ISO 3166-3


ISO 3166-3 is part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization, and defines codes for country names which have been deleted from ISO 3166-1 since its first publication in 1974. The official name of the standard is Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions – Part 3: Code for formerly used names of countries. It was first published in 1999.
Each former country name in ISO 3166-3 is assigned a four-letter alphabetic code. The first two letters are the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code of the former country, while the last two letters are allocated according to the following rules:
Besides the former country name and its ISO 3166-3 code, each entry in ISO 3166-3 also contains its former ISO 3166-1 codes, its period of validity, and the new country names and ISO 3166-1 codes used after its deletion from ISO 3166-1.
After a country is deleted from ISO 3166-1, its alpha-2 and alpha-3 codes will be transitionally reserved for a transitional period of at least fifty years. After the expiration of the transitional period, these codes are free to be reassigned.
If a country changes its name without any territorial change, its ISO 3166-1 numeric code remains the same. For example, when Burma was renamed Myanmar without territorial change in 1989, its alphabetic codes were changed, but its numeric code has remained the same.
Currently, a few ccTLDs using deleted alpha-2 codes are still active or being phased out. However, alpha-2 codes which were deleted before the popularization of the Domain Name System in the late 1980s and early 1990s were never used for the Internet's country code top-level domains. Likewise, ISO 3166-2, the ISO standard for country subdivision codes which was first published in 1998, predated the deletion of many alpha-2 codes.

Current codes

The following is a list of current ISO 3166-3 codes, with the following columns:
Click on the button in the header to sort by ISO 3166-3 code.
Former country nameFormer codesPeriod of validity codeNew country names and codes
British Antarctic Territory,, 1974–1979Merged into Antarctica
Burma,, 1974–1989Name changed to Myanmar
Byelorussian SSR,, 1974–1992Name changed to Belarus
Canton and Enderbury Islands,, 1974–1984Merged into Kiribati
Czechoslovakia,, 1974–1993
Divided into:
Czechia
Slovakia
Dahomey,, 1974–1977Name changed to Benin
Dronning Maud Land,, 1974–1983Merged into Antarctica
East Timor,, 1974–2002Name changed to Timor-Leste
France, Metropolitan,, 1993–1997Merged into France
French Afars and Issas,, 1974–1977Name changed to Djibouti
French Southern and Antarctic Territories,, 1974–1979Divided into:
Part of Antarctica
French Southern Territories
German Democratic Republic,, 1974–1990Merged into Germany
Gilbert and Ellice Islands,, 1974–1979Divided into:
Kiribati
Tuvalu
Johnston Island,, 1974–1986Merged into United States Minor Outlying Islands
Midway Islands,, 1974–1986Merged into United States Minor Outlying Islands
Netherlands Antilles,,
1974–2010Divided into:
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba
Curaçao
Sint Maarten
Neutral Zone,, 1974–1993Divided into:
Part of Iraq
Part of Saudi Arabia
New Hebrides,, 1974–1980Name changed to Vanuatu
Pacific Islands ,, 1974–1986Divided into:
Marshall Islands
Micronesia, Federated States of
Northern Mariana Islands
Palau
Panama Canal Zone,, 1974–1980Merged into Panama
Serbia and Montenegro,, 2003–2006
Divided into:
Montenegro
Serbia
Sikkim,, 1974–1975Merged into India
Southern Rhodesia,, 1974–1980Name changed to Zimbabwe
United States Miscellaneous Pacific Islands,, 1974–1986Merged into United States Minor Outlying Islands
Upper Volta,, 1974–1984Name changed to Burkina Faso
USSR,, 1974–1992Divided into:
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Estonia
Georgia
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Latvia
Lithuania
Moldova, Republic of
Russian Federation
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Viet-Nam, Democratic Republic of,, 1974–1977Merged into Viet Nam
Wake Island,, 1974–1986Merged into United States Minor Outlying Islands
Yemen, Democratic,, 1974–1990Merged into Yemen
Yugoslavia,,
1974–2003Name changed to Serbia and Montenegro
Zaire,, 1974–1997Name changed to Congo, the Democratic Republic of the

; Notes

Changes

The ISO 3166/MA updates ISO 3166-3 when necessary. The updating of ISO 3166-3 is totally dependent on the updating of ISO 3166-1.
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/NewsletterDate issuedFormer country name addedNotes
First edition of ISO 3166-3
East TimorIn accordance with ISO 3166-1 Newsletter V-5 and Newsletter V-6
France, MetropolitanCorrection. Entry inadvertently omitted from ISO 3166-3 when first published in 1999
YugoslaviaIn accordance with ISO 3166-1 Newsletter V-8
Serbia and MontenegroIn accordance with ISO 3166-1 Newsletter V-12
NoneRectify Newsletter I-4 by assigning the code to represent Serbia and Montenegro

Netherlands AntillesIn accordance with ISO 3166-1 Newsletter VI-8
Second edition of ISO 3166-3