country code

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A country code (also country code ; English country code ) defines code numbers or letters of different countries ( states and their administrative divisions ) as an identifier . Country codes are used in various areas.

Areas of application

communication

Various country codes are important for (predominantly international) communication, including the country-specific top-level domains for Internet addresses, the country codes in the mail service and the international telephone prefixes of the countries. The area codes are defined in the ITU -T standards E.163 and E.164. Country codes also serve as identifiers for mobile radio networks in the country in which a mobile station is registered ( ITU standard E.212 ). Call signs begin with a country or region-specific ITU prefix .

Product labeling

An example of this area of ​​application is the European Article Number (EAN code), in which the three-digit GS1 country prefix such as It contains, for example, »400« to »440« for Germany (allocated according to VAT types), »760« to »769« for Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and »900« to »919« for Austria. In addition, DVDs are divided worldwide by different DVD country codes (region codes) . Another application is the ECE test mark for components on motor vehicles that require approval . These essentially consist of a one to two-digit country code. Many countries have their own ISBN group number for books, and some have a code number on reinforcing steel .

Sports

In sport, the IOC code ( International Olympic Committee ) is used for the participating nations in the Olympic Games (e.g. »GER« for Germany, »GRE« for Greece, »NED« for the Netherlands) (see ISO-3166- 1 code list and list of Olympic team abbreviations ). These abbreviations are usually also adopted by the individual sports associations (see e.g. the list of FIFA members with the country codes of the world football association ).

traffic

In road traffic, a country code is used for international vehicle registration numbers (vehicle nationality symbols) (e.g. "A" for Austria, "FL" for Liechtenstein) and for car registration numbers of the Diplomatic Corps in Germany.

In rail transport, there is a code for the ownership feature and a UIC country code for the country of origin of a vehicle.

Country codes are also important in air transport. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) uses its own ICAO code for the countries, which is currently only partially accessible to the public. In addition, there is the international aircraft registration number in civil aviation (eg "D" for Germany, "N" for the USA; it often corresponds to a radio call sign prefix).

administration

For administrative matters, the country code according to the ISO 3166 standard applies . Geographical units (“DE” for Germany, “CH” for Switzerland), language varieties for locales (“de- AT ” for Austrian) and other things are marked according to this. With small differences, it is also used for country-specific top-level domains , such as B. » .li« for Liechtenstein, and level 0 of the NUTS regional code is used. The ISO code is also used for the UN / LOCODE of the places in the world.

Furthermore, NATO uses its NATO country code for administrative purposes. Further country codes for administration are the GKD country code for corporations (according to EN 23166 ) and the SWD country code for regions of the library system.

See also

Web links

Wiktionary: Country code  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations