Country Code Abbreviations
270 abbreviations · part of Geography & Place Abbreviations
ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes are the two-letter country codes maintained by the International Organization for Standardization and used in internet domains (.de, .jp), bank account numbers (IBANs), shipping and customs systems, passports, software settings and flag emoji. Many come from a country's own-language name, which is why Germany is DE, Spain ES and Switzerland CH. This list gives each code with its country, capital, domain and any notable quirks, plus the three-letter sports codes used by FIFA and the IOC where they differ from expectations. US territories such as PR and GU are listed with US territory abbreviations.
| Abbreviation | Stands for | Description |
|---|---|---|
| AC | Ascension Island | Exceptionally reserved ISO code for Ascension Island, part of the British territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. |
| AD | Andorra | Tiny co-principality in the Pyrenees between France and Spain, whose joint heads of state are the Bishop of Urgell and the President of France. |
| AE | United Arab Emirates | Two-letter ISO code for the United Arab Emirates, taken from Arab Emirates; the alpha-3 code is ARE. |
| AF | Afghanistan | Afghanistan's two-letter code appears on the .af domain and in AFN, the currency code for the afghani; the alpha-3 code is AFG. |
| AG | Antigua and Barbuda | Antigua and Barbuda, a two-island Caribbean nation with St. |
| AI | Anguilla | British Overseas Territory in the eastern Caribbean, capital The Valley, whose .ai domain became one of the most sought-after addresses on the internet during the… |
| AL | Albania | Albania, called Shqipëria by its people, appears as AL on the .al domain and in shipping systems, with ALB as the alpha-3 code. |
| ALG | Algeria | Algeria plays as ALG in FIFA and IOC events, unlike ISO's DZ and DZA. |
| AM | Armenia | Code for Armenia, the South Caucasus republic with Yerevan as its capital and alpha-3 ARM. |
| AN | Netherlands Antilles | Former ISO code for the Netherlands Antilles, dissolved on October 10, 2010, when Curaçao (CW) and Sint Maarten (SX) became constituent countries and Bonaire, Sint… |
| AO | Angola | Assigned to Angola, the former Portuguese colony in southwest Africa whose capital is Luanda and whose economy depends heavily on oil exports. |
| AQ | Antarctica | Code covering the whole of Antarctica south of 60 degrees south latitude, governed by the Antarctic Treaty of 1959 rather than by any single country. |
| AR | Argentina | Argentine websites end in .ar and the peso trades as ARS, both built on Argentina's two-letter code. |
| AT | Austria | Austria's code, AT, avoids confusion with AU (Australia), a mix-up common enough that Austrian souvenirs joke There are no kangaroos in Austria. |
| AU | Australia | Australia's code sits behind the .au domain, with second-level names such as .com.au managed by auDA, and behind AUD, the currency code of the Australian dollar. |
| AW | Aruba | Aruba, a Dutch Caribbean island off Venezuela, has been a separate constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands since 1986 and carries the alpha-3 code ABW. |
| AX | Åland Islands | Assigned to the Åland Islands, an autonomous, demilitarized, Swedish-speaking region of Finland in the Baltic Sea, with Mariehamn as its capital and its own .ax domain. |
| AZ | Azerbaijan | Two-letter code of Azerbaijan, the oil- and gas-rich republic on the Caspian Sea whose capital, Baku, hosts a Formula 1 street race. |
| BA | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Bosnia and Herzegovina's alpha-3 code, BIH, spells out the country's initials. |
| BB | Barbados | Barbados, the easternmost Caribbean island, became a republic on November 30, 2021, replacing the British monarch as head of state. |
| BD | Bangladesh | Represents Bangladesh, the densely populated South Asian country that won independence from Pakistan in 1971. |
| BE | Belgium | Belgium's code heads the .be domain and Belgian IBANs, which at 16 characters are among Europe's shortest. |
| BF | Burkina Faso | Burkina Faso, formerly Upper Volta, took its current name, meaning land of upright people, in 1984 under Thomas Sankara. |
| BG | Bulgaria | Bulgaria's code prefixes its VAT numbers and IBANs. |
| BH | Bahrain | Island kingdom in the Persian Gulf linked to Saudi Arabia by the 25-kilometre King Fahd Causeway, with Manama as its capital and BHR as its alpha-3 code. |
| BI | Burundi | Burundi, a small, densely populated country on Lake Tanganyika, moved its political capital to Gitega in 2019, while Bujumbura remains the economic center. |
| BJ | Benin | Benin, formerly Dahomey, splits capital functions between Porto-Novo (official) and Cotonou (seat of government and largest city). |
| BL | Saint Barthélemy | French overseas collectivity in the Caribbean, known as St. |
| BM | Bermuda | Bermuda, a British Overseas Territory about 1,000 kilometres east of North Carolina, is a global center for reinsurance and offshore companies. |
