Buy data    Donate

Background:

"The foundation or cornerstone for the development of all geopolitical data standards was the approval of a standard for country identification within the Department of Defense in October 1969. This standard has since evolved into a Federal General Data Standard as promulgated in Federal Information Processing Standards Publication (FIPS Pub 10), 15 June 1970." -- Geopolitical Data Elements and Related Features, Defense Intelligence Agency, Washington, 1972-09-29.

FIPS PUB 10 was first published in 1970. It included two-letter codes for countries, and codes for primary administrative subdivisions of countries that consisted of the applicable two-letter country code with two digits appended. (In later editions, the appended characters were allowed to be letters if needed.) It has been modified over the years, and updated with new editions in 1974, 1976, 1984, and 1995. The updates are designated FIPS PUB 10-1, 10-2, 10-3, and 10-4 respectively. They have been maintained by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).

New directions:

The ISO country code standard was introduced in 1974. This put U.S. government agencies on the horns of a dilemma. Should they use FIPS codes and follow the domestic standard, or switch to ISO codes for a more international approach? I was told that the Departments of State and Defense used FIPS codes, while government agencies dealing with international trade and cooperation used ISO Alpha-2 codes. The ISO standard was given a FIPS number (FIPS PUB 104-1, withdrawn on 1997-07-29). Both sets of codes were entrenched in their respective spheres. (Source [1] alludes to the confusion and contains plans for resolving it.)

On 2008-09-02, FIPS PUB 10-4 was withdrawn. The standard will eventually be phased out entirely and replaced with one that is closely synchronized with ISO 3166-2. The NGA was not ready to switch over immediately. It maintained the code set, but no longer as a federal standard, until 2014-12-31. The successor standard to FIPS 10-4 is titled "Geopolitical Entities and Codes" (GEC for short). The NGA site  has links to more information.

After a short delay (on the bureaucratic time scale), a new federal standard was issued. Its name is "Geopolitical Entities, Names, and Codes" (GENC for short). GEC and GENC are standards that denote the same things by different codes. GENC Edition 1 was published on 2012-09-01. It was closely based on ISO 3166-1. It used the same two-letter country codes as ISO wherever possible, and it didn't provide subdivision codes. An Edition 2 followed on 2014-03-31, extending the first edition with subdivision codes. If I understand the situation, GEC will phase out in a few years and will be entirely superseded by GENC. I have not found a page where updates are announced. GENC codes can be looked up at the NSG Standards Registry .

Like ISO 3166-2, GENC provides primary subdivision codes at two different levels for some countries. For example, it has codes for both the autonomous communities and the provinces of Spain. GENC identifies the "Subdivision Category" of each one, so they can be told apart, but I can find nothing in the standard that tells me that they overlap—for example, that Badajoz and Cáceres provinces are the same territory as Extremadura autonomous community.

The NSG standards registry  gives more details about GENC.

Change history:

The following timeline lists all the changes I could find that have affected the names or the codes for any country. In most cases I haven't mentioned the code values following a change, because they can be looked up in the Country Codes table, or sometimes farther down the timeline. When the note says that country A split from country B, it means that country B's FIPS code did not change, unless its previous code is specified.

