Attendance MP3 CTN meeting - Monday 30 March 2015
Dear All, Please find the MP3 recording for the Cross-Community Working Group on Use of Country/Territory Names as TLDs meeting held on Monday 30 March 2015 at 19:00 UTC at: http://audio.icann.org/gnso/gnso-ccwg-unct-30mar15-en.mp3 On page: http://gnso.icann.org/en/group-activities/calendar#<http://gnso.icann.org/en/group-activities/calendar#mar>m<http://gnso.icann.org/en/group-activities/calendar#mar>ar<http://gnso.icann.org/en/group-activities/calendar#mar> The recordings and transcriptions of the calls are posted on the GNSO Master Calendar page: http://gnso.icann.org/calendar/ Attendees: ccNSO Annebeth Lange, .no Mirjana Tasic, .rs Laura Hutchison, .uk Grigori Saghyan, .am Jacqueline Morris, .tt Ron Sherwood, .vi GNSO Heather Forrest, IPC (Co-Chair) Carlos Raul Guttierez, NPOC Maxim Alzoba, NTAG Colin O'Brien, IPC Susan Payne, IPC At-Large Cheryl Langdon-Orr ISO Jaap Akkerhuis Apologies: Joke Braeken, .eu ICANN staff: Marika Konings Mary Wong Lars Hoffmann Terri Agnew ** Please let me know if your name has been left off the list ** Mailing list archives:http://mm.icann.org/pipermail/ctn-crosscom/ Wiki page:https://community.icann.org/x/X7XhAg Thank you. Kind regards, Terri Agnew Adobe Connect chat transcript for Monday 30 March 2015: Terri Agnew:Dear all, welcome to the CCWG on Use of Country/ Territory Names as TLDs on the 30th March 2015 Terri Agnew:Hi, this call will begin in 25 minutes Carlos Raul (GNSO):ok Carlos Raul (GNSO):no audio yet anyhow Carlos Raul (GNSO):thank you terri Terri Agnew:audio is ready now Grigori Saghyan:Hello! Carlos Raul (GNSO):Hello Grigori Maxim Alzoba (FAITID):Hello Everybody Carlos Raul (GNSO):Hello Maxim Carlos Raul (GNSO):Question Carlos Raul (GNSO):waht does FAITID mean? Maxim Alzoba (FAITID):Faoundation Maxim Alzoba (FAITID):Foundation for Assistance for Internet Technologies and Infrastructure Development Carlos Raul (GNSO):ok Maxim Alzoba (FAITID):registry for .moscow / .xn--80adxhks Carlos Raul (GNSO):ok thank you Lars Hoffmann:hey everybody Carlos Raul (GNSO):hello Annebeth Lange:Hi Heather Forrest:Good morning everyone Annebeth Lange:I should say good evening, here it is 9 pm Jaap Akkerhuis:Hi All Cheryl Langdon-Orr:Hi All only in AC for a while while I am also in another call... Jaap Akkerhuis:21:00 here as well Terri Agnew:Welcome Colin O'Brien Heather Forrest:I would like to say a few words about the changed structure since this follows on our last meeting Jaap Akkerhuis:Patagonia is nowehere mentioned Carlos Raul (GNSO):ok Heather Carlos Raul (GNSO):you are next Annebeth Lange:Exactly. Patagonia is not a territory in the ISO 3166 sense Heather Forrest:I won't interrupt this point so let's finish on ISo 3166 first Annebeth Lange:Patagonia is more a region Annebeth Lange:Jaap, I agree Jaap Akkerhuis:Apologies for the old hand Heather Forrest:thank you, Annebeth - glad you are happy with the approach Terri Agnew:Jacqueline Morris has joined Jaap Akkerhuis:I'kk add a definition of the ISO 3166-1 list Maxim Alzoba (FAITID):lower left - we might need to chang Cheryl Langdon-Orr:yes just muted Maxim Alzoba (FAITID):e all to letter -> all two letter Jaap Akkerhuis:There are multiple ISO lists Jaap Akkerhuis:The list also is the base for IDNs Jaap Akkerhuis:It determines what is eligible to goe to the fast track process Laura Hutchison:I agree with Annebeth. The status quo is very well establ.ished. Changing this would create confusion for end users. Maxim Alzoba (FAITID):countries do not use digits ... but they might use it in the future Jaap Akkerhuis:No, as longs as you follow ISO 3166, digits are not used Annebeth Lange:I agree, Heather, let us stay with the 2-letter codes for now Jaap Akkerhuis:There are also 4 letter codes in ISO 3166 (part 3) Annebeth Lange:I also agree with Laura, we should try to avoid creating confusion Terri Agnew:Ron Sherwood has joined Annebeth Lange:I agree, our mandate is for 2-letter and 3-letter codes Cheryl