| BN | Brunei | Brunei Darussalam, an oil-rich sultanate on Borneo with Bandar Seri Begawan as its capital and BRN as its alpha-3 code, is ruled by one of the world's longest-reigning… |
| BO | Bolivia | Bolivia has two capitals, Sucre (constitutional) and La Paz (seat of government), and BOL is its alpha-3 code. |
| BQ | Caribbean Netherlands | Code introduced in 2010 for Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, three Caribbean islands that became special municipalities of the Netherlands when the Netherlands… |
| BR | Brazil | Brazil's code drives the .br domain, BRL for the real and the pt-BR locale for Brazilian Portuguese. |
| BS | Bahamas | Archipelago of about 700 islands and cays north of Cuba, independent from Britain since July 10, 1973. |
| BT | Bhutan | Bhutan, the Himalayan kingdom between China and India, measures progress by Gross National Happiness and charges visitors a daily sustainable development fee. |
| BUL | Bulgaria | Bulgarian teams are listed as BUL by FIFA and the IOC, while ISO uses BGR. |
| BV | Bouvet Island | Uninhabited Norwegian dependency in the South Atlantic, often called the most remote island in the world, with about 93 percent of its surface under glacier. |
| BW | Botswana | Botswana, a stable democracy since independence in 1966 and one of the world's largest diamond producers, has Gaborone as its capital and BWA as its alpha-3 code. |
| BY | Belarus | Belarus inherited its B-Y code from the Soviet-era name Byelorussia. |
| BZ | Belize | Belize, the only Central American country with English as its official language, moved its capital to Belmopan after a 1961 hurricane devastated Belize City. |
| CA | Canada | Two-letter ISO code for Canada, capital Ottawa, alpha-3 CAN. |
| CC | Cocos (Keeling) Islands | Australian territory of 27 coral islands in the Indian Ocean with about 600 residents, mostly Cocos Malays. |
| CD | Democratic Republic of the Congo | The Democratic Republic of the Congo, known as Zaire (code ZR) from 1971 to 1997, is the largest country in sub-Saharan Africa by area. |
| CF | Central African Republic | Two-letter code of the Central African Republic, capital Bangui, alpha-3 CAF, from its French name République centrafricaine. |
| CG | Republic of the Congo | Republic of the Congo, also called Congo-Brazzaville after its capital, alpha-3 COG. |
| CH | Switzerland | Switzerland's code comes from its Latin name, Confoederatio Helvetica, chosen because the country has four national languages. |
| CHI | Chile | Sports code for Chile used by FIFA and the IOC, while ISO uses CHL. |
| CI | Côte d'Ivoire | The government of Côte d'Ivoire asks that the country be called by its French name rather than Ivory Coast. |
| CK | Cook Islands | Code for the Cook Islands, a self-governing South Pacific nation in free association with New Zealand, with Avarua on Rarotonga as its capital. |
| CL | Chile | Stretching about 4,300 kilometres along the Pacific, Chile is the world's largest copper producer. |
| CM | Cameroon | Cameroon, often called Africa in miniature for its varied landscapes, has Yaoundé as its capital, English and French as official languages and CMR as its alpha-3 code. |
| CN | China | China's code (for the People's Republic of China) underlies the .cn domain, which requires real-name registration, and the renminbi codes CNY onshore and CNH offshore. |
| CO | Colombia | Colombia, capital Bogotá, alpha-3 COL, has marketed its .co domain worldwide since 2010 as short for company, and services such as Twitter's t.co link shortener made… |
| CR | Costa Rica | Costa Rica abolished its army in 1948 and protects about a quarter of its land in parks and reserves. |
| CRC | Costa Rica | Sports code for Costa Rica used by FIFA and the IOC, while ISO uses CRI. |
| CRO | Croatia | Croatia's FIFA and IOC code, differing from ISO's HR and HRV, which come from Hrvatska. |
| CS | Czechoslovakia | ISO code for Czechoslovakia until the country divided into Czechia (CZ) and Slovakia (SK) on January 1, 1993. |
| CU | Cuba | Cuba, the largest Caribbean island, has Havana as its capital and CUB as its alpha-3 code. |
| CV | Cabo Verde | Atlantic island nation off West Africa that asked the world in 2013 to stop translating its name as Cape Verde. |
| CW | Curaçao | Curaçao became a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 2010, when it received this code. |
| CX | Christmas Island | Australian territory in the Indian Ocean about 1,500 kilometres from the mainland, famous for the annual migration of tens of millions of red crabs to the sea. |
| CY | Cyprus | Cyprus joined the EU in 2004, though the north has been under Turkish Cypriot administration since 1974. |
| CZ | Czechia | Czechia, with Prague as its capital and CZE as its alpha-3 code, registered that short name with the United Nations in 2016 alongside the formal Czech Republic. |
| DE | Germany | Germany's code comes from Deutschland, its German name, which is why Germany is DE rather than GE (Georgia). |
| DEN | Denmark | Denmark appears as DEN on Olympic and FIFA scoreboards, unlike the ISO alpha-3 code DNK. |
