<s>
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
alpha-3	I-General_Concept
codes	O
are	O
three-letter	O
country	B-General_Concept
codes	I-General_Concept
defined	O
in	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
,	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
ISO	O
3166	O
standard	O
published	O
by	O
the	O
International	O
Organization	O
for	O
Standardization	O
(	O
ISO	O
)	O
,	O
to	O
represent	O
countries	O
,	O
dependent	O
territories	O
,	O
and	O
special	O
areas	O
of	O
geographical	O
interest	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	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
two-letter	O
alpha-2	B-Language
codes	O
(	O
the	O
third	O
set	O
of	O
codes	O
is	O
numeric	B-General_Concept
and	O
hence	O
offers	O
no	O
visual	O
association	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
alpha-3	I-General_Concept
codes	O
are	O
used	O
most	O
prominently	O
in	O
ISO/IEC	O
7501-1	O
for	O
machine-readable	O
passports	O
,	O
as	O
standardized	O
by	O
the	O
International	B-General_Concept
Civil	I-General_Concept
Aviation	I-General_Concept
Organization	I-General_Concept
,	O
with	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
additional	O
codes	O
for	O
special	O
passports	O
;	O
some	O
of	O
these	O
codes	O
are	O
currently	O
reserved	O
and	O
not	O
used	O
at	O
the	O
present	O
stage	O
in	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
United	O
Nations	O
uses	O
a	O
combination	O
of	O
ISO	B-Language
3166-1	I-Language
alpha-2	I-Language
and	O
alpha-3	O
codes	O
,	O
along	O
with	O
codes	O
that	O
pre-date	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
ISO	O
3166	O
,	O
for	O
international	O
vehicle	O
registration	O
codes	O
,	O
which	O
are	O
codes	O
used	O
to	O
identify	O
the	O
issuing	O
country	O
of	O
a	O
vehicle	O
registration	O
plate	O
;	O
some	O
of	O
these	O
codes	O
are	O
currently	O
indeterminately	O
reserved	O
in	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
following	O
is	O
a	O
complete	O
list	O
of	O
the	O
current	O
officially	O
assigned	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
alpha-3	I-General_Concept
codes	O
,	O
using	O
a	O
title	O
case	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
English	O
short	O
names	O
officially	O
defined	O
by	O
the	O
ISO	O
3166	O
Maintenance	O
Agency	O
(	O
ISO	O
3166/MA	O
)	O
:	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>
It	O
has	O
been	O
filed	O
with	O
the	O
International	B-General_Concept
Civil	I-General_Concept
Aviation	I-General_Concept
Organization	I-General_Concept
,	O
but	O
does	O
not	O
appear	O
in	O
official	O
ICAO	O
documents	O
as	O
valid	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
NATO	B-General_Concept
STANAG	I-General_Concept
1059	I-General_Concept
INT	I-General_Concept
is	O
built	O
upon	O
ISO	O
alpha-3	O
codes	O
,	O
but	O
also	O
defines	O
alpha-2	B-Language
codes	O
incompatible	O
with	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
.	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>
Transitional	O
reserved	O
code	O
elements	O
are	O
codes	O
reserved	O
after	O
their	O
deletion	O
from	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Indeterminately	O
reserved	O
code	O
elements	O
are	O
codes	O
used	O
to	O
designate	O
road	O
vehicles	O
under	O
the	O
1949	O
and	O
1968	O
United	O
Nations	O
Conventions	O
on	O
Road	O
Traffic	O
but	O
differing	O
from	O
those	O
contained	O
in	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
code	O
elements	O
are	O
expected	O
eventually	O
to	O
be	O
either	O
eliminated	O
or	O
replaced	O
by	O
code	O
elements	O
within	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Besides	O
the	O
codes	O
currently	O
transitionally	O
reserved	O
and	O
two	O
other	O
codes	O
currently	O
exceptionally	O
reserved	O
(	O
for	O
France	O
,	O
Metropolitan	O
and	O
for	O
USSR	O
)	O
,	O
the	O
following	O
alpha-3	O
codes	O
have	O
also	O
been	O
deleted	O
from	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
:	O
</s>