Langdon-Orr:Agree also specify Jacqueline Morris:Agreed. Annebeth Lange:That will at least be very controversial, Heather, to go away from the ISO 3166 list Heather Forrest:apologies - that was a bit longwinded! Heather Forrest:I agree, Annebeth, and there may be technical issues Annebeth Lange:Remember what the AGB says about c & t names. Today c & t names and the extensions thereof are not allowed as gTLDs Heather Forrest:To clarify, my point was that in this discussion we should be considering the specific question: What should we do with 2-letter codes on the ISO 3166-2 list. Heather Forrest:In this context it does not make sense to be "moving away from lists" because the very question implicates the ISO 3166-2 list Heather Forrest:As I see it there are only 3 options: Heather Forrest:1. Status quo (reserve the ISO 3166-2 codes Cheryl Langdon-Orr:Exactly Annebeth Heather Forrest:2. Remove reservation Heather Forrest:3. ISO 3166-2 is qualified - not automatially reserved but there is some framework Annebeth Lange:I agree Annebeth Lange:If we can finish our discussion on 2-letter codes first, that would be good Laura Hutchison:I think that the list is from an external source is a good thing Annebeth Lange:As Icann has said before, it is not them decided what is a country or a territory, that is UN Maxim Alzoba (FAITID):reserving 2letter code for eternity is less pain than taking TLD code back ... Annebeth Lange:I agree with Maxim Annebeth Lange:And it will give new countries established in the future the same system as the old countries have today Jaap Akkerhuis:Since ISO taes codes back, maintaining TLDs for aver means serious conflicts in future Annebeth Lange:This is also bridging the digital divied Jacqueline Morris:Maintaining the TLD for eternity or reserving the code for eternity Laura Hutchison:I would agree. The list is managed by an external body that is better placed than ICANN to decide and manage the list. I would agree with Annebeth and Maxim about protection of codes for future countries. Maxim Alzoba (FAITID):and old codes have their own afterlife ... like .su and .uk Jacqueline Morris:I thought it wass reserving for eternity - that allows for reuse, just as ISO does Jacqueline Morris:since they maintain the list Annebeth Lange:That is true, Jacqueline, if a 2-letter code is "retired" and taken back to ISO, it might be given to another country in the future, I think - as a ccTLD. Heather Forrest:Can anyone identify additional benefits and burdens of status quo to add to our list? Maxim Alzoba (FAITID):reuse of TLD after retirement and re-birth by another country ... cound be an issue of the future Heather Forrest:Good point, Maxim - this should go on the list Maxim Alzoba (FAITID):good example Mirjana Tasic:I thing that Iso 3166 2 letter codes which has been used cannot be reused for some period of time ( I think next 50 years? Heather Forrest:Confusion may become less an issue when we have a top-level with 1000 domains Jacqueline Morris:True... Annebeth Lange:But still, it is important that users know what is a ccTLD and what is a gTLD Maxim Alzoba (FAITID):only 5 years before the next use Maxim Alzoba (FAITID):if I am not mistaken Heather Forrest:Annebeth - that line is already blurred by generic use of ccTLDs Heather Forrest:If you want to keep the line clear we have to require that ccTLDs are used only within the country or for country purposes Heather Forrest:Carlos rightfully points out .co and .nu as examples Heather Forrest:.md is another Annebeth Lange:But Jaap, the codes represent names of countries and territories. .no is understood as a representation of Norway, for example Heather Forrest:It would be interesting to do a global survey to see if users at this time differentiate ccTLDs and gTLDs Maxim Alzoba (FAITID):we might not ask for restrictions on cctlds ... limiting their ability to use ccTLD the way they want is well outside of our hands Annebeth Lange:I know that some countries decide to use their ccTLD