| DJ | Djibouti | Djibouti, on the Bab-el-Mandeb strait at the mouth of the Red Sea, hosts military bases of the United States, France, China, Japan and others. |
| DK | Denmark | Denmark's code comes from Danmark; Copenhagen is the capital and DNK the alpha-3 code. |
| DM | Dominica | Dominica, a mountainous Caribbean island nation with Roseau as its capital, markets itself as the Nature Isle of the Caribbean and is often confused with the Dominican… |
| DO | Dominican Republic | The Dominican Republic occupies the eastern part of Hispaniola, with Santo Domingo as its capital and DOM as its alpha-3 code. |
| DZ | Algeria | Algeria's code comes from Dzayer, the local Arabic and Berber name for the country, rather than from Algeria. |
| EC | Ecuador | Named for the equator, Ecuador has Quito, at about 2,850 metres, as its capital and owns the Galápagos Islands. |
| EE | Estonia | Estonia's code comes from Eesti, its own name for itself; Tallinn is the capital and EST the alpha-3 code. |
| EG | Egypt | Egypt controls the Suez Canal, a key route for global seaborne trade, and uses EGY as its alpha-3 code and EGP for its pound. |
| EH | Western Sahara | Disputed territory on Africa's Atlantic coast, mostly administered by Morocco and claimed by the Polisario Front's Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. |
| ENG | England | FIFA code for England, which competes separately from the rest of the United Kingdom in football, rugby and cricket. |
| ER | Eritrea | Eritrea, on the Red Sea, became independent from Ethiopia in 1993 after a 30-year war. |
| ES | Spain | Spain's code comes from España, which is why it is ES rather than SP. |
| ET | Ethiopia | Africa's second most populous country, Ethiopia, has Addis Ababa, seat of the African Union, as its capital. |
| FI | Finland | Finland, capital Helsinki, alpha-3 FIN, joined NATO in 2023, uses the euro and has two official languages, Finnish and Swedish. |
| FJ | Fiji | South Pacific nation of about 330 islands, with Suva as its capital, famous for rugby sevens: Fiji won Olympic gold in 2016 and 2020. |
| FK | Falkland Islands | British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic, also claimed by Argentina as the Islas Malvinas, and the scene of a 1982 war. |
| FM | Micronesia | The Federated States of Micronesia, a Pacific nation of four states in free association with the United States, use FM, and the USPS also uses it as a state-style code… |
| FO | Faroe Islands | Self-governing North Atlantic archipelago within the Kingdom of Denmark, with Tórshavn as its capital and about 54,000 residents. |
| FR | France | France's code, alpha-3 FRA, prefixes French VAT numbers and the .fr domain; Paris is the capital. |
| GA | Gabon | Gabon, an oil-producing Central African country on the equator with Libreville as its capital, has rainforest over about 88 percent of its territory. |
| GB | United Kingdom | ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code for the United Kingdom, from Great Britain, even though the UK also includes Northern Ireland. |
| GBR | United Kingdom | ISO alpha-3 code for the United Kingdom and the IOC code for Team GB, which represents the whole UK at the Olympics. |
| GD | Grenada | The Spice Isle of the Caribbean, Grenada is known for nutmeg, which appears on its flag. |
| GE | Georgia | Georgia, the country in the South Caucasus, has Tbilisi as its capital and GEO as its alpha-3 code. |
| GER | Germany | Three-letter code for Germany used by the IOC, FIFA and most sports federations, seen on Olympic scoreboards and World Cup graphics. |
| GF | French Guiana | French Guiana, an overseas region of France on the northeast coast of South America with Cayenne as its capital, hosts the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou, Europe's main… |
| GG | Guernsey | Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency in the Channel Islands with St Peter Port as its capital, owns the .gg domain, hugely popular with gamers because gg means good game. |
| GH | Ghana | Ghana, with Accra as its capital, became in 1957 the first sub-Saharan African colony to gain independence. |
| GI | Gibraltar | British Overseas Territory at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, a 6.7 square kilometre peninsula dominated by the Rock. |
| GL | Greenland | Greenland, the world's largest island, is a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark with Nuuk as its capital and about 56,000 residents. |
| GM | Gambia | Mainland Africa's smallest country, the Gambia is a narrow strip along the Gambia River surrounded by Senegal. |
| GN | Guinea | Guinea, with Conakry as its capital, has some of the world's largest bauxite reserves. |
| GP | Guadeloupe | Guadeloupe, a French overseas region in the Caribbean, consists of a butterfly-shaped main island and smaller islands. |
| GQ | Equatorial Guinea | Equatorial Guinea's code comes from its French name, Guinée équatoriale. |
| GR | Greece | Greece's code, alpha-3 GRC, with Athens as its capital. |
| GRE | Greece | Greece is GRE in IOC and FIFA usage, while ISO uses GRC. |
