What is the ISO 3166-1 country code standard?

ISO 3166-1 is the international standard that defines two-letter (alpha-2) and three-letter (alpha-3) codes for countries and territories. Alpha-2 codes (like US, GB, DE) are used in internet domains, currency codes, language tags, and most APIs. Alpha-3 codes (like USA, GBR, DEU) are used in passports, the UN, and some government systems.

How many countries are in the reference?

The reference covers all 195 UN-recognised sovereign states plus 55 dependent territories and special regions — around 250 entries total. This includes territories like Hong Kong (HK), Puerto Rico (PR), and the Falkland Islands (FK) that have their own ISO codes but are not fully independent countries.

Why do some countries have different dialling codes for different regions?

Some large countries and territories share a dialling code with their governing state. For example, the US, Canada, and many Caribbean islands all use +1 but are distinguishable by the area code that follows. The reference shows the top-level country calling code (the ITU-T E.164 code) for each entry.

ISO 3166 Country Codes

Alpha-2, alpha-3 and numeric country codes with calling codes, capitals and regions.

197 of 197 countries

#	Flag	Country	Continent
1	🇦🇫	Afghanistan	Asia
2	🇦🇱	Albania	Europe
3	🇩🇿	Algeria	Africa
4	🇦🇩	Andorra	Europe
5	🇦🇴	Angola	Africa
6	🇦🇬	Antigua and Barbuda	North America
7	🇦🇷	Argentina	South America
8	🇦🇲	Armenia	Asia
9	🇦🇺	Australia	Oceania
10	🇦🇹	Austria	Europe
11	🇦🇿	Azerbaijan	Asia
12	🇧🇸	Bahamas	North America
13	🇧🇭	Bahrain	Asia
14	🇧🇩	Bangladesh	Asia
15	🇧🇧	Barbados	North America
16	🇧🇾	Belarus	Europe
17	🇧🇪	Belgium	Europe
18	🇧🇿	Belize	North America
19	🇧🇯	Benin	Africa
20	🇧🇹	Bhutan	Asia
21	🇧🇴	Bolivia	South America
22	🇧🇦	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Europe
23	🇧🇼	Botswana	Africa
24	🇧🇷	Brazil	South America
25	🇧🇳	Brunei	Asia
26	🇧🇬	Bulgaria	Europe
27	🇧🇫	Burkina Faso	Africa
28	🇧🇮	Burundi	Africa
29	🇨🇻	Cabo Verde	Africa
30	🇰🇭	Cambodia	Asia
31	🇨🇲	Cameroon	Africa
32	🇨🇦	Canada	North America
33	🇨🇫	Central African Republic	Africa
34	🇹🇩	Chad	Africa
35	🇨🇱	Chile	South America
36	🇨🇳	China	Asia
37	🇨🇴	Colombia	South America
38	🇰🇲	Comoros	Africa
39	🇨🇩	Congo (Democratic Republic)	Africa
40	🇨🇬	Congo (Republic)	Africa
41	🇨🇷	Costa Rica	North America
42	🇨🇮	Côte d'Ivoire	Africa
43	🇭🇷	Croatia	Europe
44	🇨🇺	Cuba	North America
45	🇨🇾	Cyprus	Europe
46	🇨🇿	Czech Republic	Europe
47	🇩🇰	Denmark	Europe
48	🇩🇯	Djibouti	Africa
49	🇩🇲	Dominica	North America
50	🇩🇴	Dominican Republic	North America
51	🇪🇨	Ecuador	South America
52	🇪🇬	Egypt	Africa
53	🇸🇻	El Salvador	North America
54	🇬🇶	Equatorial Guinea	Africa
55	🇪🇷	Eritrea	Africa
56	🇪🇪	Estonia	Europe
57	🇸🇿	Eswatini	Africa
58	🇪🇹	Ethiopia	Africa
59	🇫🇯	Fiji	Oceania
60	🇫🇮	Finland	Europe
61	🇫🇷	France	Europe
62	🇬🇦	Gabon	Africa
63	🇬🇲	Gambia	Africa
64	🇬🇪	Georgia	Asia
65	🇩🇪	Germany	Europe
66	🇬🇭	Ghana	Africa
67	🇬🇷	Greece	Europe
68	🇬🇩	Grenada	North America
69	🇬🇹	Guatemala	North America
70	🇬🇳	Guinea	Africa
71	🇬🇼	Guinea-Bissau	Africa
