ISO 3166-2
- ️Sun Dec 20 1998
The purpose of ISO 3166-2 is to establish an international standard of short and unique alphanumeric codes to represent the relevant administrative divisions and dependent territories of all countries in a more convenient and less ambiguous form than their full names. Each complete ISO 3166-2 code consists of two parts, separated by a hyphen:[1]
Each complete ISO 3166-2 code can then be used to uniquely identify a country subdivision in a global context.
As of 23 November 2023 there are 5,046 codes defined in ISO 3166-2. For some countries, codes are defined for more than one level of subdivisions.
The following table can be used to access the current ISO 3166-2 codes of each country, and comprises three columns:[2]
For the following countries, a number of their subdivisions in ISO 3166-2, most of them dependent territories, are also officially assigned their own country codes in ISO 3166-1:[2]
The format of the ISO 3166-2 codes is different for each country. The codes may be alphabetic, numeric, or alphanumeric, and they may also be of constant or variable length. The following is a table of the ISO 3166-2 codes of each country (those with codes defined), grouped by their format: [citation needed]
| Number of characters (second part) | Alphabetic | Numeric | Alphanumeric |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AR, BO, FJ, GM, KI, KM, LS, MG, SL, ST, TG, TM, VE First-level subdivisions only: BD, CV, FR, GN, GQ, GR, GW, KN, MH, MW, NZ, UG |
AT, GA, IS, NE First-level subdivisions only: LK, NP |
|
| 2 | AE, AM, BI, BJ, BN, BQ, BR, BS, BW, BY, CA, CD, CH, CI, CL, CM, CN, DE, DJ, ER, ET, GE, GH, GL, GT, GY, HN, HT, HU, ID, IN, IQ, JO, KW, LA, LB, LR, LT, LU, LY, MC, MD, MU, NA, NG, NI, OM, PK, QA, SB, SD, SH, SK, SN, SO, SR, SS, SV, SY, SZ, TD, TJ, TL, US, UY, UZ, WS, YE, ZW First-level subdivisions only: CZ, RS Second-level subdivisions only: AL, CV, GN, GQ, GW, IT, MW, NP |
AD, AG, BB, BG, BH, CU, CY, DK, DM, DO, DZ, EE, FI, GD, HR, IR, JM, JP, KP, KR, LC, LI, ME, MK, MM, MT, MY, NO, NR, PL, PT, RW, SA, SC, SG, SM, TN, TO, TR, TZ, UA, UM, VC, ZM First-level subdivisions only: AL, BF, IT, MA, PH Second-level subdivisions only: BA, BD, KN, LK, RS |
BT, MV, VN Second-level subdivisions only: FR, GR |
| 3 | AF, AO, BE, FM, GB, KZ, MX, PE, PG, PS, TT, TV, TW, VU First-level subdivisions only: BA Second-level subdivisions only: BF, MA, MH, NZ, PH |
KE, PW, SI Second-level subdivisions only: UG |
Second-level subdivisions only: CZ |
| 1 or 2 | CR, EC, ES, IE, IL, KG, RO, SE | KH | PA, TH |
| 1 or 3 | MZ | MN | ML |
| 2 or 3 | AU, AZ, BZ, CF, CO, RU, ZA | LV, MR, NL | |
| 1, 2, or 3 | EG | CG, PY |
The ISO 3166/MA updates ISO 3166-2 when necessary. Changes in ISO 3166-2 consist mostly of spelling corrections, addition and deletion of subdivisions, and modification of the administrative structure.
ISO used to announce changes in newsletters which updated the currently valid standard, and releasing new editions which comprise a consolidation of newsletter changes. As of July 2013, changes are published in the online catalogue of ISO only and no newsletters are published anymore. Past newsletters remain available on the ISO website.
| Edition/Newsletter | Date issued | Affected entries |
|---|---|---|
| ISO 3166-2:1998 | 1998-12-20 | First edition of ISO 3166-2 |
| Newsletter I-1 | 2000-06-21 | BY, CA, DO, ER, ES, IT, KR, NG, PL, RO, RU, TR, VN, YU |
| Newsletter I-2 | 2002-05-21 | AE, AL, AO, AZ, BD, BG, BJ, CA, CD, CN, CV, CZ, ES, FR, GB, GE, GN, GT, HR, ID, IN, IR, KZ, LA, MA, MD, MW, NI, PH, TR, UZ, VN |
| Newsletter I-3 | 2002-08-20 | AE, CZ, IN, KZ, MD, MO, PS (new entry), TP (changed to TL), UG |
| Newsletter I-4 | 2002-12-10 | BI, CA, EC, ES, ET, GE, ID, IN, KG, KH, KP, KZ, LA, MD, MU, RO, SI, TJ, TL, TM, TW, UZ, VE, YE |
| Newsletter I-5 | 2003-09-05 | BW, CH, CZ, LY, MY, SN, TN, TZ, UG, VE, YU (changed to CS) |
| Newsletter I-6 | 2004-03-08 | AF, AL, AU, CN, CO, ID, KP, MA, TN, ZA |
| Newsletter I-7 | 2005-09-13 | AF, DJ, ID, RU, SI, VN |
| Newsletter I-8 | 2007-04-17 | AD, AG, BB, BH, CI, CS (deleted, replaced with ME and RS), DM, GB, GD, GG (new entry), IM (new entry), IR, IT, JE (new entry), KN, LI, ME (new entry), MK, NR, PW, RS (new entry), RU, RW, SB, SC, SM, TD, TO, TV, VC |
| Newsletter I-9 | 2007-11-28 | BG, BL (new entry), CZ, FR, GB, GE, LB, MF (new entry), MK, MT, RU, SD, SG, UG, ZA |
| ISO 3166-2:2007 | 2007-12-13 | Second edition of ISO 3166-2 (these changes were not announced in a newsletter)[3] BA, DK, DO, EG, GN, HT, KE, KW, LC, LR, TV, YE, ZA |
| Newsletter II-1 | 2010-02-03 (corrected 2010-02-19) |
AL, BO, CZ, ES, FR, GN, GR, GW, ID, IE, IT, KN, KP, LK, MA, MH, NP, RS, UG, VE |
| Newsletter II-2 | 2010-06-30 | AG, AR, BA, BF, BI, BS, BY, CF, CL, CV, EC, EG, GB, GL, HU, IT, KE, KM, LY, MD, MW, NG, NZ, OM, PA, PE, PH, RU, SC, SH, SI, SN, TD, TM, YE |
| Newsletter II-3 | 2011-12-13 (corrected 2011-12-15) |
AF, AN (deleted, replaced with BQ, CW and SX), AW, AZ, BD, BE, BG, BQ (new entry), BS, CV, CW (new entry), DJ, DK, ER, FI, FR, GB, GQ, HN, HR, HT, ID, IE, IN, JO, KW, LS, LV, MC, ME, MK, MM, MV, NL, NO, NP, NR, PG, PK, PL, PS, QA, SA, SD, SE, SH, SS (new entry), SX (new entry), TL, TN, TR, VN |
| ISO 3166-2:2013 | 2013-11-19 | Third edition of ISO 3166-2 (changes are published in the online catalogue of ISO only and no newsletters are published anymore) |
| ISO 3166-2:2020 | 2020-08 | Fourth edition of ISO 3166-2 |