more commercially, but still, it is the local internat community that has decided that. Carlos Raul (GNSO):Heather, i drafted a survey idea just after our meeting with the gAC Lars Hoffmann:here is a short definiton of the codes. http://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards/country_codes/country_codes_glossary.h... Carlos Raul (GNSO):lars Carlos Raul (GNSO):put it in the text please Carlos Raul (GNSO):in the definition lists Heather Forrest:I mean not a survey sent to governments but to internet users Carlos Raul (GNSO):I never send it out Lars Hoffmann:@carlos- will do that. Heather Forrest:Carlos - I don't disagree with you Jaap Akkerhuis:I have never said that the codes were used for statistical purposes Maxim Alzoba (FAITID):Could we add wodring that possible dissolution of ISO 3166 and replacement with the next standard will cause the re-design of the document in a fast manner Maxim Alzoba (FAITID):? Jaap Akkerhuis:It was in the early drafts and very quickly yanked Heather Forrest:Given that we have the status quo we have to decide what to do with the status quo - and the status quo involves the ISO list Laura Hutchison:Theoretical question but does it matter what the list was developed for? Even if it was developed for statistical use, it is a reconised shorthand that links codes to country names? Jaap Akkerhuis:You wan to refer to the alpha-2 codes in Section 9 of ISO 3166-1 Laura Hutchison:so it serves a purpose for the use to define ccTLDs Heather Forrest:I agree with Laura in terms of our discussion about what t do with status quo Heather Forrest:If we believe we need to deal with other codes not on ISO list then we have to question the reasoning Annebeth Lange:You mean, Heather, that we should stop the possibility for new countries to have their country code? Carlos Raul (GNSO):we need to leave a possibility for new codes Carlos Raul (GNSO):by all means Annebeth Lange:I agree, Heather Maxim Alzoba (FAITID):I agree - we need to avoid future issues with the removal of 2letter potential TLDs Annebeth Lange:We have to deal with the ISO list Heather Forrest:Thank you Carlos - a good summary Heather Forrest:Let's continue to work on the draft Heather Forrest:capture the comments from today Heather Forrest:and keep ging Annebeth Lange:And it is up to the local internet community in each country/territory how they will use their ccTLD, That is not up to us. Heather Forrest:Thank you Lars Heather Forrest:Let's revisit the time zones Heather Forrest:Carlos - this has been good, helpful robust discussion - well led Annebeth Lange:It is OK for me, the time of today. We have to take care of those having it too early in the morning Annebeth Lange:Thank you Carlos, for leading the call. Good work! Carlos Raul (GNSO):thank you all Jaap Akkerhuis:I need to drop off, Bye! Maxim Alzoba (FAITID):some of WG conduct doodle polls for the time of meeting (+-1.5 hours) Carlos Raul (GNSO):thank you jaap Carlos Raul (GNSO):very good work Lars Hoffmann:no problem cheryl. Heather Forrest:Thank you everyone! Susan Payne - Valideus:thanks Cheryl Langdon-Orr:Bye all Thank yu Annebeth Lange:THanks and goodbye Maxim Alzoba (FAITID):thanx Everybody! Lars Hoffmann:thank you - and have a good day/evening/night/morning everyone Ron Sherwood:Thank you all goodbye Mirjana Tasic:Bye Jacqueline Morris:thanks - bye Heather Forrest:Enjoy your holiday, Annebeth
All, In the last call I pleaded for consistency of terms, when referring to ISO subjects. As I have noticed over time (and not only our group but all over the ICANN community) there is a tendency use informal terminology and definitions in various discussions. That does sometimes causes confusions of Babylonian proportions. I offer here some clarifications in the form of this FAQ. I hope it helps to minimize the confusion in the discussion, and also in the development of the glossary to our current draft. Regards, jaap ---- Q: What is the ISO 3166? A: It is an international standard developed by