72	🇬🇾	Guyana	South America
73	🇭🇹	Haiti	North America
74	🇭🇳	Honduras	North America
75	🇭🇺	Hungary	Europe
76	🇮🇸	Iceland	Europe
77	🇮🇳	India	Asia
78	🇮🇩	Indonesia	Asia
79	🇮🇷	Iran	Asia
80	🇮🇶	Iraq	Asia
81	🇮🇪	Ireland	Europe
82	🇮🇱	Israel	Asia
83	🇮🇹	Italy	Europe
84	🇯🇲	Jamaica	North America
85	🇯🇵	Japan	Asia
86	🇯🇴	Jordan	Asia
87	🇰🇿	Kazakhstan	Asia
88	🇰🇪	Kenya	Africa
89	🇰🇮	Kiribati	Oceania
90	🇰🇵	Korea (North)	Asia
91	🇰🇷	Korea (South)	Asia
92	🇽🇰	Kosovo	Europe
93	🇰🇼	Kuwait	Asia
94	🇰🇬	Kyrgyzstan	Asia
95	🇱🇦	Laos	Asia
96	🇱🇻	Latvia	Europe
97	🇱🇧	Lebanon	Asia
98	🇱🇸	Lesotho	Africa
99	🇱🇷	Liberia	Africa
100	🇱🇾	Libya	Africa
101	🇱🇮	Liechtenstein	Europe
102	🇱🇹	Lithuania	Europe
103	🇱🇺	Luxembourg	Europe
104	🇲🇬	Madagascar	Africa
105	🇲🇼	Malawi	Africa
106	🇲🇾	Malaysia	Asia
107	🇲🇻	Maldives	Asia
108	🇲🇱	Mali	Africa
109	🇲🇹	Malta	Europe
110	🇲🇭	Marshall Islands	Oceania
111	🇲🇷	Mauritania	Africa
112	🇲🇺	Mauritius	Africa
113	🇲🇽	Mexico	North America
114	🇫🇲	Micronesia	Oceania
115	🇲🇩	Moldova	Europe
116	🇲🇨	Monaco	Europe
117	🇲🇳	Mongolia	Asia
118	🇲🇪	Montenegro	Europe
119	🇲🇦	Morocco	Africa
120	🇲🇿	Mozambique	Africa
121	🇲🇲	Myanmar	Asia
122	🇳🇦	Namibia	Africa
123	🇳🇷	Nauru	Oceania
124	🇳🇵	Nepal	Asia
125	🇳🇱	Netherlands	Europe
126	🇳🇿	New Zealand	Oceania
127	🇳🇮	Nicaragua	North America
128	🇳🇪	Niger	Africa
129	🇳🇬	Nigeria	Africa
130	🇲🇰	North Macedonia	Europe
131	🇳🇴	Norway	Europe
132	🇴🇲	Oman	Asia
133	🇵🇰	Pakistan	Asia
134	🇵🇼	Palau	Oceania
135	🇵🇸	Palestine	Asia
136	🇵🇦	Panama	North America
137	🇵🇬	Papua New Guinea	Oceania
138	🇵🇾	Paraguay	South America
139	🇵🇪	Peru	South America
140	🇵🇭	Philippines	Asia
141	🇵🇱	Poland	Europe
142	🇵🇹	Portugal	Europe
143	🇶🇦	Qatar	Asia
144	🇷🇴	Romania	Europe
145	🇷🇺	Russia	Europe
146	🇷🇼	Rwanda	Africa
147	🇰🇳	Saint Kitts and Nevis	North America
148	🇱🇨	Saint Lucia	North America
149	🇻🇨	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	North America
150	🇼🇸	Samoa	Oceania
151	🇸🇲	San Marino	Europe
152	🇸🇹	São Tomé and Príncipe	Africa
153	🇸🇦	Saudi Arabia	Asia
154	🇸🇳	Senegal	Africa
155	🇷🇸	Serbia	Europe
156	🇸🇨	Seychelles	Africa
157	🇸🇱	Sierra Leone	Africa
158	🇸🇬	Singapore	Asia
159	🇸🇰	Slovakia	Europe
160	🇸🇮	Slovenia	Europe
161	🇸🇧	Solomon Islands	Oceania
162	🇸🇴	Somalia	Africa
163	🇿🇦	South Africa	Africa
164	🇸🇸	South Sudan	Africa
165	🇪🇸	Spain	Europe
166	🇱🇰	Sri Lanka	Asia
167	🇸🇩	Sudan	Africa
168	🇸🇷	Suriname	South America
169	🇸🇪	Sweden	Europe
170	🇨🇭	Switzerland	Europe
171	🇸🇾	Syria	Asia
172	🇹🇼	Taiwan	Asia
173	🇹🇯	Tajikistan	Asia
174	🇹🇿	Tanzania	Africa
175	🇹🇭	Thailand	Asia
176	🇹🇱	Timor-Leste	Asia
177	🇹🇬	Togo	Africa
178	🇹🇴	Tonga	Oceania
179	🇹🇹	Trinidad and Tobago	North America
180	🇹🇳	Tunisia	Africa
181	🇹🇷	Turkey	Asia
182	🇹🇲	Turkmenistan	Asia
183	🇹🇻	Tuvalu	Oceania
184	🇺🇬	Uganda	Africa
185	🇺🇦	Ukraine	Europe
186	🇦🇪	United Arab Emirates	Asia
187	🇬🇧	United Kingdom	Europe
188	🇺🇸	United States	North America
189	🇺🇾	Uruguay	South America
190	🇺🇿	Uzbekistan	Asia
191	🇻🇺	Vanuatu	Oceania
192	🇻🇦	Vatican City	Europe
193	🇻🇪	Venezuela	South America
194	🇻🇳	Vietnam	Asia
195	🇾🇪	Yemen	Asia
196	🇿🇲	Zambia	Africa
197	🇿🇼	Zimbabwe	Africa

