<s>
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
(	O
Codes	O
for	O
the	O
representation	O
of	O
names	O
of	O
countries	O
and	O
their	O
subdivisions	O
–	O
Part	O
1	O
:	O
Country	B-General_Concept
codes	I-General_Concept
)	O
is	O
a	O
standard	O
defining	O
codes	O
for	O
the	O
names	O
of	O
countries	O
,	O
dependent	O
territories	O
,	O
and	O
special	O
areas	O
of	O
geographical	O
interest	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
defines	O
three	O
sets	O
of	O
country	B-General_Concept
codes	I-General_Concept
:	O
</s>
<s>
ISO	B-Language
3166-1	I-Language
alpha-2	I-Language
–	O
two-letter	O
country	B-General_Concept
codes	I-General_Concept
which	O
are	O
the	O
most	O
widely	O
used	O
of	O
the	O
three	O
,	O
and	O
used	O
most	O
prominently	O
for	O
the	O
Internet	O
's	O
country	B-Application
code	I-Application
top-level	I-Application
domains	I-Application
(	O
with	O
a	O
few	O
exceptions	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
alpha-3	I-General_Concept
–	O
three-letter	O
country	B-General_Concept
codes	I-General_Concept
which	O
allow	O
a	O
better	O
visual	O
association	O
between	O
the	O
codes	O
and	O
the	O
country	O
names	O
than	O
the	O
alpha-2	O
codes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
numeric	I-General_Concept
–	O
three-digit	O
country	B-General_Concept
codes	I-General_Concept
which	O
are	O
identical	O
to	O
those	O
developed	O
and	O
maintained	O
by	O
the	O
United	O
Nations	O
Statistics	O
Division	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
advantage	O
of	O
script	O
(	O
writing	O
system	O
)	O
independence	O
,	O
and	O
hence	O
useful	O
for	O
people	O
or	O
systems	O
using	O
non-Latin	O
scripts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
alphabetic	O
country	B-General_Concept
codes	I-General_Concept
were	O
first	O
included	O
in	O
ISO	O
3166	O
in	O
1974	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
numeric	O
country	B-General_Concept
codes	I-General_Concept
were	O
first	O
included	O
in	O
1981	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
country	B-General_Concept
codes	I-General_Concept
have	O
been	O
published	O
as	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
since	O
1997	O
,	O
when	O
ISO	O
3166	O
was	O
expanded	O
into	O
three	O
parts	O
,	O
with	O
ISO	O
3166-2	O
defining	O
codes	O
for	O
subdivisions	O
and	O
ISO	O
3166-3	O
defining	O
codes	O
for	O
former	O
countries	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
widely	O
used	O
international	O
standard	O
,	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
is	O
implemented	O
in	O
other	O
standards	O
and	O
used	O
by	O
international	O
organizations	O
to	O
allow	O
facilitation	O
of	O
the	O
exchange	O
of	O
goods	O
and	O
information	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
not	O
the	O
only	O
standard	O
for	O
country	B-General_Concept
codes	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
country	B-General_Concept
codes	I-General_Concept
used	O
by	O
many	O
international	O
organizations	O
are	O
partly	O
or	O
totally	O
incompatible	O
with	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
,	O
although	O
some	O
of	O
them	O
closely	O
correspond	O
to	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
codes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Currently	O
249	O
countries	O
,	O
territories	O
,	O
or	O
areas	O
of	O
geographical	O
interest	O
are	O
assigned	O
official	O
codes	O
in	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
the	O
ISO	O
3166	O
Maintenance	O
Agency	O
(	O
ISO	O
3166/MA	O
)	O
,	O
the	O
only	O
way	O
to	O
enter	O
a	O
new	O
country	O
name	O
into	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
is	O
to	O
have	O
it	O
registered	O
in	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
following	O
two	O
sources	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Once	O
a	O
country	O
name	O
or	O
territory	O
name	O
appears	O
in	O
either	O
of	O
these	O
two	O
sources	O
,	O
it	O
will	O
be	O
added	O
to	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
by	O
default	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
because	O
the	O
European	O
Union	O
is	O
not	O
a	O
country	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
not	O
formally	O
included	O
in	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
,	O
but	O
for	O
practical	O
reasons	O
,	O
the	O
ISO	O
3166/MA	O
has	O
"	O
reserved	O
the	O
two-letter	O
combination	O
for	O
the	O
purpose	O
of	O
identifying	O
the	O
European	O
Union	O
within	O
the	O
framework	O
of	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
is	O
published	O
officially	O
in	O
both	O
English	O
and	O
French	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
the	O
second	O
edition	O
of	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
,	O
the	O
following	O
columns	O
are	O