| GS | South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands | Remote British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic with no permanent residents, only research and government staff at King Edward Point. |
| GT | Guatemala | Guatemala, the most populous country in Central America, has Guatemala City as its capital and many speakers of Mayan languages. |
| GW | Guinea-Bissau | Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese colony that declared independence in 1973, has Bissau as its capital and cashew nuts as its main export. |
| GY | Guyana | Guyana, the only English-speaking country in South America, has seen offshore oil discoveries since 2015 make it one of the world's fastest-growing economies. |
| HK | Hong Kong | Special Administrative Region of China since July 1, 1997, after more than 150 years of British rule, with about 7.5 million people and its own currency, legal system… |
| HM | Heard Island and McDonald Islands | Uninhabited Australian external territory in the Southern Ocean, about 4,000 kilometres southwest of Perth, home to Australia's only active volcanoes, including Mawson… |
| HN | Honduras | Honduras, with Tegucigalpa as its capital and HND as its alpha-3 code, was the country that inspired O. |
| HR | Croatia | Croatia's code comes from Hrvatska, its own name, and the alpha-3 code is HRV. |
| HT | Haiti | Haiti, on the western third of Hispaniola, became the first Black-led republic and the first independent nation in Latin America and the Caribbean on January 1, 1804… |
| HU | Hungary | Hungary, capital Budapest, alpha-3 HUN, calls itself Magyarország, but its code follows the English name. |
| ID | Indonesia | World's largest archipelagic state, with about 17,000 islands and the fourth-largest population on Earth. |
| IE | Ireland | Ireland, capital Dublin, alpha-3 IRL, has used the euro since 1999 and is the EU base of many US technology and pharmaceutical companies. |
| IL | Israel | Israel's code, alpha-3 ISR, with the new shekel trading as ILS and websites on .il. |
| IM | Isle of Man | British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, with Douglas as its capital, whose parliament, Tynwald, claims to be the oldest in continuous existence, traditionally dated… |
| IN | India | India, the world's most populous country since 2023, uses IN for its .in domain and IND as its alpha-3 code. |
| IO | British Indian Ocean Territory | UK territory consisting of the Chagos Archipelago, including Diego Garcia, site of a joint UK–US military base. |
| IQ | Iraq | Iraq, whose land between the Tigris and Euphrates was ancient Mesopotamia, has Baghdad as its capital and IRQ as its alpha-3 code. |
| IR | Iran | Iran, called Persia in the West until 1935, has Tehran as its capital, IRN as its alpha-3 code and the rial (IRR) as its currency. |
| IS | Iceland | Iceland takes its code from Ísland; Reykjavík is the northernmost capital of a sovereign state and ISL the alpha-3 code. |
| IT | Italy | Italy's code, alpha-3 ITA, with Rome as its capital and two independent enclaves, Vatican City (VA) and San Marino (SM), inside its borders. |
| JE | Jersey | Largest of the Channel Islands, a British Crown Dependency with St Helier as its capital, known for Jersey cattle, Jersey Royal potatoes and its finance industry. |
| JM | Jamaica | Jamaica, capital Kingston, alpha-3 JAM, became independent from Britain on August 6, 1962. |
| JO | Jordan | Jordan, capital Amman, alpha-3 JOR, contains the rock-cut city of Petra and borders the Dead Sea, whose shore is the lowest point on land at about 430 metres below sea… |
| JP | Japan | Japan, capital Tokyo, alpha-3 JPN, uses JP for the .jp domain and the yen trades as JPY. |
| KE | Kenya | Kenya, capital Nairobi, alpha-3 KEN, launched the M-Pesa mobile-money service in 2007, which became a global model for phone-based payments. |
| KG | Kyrgyzstan | Mountainous Central Asian country, about 90 percent covered by the Tian Shan and Pamir ranges, with Bishkek as its capital and KGZ as its alpha-3 code. |
| KH | Cambodia | Cambodia's code comes from Khmer and Kampuchea; Phnom Penh is the capital and KHM the alpha-3 code. |
| KI | Kiribati | Pacific nation of 33 atolls and islands, pronounced KIRR-ih-bas, that straddles the equator and the 180th meridian. |
| KM | Comoros | Volcanic island nation between Mozambique and Madagascar, with Moroni as its capital. |
| KN | Saint Kitts and Nevis | Two-island Caribbean federation, the smallest sovereign state in the Western Hemisphere by both area and population, with Basseterre as its capital. |
| KP | North Korea | North Korea's ISO entry is Korea, Democratic People's Republic of, coded KP and PRK, with Pyongyang as its capital. |
| KR | South Korea | South Korea's code comes from its ISO name, Korea, Republic of; the alpha-3 code is KOR, the domain .kr and the won KRW. |
| KW | Kuwait | Kuwait, a Gulf state with Kuwait City as its capital and KWT as its alpha-3 code, issues the Kuwaiti dinar (KWD), the highest-valued currency unit in the world. |
| KY | Cayman Islands | British Overseas Territory in the western Caribbean, with George Town on Grand Cayman as its capital and CYM as its alpha-3 code. |
