 
 BE - Belgium 
 BF - Burkina Faso 
 BG - Bulgaria 
 BH - Bahrain 
 BI - Burundi 
 BJ - Benin 
 BM - Bermuda 
 BN - Brunei Darussalam 
 BO - Bolivia 
 BR - Brazil 
 BS - Bahamas 
 BT - Bhutan 
 BU - Burma (obsolete, replaced by MM for Myanmar)
 BV - Bouvet Island 
 BW - Botswana 
 BY - Belarus 
 BZ - Belize 

 CA - Canada 
 CC - Cocos (Keeling) Islands 
 CD - Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) 
 CF - Central African Republic 
 CG - Republic of the Congo 
 CH - Switzerland (Confoederatio Helvetica)
 CI - Côte d'Ivoire, a.k.a. Ivory Coast 
 CK - Cook Islands
 CL - Chile 
 CM - Cameroon 
 CN - China 
 CO - Colombia 
 CR - Costa Rica 
 CS - Czechoslovakia (obsolete, replaced by CZ and SK) 
 CU - Cuba 
 CV - Cape Verde 
 CX - Christmas Island 
 CY - Cyprus 
 CZ - Czech Republic 

 DD - East Germany (obsolete, now uses DE)
 DE - Germany
 DJ - Djibouti 
 DK - Denmark
 DM - Dominica 
 DO - Dominican Republic 
 DZ - Algeria 

 EC - Ecuador
 EE - Estonia 
 EG - Egypt 
 EH - Western Sahara 
 ER - Eritrea 
 ES - Spain (España)
 ET - Ethiopia  

 FI - Finland
 FJ - Fiji 
 FK - Falkland Islands
 FM - Micronesia 
 FO - Faroe Islands 
 FR - France
 FX - [Metropolitan France]? (obsolete, and apparently was never used as a TLD)

 GA - Gabon 
 GB - United Kingdom (not Great Britain) 
 GD - Grenada 
 GE - Georgia 
 GF - French Guiana 
 GG - Guernsey (not an ISO 3166 code, but used as a TLD)
 GH - Ghana 
 GI - Gibraltar 
 GL - Greenland 
 GM - Gambia 
 GN - Guinea 
 GP - Guadeloupe 
 GQ - Equatorial Guinea 
 GR - Greece 
 GS - South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands 
 GT - Guatemala 
 GU - Guam
 GW - Guinea-Bissau 
 GY - Guyana 

 HK - Hong Kong 
 HM - Heard Island and McDonald Islands 
 HN - Honduras 
 HR - Croatia (Hrvatska) 
 HT - Haiti 
 HU - Hungary 

 ID - Indonesia
 IE - Ireland 
 IL - Israel 
 IM - Isle of Man (not an ISO 3166 code, but used as a TLD)
 IN - India 
 IO - British Indian Ocean Territory 
 IQ - Iraq 
 IR - Iran 
 IS - Iceland 
 IT - Italy 

 JE - Jersey (not an ISO 3166 code, but used as a TLD)
 JM - Jamaica 
 JO - Jordan 
 JP - Japan 

 KE - Kenya 
 KG - Kyrgyzstan 
 KH - Cambodia 
 KI - Kiribati 
 KM - Comoros 
 KN - Saint Kitts and Nevis 
 KP - North Korea 
 KR - South Korea 
 KW - Kuwait 
 KY - Cayman Islands 
 KZ - Kazakhstan 

 LA - Laos 
 LB - Lebanon 
 LC - Saint Lucia 
 LI - Liechtenstein 
 LK - Sri Lanka 
 LR - Liberia 
 LS - Lesotho 
 LT - Lithuania 
 LU - Luxembourg 
 LV - Latvia
 LY - Libya 

 MA - Morocco 
 MC - Monaco 
 MD - Moldova 
 MG - Madagascar 
 MH - Marshall Islands 
 MK - Macedonia 
 ML - Mali 
 MM - Myanmar 
 MN - Mongolia 
 MO - Macau 
 MP - Northern Mariana Islands 
 MQ - Martinique 
 MR - Mauritania 
 MS - Montserrat 
 MT - Malta 
 MU - Mauritius 
 MV - Maldives 
 MW - Malawi 
 MX - Mexico 
 MY - Malaysia 
 MZ - Mozambique 

