The ISO 3166 series, “Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions,” has just been revised and you can get the new updates from Document Center Inc. now. The set is the Internationally accepted list of all currently used country codes (Part 1), the administrative subdivision codes, e.g. States and Provinces (Part 2), and codes for the formerly used country names (Part 3). While the country codes are presented as both 2 and 3 character codes (think US or USA, for example), the subdivision information is a concantenation of the 2 character country code, a hyphen, and then the 2 or 3 character subdivision code. Part 1 and Part 2 are available in Access database format for integration into your computer programs and processes.
Updates to the set are minor in nature. Here’s a list of the 3 changes that have been made to Part 1:
- Sections 5.2 and 5.3 more clearly define the 2 and 3 character code elements (alpha sets) used in the ISO 3166 series.
- Section 7.1 changes the way any changes to the codes are publicized. The use of a newsletter to announce updates is no longer required, so the committee can use any methodology it chooses.
- Section 8.2 reinforces that the committee does not monitor any other codes that have been generated by users following the methodology of the standard. This refers to special cases where the codes in the standard are extended or modified by a user for some special purpose.
The standard itself has been in place for many years, since 1974. It was divided into the 3 part schema now used in 1997. Actual codes were provided for inclusion in the document by a myriad of sources. The resources for the 1st edition were: Customs Cooperation Council (CCC), [since 1995: World Customs Organization (WCO)], United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), International Air Transport Association (IATA), International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), International Labour Office (ILO), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), International Union of Railways (UIC), United Nations Organization (UN), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Universal Postal Union (UPU), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and World Health Organization (WHO).
The complete title of each of the three parts is as follows:
- ISO 3166-1, 3rd Edition, Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions – Part 1: Country codes
- ISO 3166-2, 3rd Edition, Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions – Part 2: Country subdivision code
- ISO 3166-3, 2nd Edition, Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions – Part 3: Code for formerly used names of countries
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