| KZ | Kazakhstan | World's largest landlocked country, with Astana as its capital (renamed from Nur-Sultan in 2022) and KAZ as its alpha-3 code. |
| LA | Laos | Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, with Vientiane as its capital and LAO as its alpha-3 code. |
| LB | Lebanon | Lebanon, with Beirut as its capital and LBN as its alpha-3 code, has a cedar tree on its flag. |
| LC | Saint Lucia | Caribbean island nation with Castries as its capital, known for the twin volcanic peaks of the Pitons, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. |
| LI | Liechtenstein | Alpine principality between Switzerland and Austria, with Vaduz as its capital and LIE as its alpha-3 code. |
| LK | Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka, called Ceylon until 1972, takes its code from Lanka. |
| LR | Liberia | Liberia was founded by the American Colonization Society in 1822 as a settlement for freed African Americans and declared independence in 1847. |
| LS | Lesotho | Mountain kingdom entirely surrounded by South Africa, with Maseru as its capital and LSO as its alpha-3 code. |
| LT | Lithuania | Lithuania, capital Vilnius, alpha-3 LTU, was the first Soviet republic to declare independence, on March 11, 1990. |
| LU | Luxembourg | Grand duchy between Belgium, France and Germany, with Luxembourg City as its capital and LUX as its alpha-3 code. |
| LV | Latvia | Latvia, capital Riga, alpha-3 LVA, regained independence in 1991, joined the EU and NATO in 2004 and adopted the euro in 2014. |
| LY | Libya | Libya, capital Tripoli, alpha-3 LBY, has Africa's largest proven oil reserves. |
| MA | Morocco | Morocco's code comes from its French name, Maroc; Rabat is the capital and MAR the alpha-3 code. |
| MC | Monaco | Monaco, the world's second-smallest country at about 2 square kilometres, is a city-state on the French Riviera famed for the Monte Carlo casino and its Formula 1 Grand… |
| MD | Moldova | Moldova, capital Chișinău, alpha-3 MDA, became an EU candidate country in 2022. |
| ME | Montenegro | Montenegro received its code in 2006, the year it became independent from Serbia and Montenegro; Podgorica is the capital and MNE the alpha-3 code. |
| MF | Saint Martin | French northern half of the Caribbean island of Saint Martin, with Marigot as its capital; the southern half is the Dutch Sint Maarten (SX). |
| MG | Madagascar | World's fourth-largest island, with Antananarivo as its capital and MDG as its alpha-3 code. |
| MH | Marshall Islands | Pacific republic of 29 atolls and five islands with Majuro as its capital, in free association with the United States since 1986. |
| MK | North Macedonia | North Macedonia kept the code MK, from Makedonija, when it changed its name from the Republic of Macedonia in February 2019 under the Prespa Agreement with Greece. |
| ML | Mali | Mali, capital Bamako, alpha-3 MLI, contains the historic city of Timbuktu. |
| MM | Myanmar | Myanmar, formerly Burma, received the code MM in 1989 when the military government changed the English name, replacing the old code BU. |
| MN | Mongolia | Mongolia, the world's least densely populated sovereign country, has Ulaanbaatar, often the coldest national capital, as its capital and MNG as its alpha-3 code. |
| MO | Macao | Special Administrative Region of China since December 20, 1999, after more than four centuries of Portuguese administration. |
| MQ | Martinique | French overseas region in the Lesser Antilles, with Fort-de-France as its capital. |
| MR | Mauritania | Mauritania, capital Nouakchott, alpha-3 MRT, is mostly Sahara Desert and contains the Richat Structure, a 40-kilometre circular formation called the Eye of the Sahara. |
| MS | Montserrat | British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean whose capital, Plymouth, was buried and abandoned after the Soufrière Hills volcano began erupting in 1995. |
| MT | Malta | Malta, capital Valletta, alpha-3 MLT, is the smallest EU member state by area and population. |
| MU | Mauritius | Indian Ocean island nation with Port Louis as its capital and MUS as its alpha-3 code, the only known home of the dodo, extinct by the late 17th century. |
| MV | Maldives | Lowest-lying country in the world, an Indian Ocean chain of about 1,190 coral islands averaging around 1.5 metres above sea level. |
| MW | Malawi | Landlocked southeast African country with Lilongwe as its capital and MWI as its alpha-3 code. |
| MX | Mexico | Mexico, the most populous Spanish-speaking country, has Mexico City as its capital, MEX as its alpha-3 code, .mx as its domain and the peso as MXN. |
| MY | Malaysia | Malaysia, with Kuala Lumpur as its capital and Putrajaya as its administrative center, spans the Malay Peninsula and northern Borneo. |
| MZ | Mozambique | Mozambique, capital Maputo, alpha-3 MOZ, is a Portuguese-speaking country on the Indian Ocean and the only nation with a modern rifle, an AK-47, on its flag. |
| NA | Namibia | Namibia, capital Windhoek, alpha-3 NAM, gained independence from South Africa in 1990. |