 NA - Namibia 
 NC - New Caledonia 
 NE - Niger 
 NF - Norfolk Island 
 NG - Nigeria 
 NI - Nicaragua 
 NL - Netherlands 
 NO - Norway 
 NP - Nepal 
 NR - Nauru 
 NU - Niue 
 NZ - New Zealand

 OM - Oman 

 PA - Panama 
 PC - [Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands]?  (obsolete, now GU, FM, MH and PW)
 PE - Peru 
 PF - French Polynesia 
 PG - Papua New Guinea 
 PH - Philippines 
 PK - Pakistan 
 PL - Poland 
 PM - Saint Pierre and Miquelon 
 PN - Pitcairn Islands 
 PR - Puerto Rico 
 PS - Occupied Palestinian Territories (i.e., West Bank and Gaza Strip)
 PT - Portugal 
 PW - Palau 
 PY - Paraguay 

 QA - Qatar 

 RE - Reunion 
 RO - Romania 
 RU - Russia 
 RW - Rwanda 

 SA - Saudi Arabia 
 SB - Solomon Islands 
 SC - Seychelles 
 SD - Sudan 
 SE - Sweden 
 SG - Singapore 
 SH - Saint Helena 
 SI - Slovenia 
 SJ - Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands
 SK - Slovakia 
 SL - Sierra Leone 
 SM - San Marino 
 SN - Senegal 
 SO - Somalia 
 SR - Suriname 
 ST - Sao Tome and Principe 
 SU - Soviet Union (no longer an ISO 3166 code, but still in use as a TLD)
 SV - El Salvador 
 SY - Syria 
 SZ - Swaziland 

 TC - Turks and Caicos Islands 
 TD - Chad 
 TF - French Southern and Antarctic Lands 
 TG - Togo 
 TH - Thailand 
 TJ - Tajikistan 
 TK - Tokelau 
 TM - Turkmenistan 
 TN - Tunisia 
 TO - Tonga 
 TP - East Timor 
 TR - Turkey 
 TT - Trinidad and Tobago 
 TV - Tuvalu 
 TW - Taiwan 
 TZ - Tanzania 

 UA - Ukraine 
 UG - Uganda 
 UK - United Kingdom (not an ISO 3166 code, but used as a TLD - the ISO 3166 code is GB)
 UM - [US Minor Outlying Islands]? 
 US - United States 
 UY - Uruguay 
 UZ - Uzbekistan 

 VA - Vatican City State (Holy See) 
 VC - Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 
 VE - Venezuela 
 VG - British Virgin Islands
 VI - U.S. Virgin Islands
 VN - Vietnam 
 VU - Vanuatu 

 WF - Wallis and Futuna 
 WS - Samoa (formerly Western Samoa)

 YD - [South Yemen]? (obsolete, now uses YE)
 YE - Yemen 
 YT - Mayotte 
 YU - Yugoslavia 

 ZA - South Africa 
 ZM - Zambia 
 ZR - Zaire (obsolete, replaced by CD for Democratic Republic of the Congo)
 ZW - Zimbabwe 

Both GB and UK are listed above for the United Kingdom, because GB is the ISO 3166 code for the United Kingdom, but on the Internet UK is used instead (with very few exceptions). ICANN? policy is normally to use the ISO 3166 code; however the use of UK dates back to the early days of the Internet before the policy had been settled. UK would appear to be more appropriate as the code for the United Kingdom, as GB looks like an abbreviation for Great Britain, and Great Britain is not the whole of the United Kingdom. But ISO allocated GB to the United Kingdom in order not to have to decide whether the Ukraine's claim to UK was stronger than the United Kingdom's.

External links:

• The ISO 3166/MA-Secretariat keeps an updated list of ISO 3166 two-letter codes at http://www.din.de/gremien/nas/nabd/iso3166ma/codlstp1/en_listp1.html.
• IANA's list of ccTLDs is at http://www.iana.org/cctld/cctld-whois.htm.