ISO. ISO 3166 provides universally applicable coded representations of names of countries (current and non-current), dependencies, and other areas of particular geopolitical interest and their subdivisions. The standards consists of three parts, ISO 3166-1 (Part 1: Countries codes), ISO 3166-2 (Part 2: Country subdivisions code), ISO3166-3 (Part 3: Code for formerly used names of countries). The edition (version) of is identified by the year of publication. Therefore the full reference to the current (third) Edition of ISO 3166 Part is ISO 3166-1:2013. The codes only uses the ASCII letters (A-Z) and numbers (0-9) and for ISO 3166-2, hyphens. Q: What form of codes are defined? A: ISO3166-1 uses two letter codes alpha-2), three letter codes (alpha-3) and numerical codes, ISO 3166-2 uses codes starting with and ISO 3166 alpha-2 code an hyphen and one or more letters or numbers, while ISO 3166-4 uses 4 letter codes. The codes can have various classifications such as Assigned (by ISO 3166/MA or User Assigned), Unassigned, Reserved in various ways (Exceptionally, transitional, and Indeterminately). See also <http://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards/country_codes/country_codes_glossary.h...> for details. The real authoritative source for these terms is of course the Standard itself. Q: What is the ISO list code list? A: There just a list. However the term is used colloquially to denote (most of the time) the list with the Country Code Assignments in Section 9 of ISO 3166-1. People tend to use this imprecise, often lumping the Reserved Codes also in the notion of "the ISO 3166 list". At the same token but even more confusing is the use of the term "the ISO 3166-2 list" not meaning part 2 of the standard but the list of the alpha-2 codes from Part one (and then it isn't whether they mean all possible codes, both the Assigned and the Reserved or just the Assigned). Q: What is the purpose of all these codes anyway? A: To paraphrase from ISO 3166-1, the codes are intended to be used in any application requiring the expression of current country names in coded form. The term "country names" is defined in definition 3.4 "name of country, dependency, or other area of particular geopolitical interest". That is why often sees the term "Countries and territories" is used as a reminder that it is not just about countries. Q: What has statistics to do with these codes? A: The list of countries in Part 1 are based (but not limited to) on the list in the "Standard Country or Area Code for Statistical Use" of the UN.
Thank you, Jaap. Very useful. Annebeth B Lange Head of Legal and Policy UNINETT Norid AS
Den 1. apr. 2015 kl. 14.44 skrev Jaap Akkerhuis <jaap@nlnetlabs.nl>:
All,
In the last call I pleaded for consistency of terms, when referring to ISO subjects. As I have noticed over time (and not only our group but all over the ICANN community) there is a tendency use informal terminology and definitions in various discussions. That does sometimes causes confusions of Babylonian proportions.
I offer here some clarifications in the form of this FAQ. I hope it helps to minimize the confusion in the discussion, and also in the development of the glossary to our current draft.
Regards,
jaap
----
Q: What is the ISO 3166?
A: It is an international standard developed by ISO. ISO 3166 provides universally applicable coded representations of names of countries (current and non-current), dependencies, and other areas of particular geopolitical interest and their subdivisions. The standards consists of three parts, ISO 3166-1 (Part 1: Countries codes), ISO 3166-2 (Part 2: Country subdivisions code), ISO3166-3 (Part 3: Code for formerly used names of countries). The edition (version) of is identified by the year of publication. Therefore the full reference to the current (third) Edition of ISO 3166 Part is ISO 3166-1:2013.
The codes only uses the ASCII letters (A-Z) and numbers (0-9) and for ISO 3166-2, hyphens.
Q: What form of codes are defined?