| NC | New Caledonia | French Pacific territory with Nouméa as its capital and NCL as its alpha-3 code, holding a large share of the world's nickel reserves. |
| NE | Niger | Niger, a landlocked Sahel country with Niamey as its capital and NER as its alpha-3 code, has one of the youngest and fastest-growing populations in the world and is a… |
| NED | Netherlands | Dutch national teams appear as NED, from Nederland, in IOC and FIFA results, rather than the ISO alpha-3 code NLD. |
| NF | Norfolk Island | Small Australian external territory in the Pacific with Kingston as its administrative center, settled in 1856 by descendants of the Bounty mutineers who moved from… |
| NG | Nigeria | Africa's most populous country, with more than 220 million people, Abuja as its capital since 1991 and Lagos as its commercial center. |
| NI | Nicaragua | Nicaragua, the largest country in Central America, has Managua as its capital and NIC as its alpha-3 code. |
| NIR | Northern Ireland | FIFA code for Northern Ireland, whose team reached the World Cup in 1958, 1982 and 1986 and the European Championship in 2016. |
| NL | Netherlands | The Netherlands, alpha-3 NLD, has Amsterdam as its constitutional capital and The Hague as the seat of government. |
| NO | Norway | Norway, capital Oslo, alpha-3 NOR, is in the European Economic Area but not the EU. |
| NP | Nepal | Nepal, capital Kathmandu, alpha-3 NPL, contains eight of the world's ten highest mountains, including Everest on its border with China, and has the only non-rectangular… |
| NR | Nauru | One of the world's smallest countries at 21 square kilometres, a Pacific island republic with no official capital; government offices are in Yaren District. |
| NU | Niue | Self-governing Pacific island in free association with New Zealand, with Alofi as its capital and about 1,700 residents. |
| NZ | New Zealand | New Zealand, Aotearoa in Māori, has Wellington as its capital and NZL as its alpha-3 code. |
| OM | Oman | Oman, capital Muscat, alpha-3 OMN, is a sultanate on the southeastern Arabian Peninsula, including the Musandam exclave on the Strait of Hormuz. |
| PA | Panama | Panama, capital Panama City, alpha-3 PAN, is home to the Panama Canal, opened in 1914 and transferred to Panamanian control in 1999. |
| PAR | Paraguay | Sports code for Paraguay used by FIFA and the IOC, while ISO uses PRY. |
| PE | Peru | Peru, capital Lima, alpha-3 PER, contains Machu Picchu and the source of the Amazon River. |
| PF | French Polynesia | French overseas collectivity of 118 islands and atolls in the South Pacific, including Tahiti and Bora Bora, with Papeete as its capital and PYF as its alpha-3 code. |
| PG | Papua New Guinea | Papua New Guinea's two-letter code; the alpha-3 code is PNG, which is also the country's everyday abbreviation. |
| PH | Philippines | The Philippines, an archipelago of about 7,600 islands with Manila as its capital and PHL as its alpha-3 code, is widely called PH online and in local media. |
| PK | Pakistan | Pakistan, capital Islamabad, alpha-3 PAK, is the world's fifth most populous country. |
| PL | Poland | Poland, capital Warsaw, alpha-3 POL, joined the EU in 2004 and kept the złoty (PLN) rather than adopting the euro. |
| PM | Saint Pierre and Miquelon | French overseas collectivity of small islands just south of Newfoundland, with Saint-Pierre as its capital, the last remnant of New France in North America. |
| PN | Pitcairn Islands | British Overseas Territory in the South Pacific with Adamstown as its only settlement and fewer than 50 residents, most descended from the Bounty mutineers and their… |
| POR | Portugal | Sports code for Portugal used by the IOC and FIFA, in place of the ISO alpha-3 code PRT. |
| PS | Palestine | ISO lists the State of Palestine, covering the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with the code PS and alpha-3 PSE. |
| PT | Portugal | Portugal, capital Lisbon, alpha-3 PRT, uses PT for its .pt domain and IBANs. |
| PW | Palau | Pacific republic of about 340 islands with Ngerulmud as its capital and PLW as its alpha-3 code, in free association with the United States since 1994. |
| PY | Paraguay | Paraguay, capital Asunción, alpha-3 PRY, is a landlocked South American country where most people speak Guaraní, an official language alongside Spanish. |
| QA | Qatar | Gulf peninsula state with Doha as its capital and QAT as its alpha-3 code, one of the world's largest exporters of liquefied natural gas. |
| RE | Réunion | French overseas department in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar, with Saint-Denis as its capital. |
| RO | Romania | Romania, capital Bucharest, speaks a Romance language descended from Latin and became a full Schengen member on January 1, 2025. |
| ROC | Russian Olympic Committee | Designation under which Russian athletes competed at the Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 Olympics, because doping sanctions barred Russia's name, flag and anthem. |
| RS | Serbia | Serbia's code comes from Republika Srbija and was assigned in 2006, when Serbia and Montenegro separated. |