Which code to use

Alpha-2 (GB, US, IN) —The default for software. Used by domain TLDs, language tags, and almost every API. Two characters, so compact in storage and URLs.
Alpha-3 (GBR, USA, IND) —More mnemonic and less collision-prone. Used by the UN, in sports, and in some financial standards.
Numeric (826, 840, 356) —Script-independent, so it works where Latin characters are unsuitable. Also stable across renames — the code stays with the territory.

Country codes are political, and they change

Treating this list as stable reference data causes real bugs.

UK is not GB. The ISO alpha-2 code for the United Kingdom is GB. UK is reserved but not assigned — despite .uk being the domain. Systems that accept "UK" and systems that require "GB" both exist, and mapping between them is a recurring integration bug.

Codes are reassigned and retired. Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro, Netherlands Antilles and East Germany all had codes that no longer exist. South Sudan gained SS in 2011. ISO recommends not reusing a retired code for 50 years, but "not recommended" is not "never".

EU is a reserved exception, not a country. It appears in VAT numbers and some datasets. So do XK for Kosovo (user-assigned, not official) and several other unofficial codes.

Names are contested. The correct name for several territories depends on who you ask, and getting it wrong has consequences in some markets. If you display country names to users, source them from a maintained library and localise them, rather than hardcoding an English list.

About

The Countries Reference is a comprehensive lookup table for all 250 countries and territories. It includes ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 and alpha-3 codes, emoji flags, capital cities, official languages, currencies with symbols, international dialling codes, and top-level domains — all searchable and filterable by region.

How to use

1 Use the search box to find a specific country by name or code.
2 Filter by region (Africa, Asia, Europe, etc.) using the region selector.
3 Click any row to expand details or copy the ISO code.

What is the ISO 3166-1 country code standard?: ISO 3166-1 is the international standard that defines two-letter (alpha-2) and three-letter (alpha-3) codes for countries and territories. Alpha-2 codes (like US, GB, DE) are used in internet domains, currency codes, language tags, and most APIs. Alpha-3 codes (like USA, GBR, DEU) are used in passports, the UN, and some government systems.
How many countries are in the reference?: The reference covers all 195 UN-recognised sovereign states plus 55 dependent territories and special regions — around 250 entries total. This includes territories like Hong Kong (HK), Puerto Rico (PR), and the Falkland Islands (FK) that have their own ISO codes but are not fully independent countries.
Why do some countries have different dialling codes for different regions?: Some large countries and territories share a dialling code with their governing state. For example, the US, Canada, and many Caribbean islands all use +1 but are distinguishable by the area code that follows. The reference shows the top-level country calling code (the ITU-T E.164 code) for each entry.

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