included	O
for	O
each	O
entry	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
country	O
names	O
used	O
in	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
are	O
taken	O
from	O
the	O
two	O
UN	O
sources	O
mentioned	O
above	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
codes	O
are	O
chosen	O
,	O
according	O
to	O
the	O
ISO	O
3166/MA	O
,	O
"	O
to	O
reflect	O
the	O
significant	O
,	O
unique	O
component	O
of	O
the	O
country	O
name	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
allow	O
a	O
visual	O
association	O
between	O
country	O
name	O
and	O
country	B-General_Concept
code	I-General_Concept
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
consequence	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
United	O
Kingdom	O
is	O
officially	O
assigned	O
the	O
alpha-2	B-Language
code	I-Language
rather	O
than	O
,	O
based	O
on	O
its	O
official	O
name	O
"	O
United	O
Kingdom	O
of	O
Great	O
Britain	O
and	O
Northern	O
Ireland	O
"	O
(	O
although	O
is	O
reserved	O
on	O
the	O
request	O
of	O
the	O
United	O
Kingdom	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
Germany	O
is	O
assigned	O
the	O
alpha-2	B-Language
code	I-Language
,	O
based	O
on	O
its	O
native	O
name	O
"	O
Deutschland	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
following	O
is	O
a	O
complete	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
encoding	O
list	O
of	O
the	O
countries	O
which	O
are	O
assigned	O
official	O
codes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Note	O
:	O
Each	O
country	O
's	O
alpha-2	B-Language
code	I-Language
is	O
linked	O
to	O
more	O
information	O
about	O
the	O
assignment	O
of	O
its	O
code	O
elements	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Reserved	O
code	O
elements	O
are	O
codes	O
which	O
have	O
become	O
obsolete	O
,	O
or	O
are	O
required	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
enable	O
a	O
particular	O
user	O
application	O
of	O
the	O
standard	O
but	O
do	O
not	O
qualify	O
for	O
inclusion	O
in	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
User-assigned	O
code	O
elements	O
are	O
codes	O
at	O
the	O
disposal	O
of	O
users	O
who	O
need	O
to	O
add	O
further	O
names	O
of	O
countries	O
,	O
territories	O
,	O
or	O
other	O
geographical	O
entities	O
to	O
their	O
in-house	O
application	O
of	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
the	O
ISO	O
3166/MA	O
will	O
never	O
use	O
these	O
codes	O
in	O
the	O
updating	O
process	O
of	O
the	O
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ISO	O
3166/MA	O
updates	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
when	O
necessary	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
country	O
is	O
usually	O
assigned	O
new	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
codes	O
if	O
it	O
changes	O
its	O
name	O
or	O
its	O
territorial	O
boundaries	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
general	O
,	O
new	O
alphabetic	O
codes	O
are	O
assigned	O
if	O
a	O
country	O
changes	O
a	O
significant	O
part	O
of	O
its	O
name	O
,	O
while	O
a	O
new	O
numeric	B-General_Concept
code	I-General_Concept
is	O
assigned	O
if	O
a	O
country	O
changes	O
its	O
territorial	O
boundaries	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Codes	O
for	O
formerly	O
used	O
country	O
names	O
that	O
were	O
deleted	O
from	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
are	O
published	O
in	O
ISO	O
3166-3	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Edition/Newsletter	O
Date	O
issued	O
Contents	O
1974	O
First	O
edition	O
of	O
ISO	O
3166	O
1981	O
Second	O
edition	O
of	O
ISO	O
3166	O
1988-08-15	O
Third	O
edition	O
of	O
ISO	O
3166	O
1994-02-10	O
Fourth	O
edition	O
of	O
ISO	O
3166	O
First	O
edition	O
of	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
(	O
ISO	O
3166	O
expanded	O
into	O
three	O
parts	O
)	O
Change	O
of	O
official	O
name	O
(	O
Samoa	O
)	O
Inclusion	O
of	O
new	O
country	O
name	O
and	O
code	O
elements	O
(	O
Palestinian	O
Territory	O
,	O
Occupied	O
)	O
Change	O
of	O
alpha-3	B-General_Concept
Code	I-General_Concept
Element	O
(	O
Romania	O
)	O
Name	O
changes	O
(	O
Afghanistan	O
,	O
Azerbaijan	O
,	O
Bahrain	O
,	O
Bosnia	O
and	O
Herzegovina	O
,	O
Fiji	B-Language
,	O
Hong	O
Kong	O
,	O
Kazakhstan	O
,	O
Kiribati	O
,	O
Macao	O
,	O
Niue	O
,	O
Somalia	O
,	O
Venezuela	O
)	O
Change	O
of	O
names	O
and	O
alphabetical	O
code	O
elements	O
of	O
East	O
Timor	O
Change	O
of	O
names	O
of	O
East	O
Timor	O
Change	O
of	O
official	O
name	O
of	O
Comoros	O
Deletion	O
of	O
"	O
Yugoslavia	O
"	O
;	O
inclusion	O
of	O
"	O
Serbia	O
and	O
Montenegro	O
"	O
with	O
new	O
alphabetical	O
code	O
elements	O
Inclusion	O
of	O
an	O
entry	O
for	O
Åland	O
Islands	O
Name	O
changes	O
(	O
Afghanistan	O
,	O
Åland	O
Islands	O
)	O
Inclusion	O
of	O
an	O
entry	O
for	O
Jersey	O
,	O
Guernsey	O
and	O
Isle	O
of	O
Man	O
.	O
</s>