| RU | Russia | Russia, the largest country in the world at about 17.1 million square kilometres, spans 11 time zones. |
| RW | Rwanda | Rwanda, capital Kigali, alpha-3 RWA, has the world's highest share of women in parliament and banned plastic bags in 2008. |
| SA | Saudi Arabia | Saudi Arabia, the largest country on the Arabian Peninsula, has Riyadh as its capital, SAU as its alpha-3 code, .sa as its domain and the riyal (SAR) as its currency. |
| SB | Solomon Islands | Pacific nation of nearly 1,000 islands with Honiara on Guadalcanal as its capital and SLB as its alpha-3 code. |
| SC | Seychelles | Indian Ocean archipelago of 115 islands with Victoria on Mahé as its capital, the smallest population of any African country. |
| SCO | Scotland | FIFA code for Scotland, which played England in 1872 in the first official international football match, a 0–0 draw in Glasgow. |
| SD | Sudan | Sudan, with Khartoum as its capital and SDN as its alpha-3 code, has more ancient pyramids than Egypt, built by the Nubian kingdoms of Kush. |
| SE | Sweden | Sweden's code comes from Sverige; Stockholm is the capital, SWE the alpha-3 code and the krona SEK. |
| SG | Singapore | City-state at the tip of the Malay Peninsula that became independent on August 9, 1965, after leaving Malaysia. |
| SH | Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha | British Overseas Territory of three island groups in the South Atlantic, with Jamestown on Saint Helena as its capital. |
| SI | Slovenia | Slovenia's code comes from Slovenija; Ljubljana is the capital and SVN the alpha-3 code. |
| SJ | Svalbard and Jan Mayen | Norwegian Arctic territories, combined in one ISO entry; Svalbard's main town, Longyearbyen, is home to the Global Seed Vault. |
| SK | Slovakia | Slovakia, capital Bratislava, alpha-3 SVK, became independent when Czechoslovakia split peacefully on January 1, 1993. |
| SL | Sierra Leone | West African country whose capital, Freetown, was founded in 1792 as a settlement for formerly enslaved people. |
| SM | San Marino | Enclave within Italy and one of the world's smallest countries, which claims to be the oldest surviving republic, traditionally founded in 301. |
| SN | Senegal | Senegal, capital Dakar, alpha-3 SEN, includes the westernmost point of mainland Africa. |
| SO | Somalia | Somalia, capital Mogadishu, alpha-3 SOM, has the longest coastline of any country in mainland Africa. |
| SR | Suriname | Smallest country in South America and the only one with Dutch as its official language, with Paramaribo as its capital and SUR as its alpha-3 code. |
| SS | South Sudan | South Sudan, capital Juba, alpha-3 SSD, became independent from Sudan on July 9, 2011, making it the newest widely recognized country. |
| ST | São Tomé and Príncipe | Two-island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, lying almost on the equator, and Africa's second-smallest country by area. |
| SU | Soviet Union | Former ISO code for the USSR, retired after its dissolution in 1991, though the .su domain remains active and is still used by Russian and other sites. |
| SUI | Switzerland | Switzerland competes as SUI, from the French Suisse, at the Olympics and in FIFA events. |
| SV | El Salvador | El Salvador, capital San Salvador, alpha-3 SLV, has used the US dollar since 2001 and in 2021 became the first country to make bitcoin legal tender, a status scaled… |
| SX | Sint Maarten | Dutch southern half of the island of Saint Martin, a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands since 2010, with Philipsburg as its capital. |
| SY | Syria | Syria, capital Damascus, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, has the alpha-3 code SYR. |
| SZ | Eswatini | Southern African kingdom renamed from Swaziland in 2018, which kept its old code SZ. |
| TC | Turks and Caicos Islands | British Overseas Territory of about 40 islands and cays southeast of the Bahamas, with Cockburn Town on Grand Turk as its capital and Providenciales as its tourist hub. |
| TD | Chad | Chad's code comes from its French name, Tchad; N'Djamena is the capital and TCD the alpha-3 code. |
| TF | French Southern Territories | French territories in the southern Indian Ocean and Antarctica, including the Kerguelen and Crozet islands, with no permanent population and administration based in… |
| TG | Togo | Narrow West African country stretching more than 500 kilometres inland from the Gulf of Guinea, with Lomé as its capital and TGO as its alpha-3 code. |
| TH | Thailand | Thailand, capital Bangkok, alpha-3 THA, is the only Southeast Asian country never colonized by a European power. |
| TJ | Tajikistan | Central Asian country, more than 90 percent mountainous, with Dushanbe as its capital and TJK as its alpha-3 code. |
| TK | Tokelau | New Zealand territory of three Pacific atolls with about 1,500 residents and no fixed capital. |
| TL | Timor-Leste | Southeast Asian nation on the eastern half of Timor that restored independence on May 20, 2002, after Indonesian occupation; Dili is the capital. |