A: ISO3166-1 uses two letter codes alpha-2), three letter codes (alpha-3) and numerical codes, ISO 3166-2 uses codes starting with and ISO 3166 alpha-2 code an hyphen and one or more letters or numbers, while ISO 3166-4 uses 4 letter codes.
The codes can have various classifications such as Assigned (by ISO 3166/MA or User Assigned), Unassigned, Reserved in various ways (Exceptionally, transitional, and Indeterminately). See also <http://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards/country_codes/country_codes_glossary.h...> for details.
The real authoritative source for these terms is of course the Standard itself.
Q: What is the ISO list code list?
A: There just a list. However the term is used colloquially to denote (most of the time) the list with the Country Code Assignments in Section 9 of ISO 3166-1. People tend to use this imprecise, often lumping the Reserved Codes also in the notion of "the ISO 3166 list". At the same token but even more confusing is the use of the term "the ISO 3166-2 list" not meaning part 2 of the standard but the list of the alpha-2 codes from Part one (and then it isn't whether they mean all possible codes, both the Assigned and the Reserved or just the Assigned).
Q: What is the purpose of all these codes anyway?
A: To paraphrase from ISO 3166-1, the codes are intended to be used in any application requiring the expression of current country names in coded form. The term "country names" is defined in definition 3.4 "name of country, dependency, or other area of particular geopolitical interest". That is why often sees the term "Countries and territories" is used as a reminder that it is not just about countries.
Q: What has statistics to do with these codes?
A: The list of countries in Part 1 are based (but not limited to) on the list in the "Standard Country or Area Code for Statistical Use" of the UN.
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Yes thanks indeed and can I be noted as "strongly supporting your plea for consistency in use of the terms" referring to ISO terms (preferably the authoritative terms of course!) On 02/04/2015 2:38 am, "Annebeth Lange" <annebeth.lange@uninett.no> wrote:
Thank you, Jaap. Very useful.
Annebeth B Lange Head of Legal and Policy UNINETT Norid AS
Den 1. apr. 2015 kl. 14.44 skrev Jaap Akkerhuis <jaap@nlnetlabs.nl>:
All,
In the last call I pleaded for consistency of terms, when referring to ISO subjects. As I have noticed over time (and not only our group but all over the ICANN community) there is a tendency use informal terminology and definitions in various discussions. That does sometimes causes confusions of Babylonian proportions.
I offer here some clarifications in the form of this FAQ. I hope it helps to minimize the confusion in the discussion, and also in the development of the glossary to our current draft.
Regards,
jaap
----
Q: What is the ISO 3166?
A: It is an international standard developed by ISO. ISO 3166 provides universally applicable coded representations of names of countries (current and non-current), dependencies, and other areas of particular geopolitical interest and their subdivisions. The standards consists of three parts, ISO 3166-1 (Part 1: Countries codes), ISO 3166-2 (Part 2: Country subdivisions code), ISO3166-3 (Part 3: Code for formerly used names of countries). The edition (version) of is identified by the year of publication. Therefore the full reference to the current (third) Edition of ISO 3166 Part is ISO 3166-1:2013.
The codes only uses the ASCII letters (A-Z) and numbers (0-9) and for ISO 3166-2, hyphens.
Q: What form of codes are defined?
A: ISO3166-1 uses two letter codes alpha-2), three letter codes (alpha-3) and numerical codes, ISO 3166-2 uses codes starting with and ISO 3166 alpha-2 code an hyphen and one or more letters or numbers, while ISO 3166-4 uses 4 letter codes.
The codes can have various classifications such as Assigned (by ISO 3166/MA or User Assigned), Unassigned, Reserved in various ways (Exceptionally, transitional, and Indeterminately). See also < http://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards/country_codes/country_codes_glossary.h...
for details.
The real authoritative source for these terms is of course the Standard itself.
Q: What is the ISO list code list?
