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:
- If the country changed its name, the new ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code is used, or the special code is used if its alpha-2 code was not changed.
- If the country merged into an existing country, the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code of this country is used.
- If the country was divided into several parts, the special code is used to indicate that there is no single successor country, with the exception of Serbia and Montenegro, for which is used to avoid duplicate use of the same ISO 3166-3 code, as the alpha-2 code had twice been deleted from ISO 3166-1, the first time due to the split of Czechoslovakia and the second time due to the split of Serbia and Montenegro.
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, postdated the deletion of many alpha-2 codes.
Current codes
The following is a list of current ISO 3166-3 codes, with the following columns:- Former country name – English short country name officially used by the ISO 3166 Maintenance Agency
- Former codes – ISO 3166-1 alpha-2, alpha-3, and numeric codes
- Period of validity – Years when codes were officially assigned
- ISO 3166-3 code – Four-letter code assigned for former country name
- New country names and codes – Successor countries and their ISO 3166-1 codes
| Former country name | Former codes | Period of validity | code | New country names and codes |
| British Antarctic Territory | ,, | 1974–1979 | Merged into Antarctica | |
| Burma | ,, | 1974–1989 | Name changed to Myanmar | |
| Byelorussian SSR | ,, | 1974–1992 | Name changed to Belarus | |
| Canton and Enderbury Islands | ,, | 1974–1984 | Merged into Kiribati | |
| Czechoslovakia | ,, | 1974–1993 | Divided into: | |
| Dahomey | ,, | 1974–1977 | Name changed to Benin | |
| Dronning Maud Land | ,, | 1974–1983 | Merged into Antarctica | |
| East Timor | ,, | 1974–2002 | Name changed to Timor-Leste | |
| France, Metropolitan | ,, | 1993–1997 | Merged into France | |
| French Afars and Issas | ,, | 1974–1977 | Name changed to Djibouti | |
| French Southern and Antarctic Territories | ,, | 1974–1979 | Divided into: | |
| German Democratic Republic | ,, | 1974–1990 | Merged into Germany | |
| Gilbert Islands | ,, | 1974–1979 | Name changed to Kiribati | |
| Johnston Island | ,, | 1974–1986 | Merged into United States Minor Outlying Islands | |
| Midway Islands | ,, | 1974–1986 | Merged into United States Minor Outlying Islands | |
| Netherlands Antilles | ,, | 1974–2010 | Divided into: | |
| Neutral Zone | ,, | 1974–1993 | Divided into: | |
| New Hebrides | ,, | 1974–1980 | Name changed to Vanuatu | |
| Pacific Islands | ,, | 1974–1986 | Divided into: | |
| Panama Canal Zone | ,, | 1974–1980 | Merged into Panama | |
| Serbia and Montenegro | ,, | 2003–2006 | Divided into: | |
| Sikkim | ,, | 1974–1975 | Merged into India | |
| Southern Rhodesia | ,, | 1974–1980 | Name changed to Zimbabwe | |
| United States Miscellaneous Pacific Islands | ,, | 1974–1986 | Merged into United States Minor Outlying Islands | |
| Upper Volta | ,, | 1974–1984 | Name changed to Burkina Faso | |
| USSR | ,, | 1974–1992 | Divided into: | |
| Viet-Nam, Democratic Republic of | ,, | 1974–1977 | Merged into Viet Nam | |
| Wake Island | ,, | 1974–1986 | Merged into United States Minor Outlying Islands | |
| Yemen, Democratic | ,, | 1974–1990 | Merged into Yemen | |
| Yugoslavia | ,, | 1974–2003 | Name changed to Serbia and Montenegro | |
| Zaire | ,, | 1974–1997 | Name changed to Congo, Democratic Republic of the |
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/Newsletter | Date issued | Former country name added | Notes |
| First edition of ISO 3166-3 | |||
| East Timor | In accordance with ISO 3166-1 Newsletter V-5 and Newsletter V-6 | ||
| France, Metropolitan | Correction. Entry inadvertently omitted from ISO 3166-3 when first published in 1999 | ||
| Yugoslavia | In accordance with ISO 3166-1 Newsletter V-8 | ||
| Serbia and Montenegro | In accordance with ISO 3166-1 Newsletter V-12 | ||
| None | Rectify Newsletter I-4 by assigning the code to represent Serbia and Montenegro | ||
| Netherlands Antilles | In accordance with ISO 3166-1 Newsletter VI-8 | ||
| Second edition of ISO 3166-3 | |||
| Third edition of ISO 3166-3 |