| TM | Turkmenistan | Central Asian country with Ashgabat as its capital and TKM as its alpha-3 code, known for the Darvaza gas crater, nicknamed the Gateway to Hell, which has burned since… |
| TN | Tunisia | Tunisia, capital Tunis, alpha-3 TUN, sits on the site of ancient Carthage. |
| TO | Tonga | Polynesian kingdom of about 170 islands with Nukuʻalofa as its capital and TON as its alpha-3 code, the only Pacific island nation never formally colonized. |
| TPE | Chinese Taipei | Name and code under which Taiwan competes at the Olympics and in FIFA and other international sports, under a compromise reached with the IOC in the late 1970s and… |
| TR | Türkiye | Türkiye, formerly Turkey in English, registered the new name with the United Nations in 2022. |
| TT | Trinidad and Tobago | Twin-island Caribbean nation off Venezuela with Port of Spain as its capital and TTO as its alpha-3 code. |
| TV | Tuvalu | Pacific nation of nine low-lying islands and atolls with about 11,000 people and Funafuti as its capital. |
| TW | Taiwan | Taiwan, governed by the Republic of China with Taipei as its capital, uses TW for its .tw domain and TWN as its alpha-3 code. |
| TZ | Tanzania | Tanzania, formed in 1964 by the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, has Dodoma as its official capital and Dar es Salaam as its largest city. |
| UA | Ukraine | Ukraine, capital Kyiv, alpha-3 UKR, is Europe's second-largest country by area. |
| UG | Uganda | Uganda, capital Kampala, alpha-3 UGA, contains the source of the White Nile at Jinja on Lake Victoria and about half of the world's mountain gorillas, in Bwindi… |
| URU | Uruguay | On FIFA and Olympic scoreboards Uruguay is URU; ISO uses URY. |
| US | United States | The United States, capital Washington, D.C., uses US as its ISO code and in everyday writing, as in US dollars (USD) and the .us domain. |
| UY | Uruguay | Uruguay, capital Montevideo, alpha-3 URY, hosted and won the first FIFA World Cup in 1930 and in 2013 became the first country to fully legalize recreational cannabis. |
| UZ | Uzbekistan | Doubly landlocked Central Asian country with Tashkent as its capital and UZB as its alpha-3 code. |
| VA | Vatican City | Smallest country in the world, about 0.44 square kilometres inside Rome, and the seat of the Holy See and the Pope. |
| VC | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Caribbean nation with Kingstown as its capital and VCT as its alpha-3 code; its .vc domain is marketed to venture capital firms. |
| VE | Venezuela | Venezuela, capital Caracas, alpha-3 VEN, holds the largest proven oil reserves in the world and Angel Falls, the highest uninterrupted waterfall at 979 metres. |
| VG | British Virgin Islands | British Overseas Territory east of Puerto Rico, with Road Town on Tortola as its capital and VGB as its alpha-3 code. |
| VN | Vietnam | Vietnam, capital Hanoi, alpha-3 VNM, is one of the world's largest exporters of coffee, rice and electronics. |
| VU | Vanuatu | Pacific archipelago of about 80 islands with Port Vila as its capital and VUT as its alpha-3 code. |
| WAL | Wales | FIFA code for Wales, which reached the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, its first since 1958. |
| WF | Wallis and Futuna | French overseas collectivity in the South Pacific with Mata-Utu as its capital, whose three traditional kingdoms retain official roles. |
| WS | Samoa | Polynesian nation with Apia as its capital and WSM as its alpha-3 code, called Western Samoa until 1997, which explains the W in its code. |
| XK | Kosovo | User-assigned code used for Kosovo by the European Commission, the IMF and many software systems, because Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia on February… |
| YE | Yemen | Yemen, on the southern Arabian Peninsula, has Sanaa as its constitutional capital, held by the Houthi movement since 2014, while the internationally recognized… |
| YT | Mayotte | French overseas department in the Comoros archipelago, with Mamoudzou as its capital and MYT as its alpha-3 code. |
| YU | Yugoslavia | Former ISO code for Yugoslavia, used until 2003, when the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia became Serbia and Montenegro (CS). |
| ZA | South Africa | South Africa's code comes from Dutch Zuid-Afrika, which is why it is ZA rather than SA. |
| ZM | Zambia | Zambia, formerly Northern Rhodesia, has Lusaka as its capital and ZMB as its alpha-3 code. |
| ZR | Zaire | Former ISO code for Zaire, the name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1971 to 1997 under Mobutu Sese Seko. |
| ZW | Zimbabwe | Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia, became independent in 1980 and takes its name from Great Zimbabwe, a medieval stone city. |
More geography & place abbreviations
- Address Abbreviations (118)
- Australian State and Territory Abbreviations (10)
- Canadian Province and Territory Abbreviations (26)
- City and Neighborhood Abbreviations (59)
- Country Name Abbreviations (30)
- Direction Abbreviations (23)
- Geographic Feature Abbreviations (46)
- Region Abbreviations (60)
- US State Abbreviations (51)
- US State Traditional Abbreviations (36)
- US Territory and Military Mail Abbreviations (18)