A: There just a list. However the term is used colloquially to denote (most of the time) the list with the Country Code Assignments in Section 9 of ISO 3166-1. People tend to use this imprecise, often lumping the Reserved Codes also in the notion of "the ISO 3166 list". At the same token but even more confusing is the use of the term "the ISO 3166-2 list" not meaning part 2 of the standard but the list of the alpha-2 codes from Part one (and then it isn't whether they mean all possible codes, both the Assigned and the Reserved or just the Assigned).
Q: What is the purpose of all these codes anyway?
A: To paraphrase from ISO 3166-1, the codes are intended to be used in any application requiring the expression of current country names in coded form. The term "country names" is defined in definition 3.4 "name of country, dependency, or other area of particular geopolitical interest". That is why often sees the term "Countries and territories" is used as a reminder that it is not just about countries.
Q: What has statistics to do with these codes?
A: The list of countries in Part 1 are based (but not limited to) on the list in the "Standard Country or Area Code for Statistical Use" of the UN.
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Yes thanks indeed and can I be noted as "strongly supporting your plea for consistency in use of the terms" referring to ISO terms (preferably the authoritative terms of course!)
Thanks for the nice words. And we should probably always use properly defined terms, especially in writing. Anyway, I noticed a garbled line (My fault of course).
Q: What is the ISO list code list?
A: There just a list. However the term ...
What I meant here to say was: A: There isn't just a single list . However the term ... Regards, jaap
Thank you very much (again) Jaap for your great inputs. Lars, should we include this FAQs in our “Definitions” section, at least for the moment and for the record please? Cheers Carlos Raúl Gutiérrez _____________________ email: crg@isoc-cr.org Skype: carlos.raulg +506 8335 2487 (cel) +506 4000 2000 (home) +506 2290 3678 (fax) _____________________ Apartado 1571-1000 San Jose, COSTA RICA
On Apr 1, 2015, at 6:42 AM, Jaap Akkerhuis <jaap@NLnetLabs.nl> wrote:
All,
In the last call I pleaded for consistency of terms, when referring to ISO subjects. As I have noticed over time (and not only our group but all over the ICANN community) there is a tendency use informal terminology and definitions in various discussions. That does sometimes causes confusions of Babylonian proportions.
I offer here some clarifications in the form of this FAQ. I hope it helps to minimize the confusion in the discussion, and also in the development of the glossary to our current draft.
Regards,
jaap
----
Q: What is the ISO 3166?
A: It is an international standard developed by ISO. ISO 3166 provides universally applicable coded representations of names of countries (current and non-current), dependencies, and other areas of particular geopolitical interest and their subdivisions. The standards consists of three parts, ISO 3166-1 (Part 1: Countries codes), ISO 3166-2 (Part 2: Country subdivisions code), ISO3166-3 (Part 3: Code for formerly used names of countries). The edition (version) of is identified by the year of publication. Therefore the full reference to the current (third) Edition of ISO 3166 Part is ISO 3166-1:2013.
The codes only uses the ASCII letters (A-Z) and numbers (0-9) and for ISO 3166-2, hyphens.
Q: What form of codes are defined?
A: ISO3166-1 uses two letter codes alpha-2), three letter codes (alpha-3) and numerical codes, ISO 3166-2 uses codes starting with and ISO 3166 alpha-2 code an hyphen and one or more letters or numbers, while ISO 3166-4 uses 4 letter codes.
The codes can have various classifications such as Assigned (by ISO 3166/MA or User Assigned), Unassigned, Reserved in various ways (Exceptionally, transitional, and Indeterminately). See also <http://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards/country_codes/country_codes_glossary.h...> for details.
The real authoritative source for these terms is of course the Standard itself.
Q: What is the ISO list code list?
A: There just a list. However the term is used colloquially to denote (most of the time) the list with the Country Code Assignments in Section 9 of ISO 3166-1. People tend to use this imprecise, often lumping the Reserved Codes also in the notion of "the ISO 3166 list". At the same token but even more confusing is the use of the term "the ISO 3166-2 list" not meaning part 2 of the standard but the list of the alpha-2 codes from Part one (and then it isn't whether they mean all possible codes, both the Assigned and the Reserved or just the Assigned).
Q: What is the purpose of all these codes anyway?
A: To paraphrase from ISO 3166-1, the codes are intended to be used in any application requiring the expression of current country names in coded form. The term "country names" is defined in definition 3.4 "name of country, dependency, or other area of particular geopolitical interest". That is why often sees the term "Countries and territories" is used as a reminder that it is not just about countries.
Q: What has statistics to do with these codes?
A: The list of countries in Part 1 are based (but not limited to) on the list in the "Standard Country or Area Code for Statistical Use" of the UN.
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Carlos Raúl Gutiérrez writes:
Thank you very much (again) Jaap for your great inputs.
I noticed some errors in it and will actually send an improved version soon.
Lars, should we include this FAQs in our "Definitions" section, at least for the moment and for the record please?
Feel free to use the information in any way that seems to work. jaap
All,
I noticed some errors in it and will actually send an improved version soon.
Ron Sherwood turnes my original version into a word document and improved the English. From his version I noticed that I made some typos and that I wasn;t always clear. So here is an improved version also in word & pdf. jaap ---- Short FAQ about ISO 3166 Q: What is the ISO 3166? A: It is an international standard developed by ISO. ISO 3166 provides universally applicable coded representations of names of countries (both current and non- current), dependencies, and other areas of particular geopolitical interest, and their subdivisions. The standard consists of three parts: ISO 3166-1 (Part 1: Country codes), ISO 3166-2 (Part 2: Country subdivisions code), ISO 3166-3 (Part 3: Code for formerly used names of countries). The edition (version) of a Part is identified by the year of publication. Therefore the full reference to the current (third) Edition of ISO 3166 Part 1 is: ISO 3166-1:2013. The ISO codes only use the ASCII letters (A-Z) and numbers (0-9) and (in ISO 3166-2 only) hyphens (-). Q: In what form are the codes defined? A: ISO3166-1 uses two letter codes (alpha-2), three letter codes (alpha-3) and numerical codes. ISO 3166-2 uses codes starting with an ISO 3166 alpha-2 code followed by a hyphen and one or more letters or numbers ISO 3166-3 uses 4 letter codes. Often codes in ISO 3166-3 contain the original obsoleted (alpha-2) codes. . The alpha-2 and 3 codes can have various classifications such as, Assigned by ISO 3166/MA, Unassigned, and Reserved in various ways: (Exceptionally, Transitionally, and indeterminately). For additional details, see also: <http://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards/country_codes/country_codes_glossary.h...>. The authoritative source for these terms is, of course, the Standard itself. Q: What is the ISO list code list? A: There isn’t just a single list. However the term is (frequently) used colloquially to denote the list with the Country Code Assignments in Section 9 of ISO 3166-1. People tend to use the term “ISO Code List” imprecisely. They often use the term to include the Reserved Codes.. In the same way and even more confusing is the use of the term "the ISO 3166-2 list" while *not* meaning Part 2 of the ISO 3166 standard at all, but referring instead to the list of the (alpha-2) codes in Part 1. Furthermore, when term “ISO 3166-2 list” is misused in this way it isis is often undefined whether they mean all possible codes, both the Assigned and the Reserved Codes, or just the Assigned Codes). Q: What is the purpose of all these codes anyway? A: To paraphrase from ISO 3166-1, the codes are intended to be used in any application requiring the expression of current country names in coded form. The term "Country Names" is defined in definition 3.4 "name of country, dependency, or other area of particular geopolitical interest". That is why we often see the term "Countries and territories" used as a reminder that it is not just about countries. Q: What has statistics to do with these codes? A: The list of countries in ISO 3166-1 (ISO 3166 Part 1) are based upon (but not limited to) the list in the "Standard Country or Area Code for Statistical Use" of the UN.
participants (5)
-
Annebeth Lange -
Carlos Raúl Gutiérrez -
Cheryl Langdon-Orr -
Jaap Akkerhuis -
Terri Agnew