1. 1970-06-15: FIPS PUB 10 issued.
2. 1974-06-15: FIPS PUB 10-1 issued, incorporating these modifications to FIPS PUB 10: Anguilla split from Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla, although the name of the latter remained unchanged; Bangladesh split from Pakistan; name of British Honduras changed to Belize; Central and Southern Line Islands (CL) merged with Gilbert and Ellice Islands; name of Ceylon changed to Sri Lanka; name of Cocos Islands changed to Cocos (Keeling) Islands; name of Congo (Brazzaville) changed to Congo; name of Congo (Kinshasa) changed to Zaire; name of Communist China changed to Peoples Republic of China; Coral Sea Islands Territory split from Australia; name of Falkland Islands changed to Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas); name of Heard and McDonald Islands changed to Heard Island and McDonald Islands; name of Muscat and Oman changed to Oman; name of Papua and New Guinea changed to Papua New Guinea; Southern Ryukyu Islands (YQ) merged with Japan; name of Southern Yemen changed to Yemen (Aden); name of Soviet Zone of Germany changed to German Democratic Republic; name of Spanish Territories in Northern Morocco changed to Spanish North Africa; name of Spratly Island changed to Spratly Islands; Swan Islands (SQ) merged with Honduras; name of Trucial States changed to United Arab Emirates; name of United Arab Republic changed to Egypt; name of United States Misc. Caribbean Islands (BQ) changed to Navassa Island, as a result of several minor islands being transferred from the U.S. to Colombia; name of West Berlin changed to "Germany, Berlin"; name of Yemen changed to Yemen (San'a).
3. 1974-09-10: Name of Portuguese Guinea changed to Guinea-Bissau, according to FIPS 10-1 Change Notice No. 1.
4. 1975-06-09: Sikkim (SK) merged with India, according to FIPS 10-1 Change Notice No. 4.
5. Name of Yemen (San'a) changed to Yemen (Sana), according to FIPS 10-1 Change Notice No. 5.
6. 1975-07-29: Name of British Solomon Islands changed to Solomon Islands, according to FIPS 10-1 Change Notice No. 7.
7. 1975-07-30: Name of Cape Verde changed to Republic of Cape Verde, following the country's independence on 1975-07-05, according to FIPS 10-1 Change Notice No. 8.
8. 1976-04-29: Gilbert and Ellice Islands (GN) split into Gilbert Islands (GS) and Tuvalu, according to FIPS 10-1 Change Notice No. 11.
9. 1976-04-30: Name of Dahomey (DM) changed to Benin, according to FIPS 10-1 Change Notice No. 12.
10. 1976-08-16: Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam (VN) and Republic of Viet-Nam (VS) merged to form Vietnam, according to FIPS 10-1 Change Notice No. 14.
11. 1976-09-07: Portuguese Timor (PT) merged with Indonesia, according to FIPS 10-1 Change Notice No. 15.
12. 1976-11-15: FIPS PUB 10-2 issued, incorporating all previous modifications to FIPS PUB 10-1, and these additional ones: Ashmore and Cartier Islands and Coral Sea Islands Territory merged with Australia; name of Bahamas changed to The Bahamas; name of Central African Republic changed to Central African Empire; name of Comoro Islands changed to Comoros; name of Faeroe Islands changed to Faroe Islands; name of Gambia changed to The Gambia; code for "Germany, Berlin" changed from (WB) to (BZ); Israel-Jordan Demilitarized Zone (IW) and Israel-Syria Demilitarized Zone (IU) merged with Israel; Jan Mayen and Svalbard merged to form Svalbard and Jan Mayen (JS); name of North Korea changed to Democratic People's Republic of Korea; name of Pitcairn Island changed to Pitcairn; name of Republic of China changed to China (Taiwan); name of South-West Africa changed to Namibia; name of Soviet Union changed to Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; Spanish North Africa (ME) merged with Spain; name and code of Spanish Sahara (SS) changed to Western Sahara (WI); name of Tanzania changed to United Republic of Tanzania; name of Virgin Islands changed to Virgin Islands of the U.S.
13. 1977-07-06: Name and code of French Territory of the Afars and Issas (FT) changed to Djibouti (DJ), following the country's independence on 1977-06-27, according to FIPS 10-2 Change Notice No. 1.
14. 1977-11-01: Name of Pitcairn changed to Pitcairn Islands; name of Tokelau Islands changed to Tokelau, according to FIPS 10-2 Change Notice No. 2.
15. 1978-04-06: Northern Mariana Islands (CQ) split from Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (NQ, was TQ before the change), according to FIPS 10-2 Change Notice No. 3.
16. 1978-06-20: Name of Bouvetøya changed to Bouvet Island; name of Surinam changed to Suriname, according to FIPS 10-2 Change Notice No. 4.
17. 1978-08-18: Name of Cambodia changed to Kampuchea, according to FIPS 10-2 Change Notice No. 5.
18. 1979-11-27: Canton and Enderbury Islands (EQ) and Gilbert Islands (GS) merged to form Kiribati, following the country's independence on 1979-07-12; name of Central African Empire changed to Central African Republic; Canal Zone (PQ) merged with Panama, with no change to the latter's name or code; name of Saint Vincent changed to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, following the country's independence on 1979-10-27, according to FIPS 10-2 Change Notice No. 7.
19. 1980-05-12: Name and code of Southern Rhodesia (RH) changed to Zimbabwe (ZI), following the country's independence on 1980-04-18, according to FIPS 10-2 Change Notice No. 8.
20. 1980-06-05: Code for Panama changed from PN to PM, in a belated reflection of the Canal Zone merger, according to FIPS 10-2 Change Notice No. 9.
21. 1980-07-30: Name of New Hebrides changed to Vanuatu, according to FIPS 10-2 Change Notice No. 10.
22. 1981-06-04: Name of Macao changed to Macau; name of Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla changed to Saint Christopher-Nevis; name of Yemen (Sana) (YE) changed to Yemen (Sanaa), according to FIPS 10-2 Change Notice No. 11.
23. 1983-05-19: Name of Antigua changed to Antigua and Barbuda; Ashmore and Cartier Islands and Coral Sea Islands Territory split from Australia; United States Misc. Pacific Islands (IQ) split into Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Kingman Reef, Palmyra Atoll; Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, Juan de Nova Island, and Tromelin Island split from Reunion; name of Republic of Cape Verde changed to Cape Verde; name of China (Taiwan) changed to Taiwan; Clipperton Island split from French Polynesia; Guernsey, Isle of Man, and Jersey split from United Kingdom; Svalbard and Jan Mayen (JS) split into Jan Mayen and Svalbard; Mayotte split from France; name of Virgin Islands of the U.S. changed to Virgin Islands, according to FIPS 10-2 Change Notice No. 12.
24. 1983-05-20: Code for Benin changed from DM to BN, according to FIPS 10-2 Change Notice No. 13.
25. 1983-09-19: Name of Saint Christopher-Nevis changed to Saint Christopher and Nevis, according to FIPS 10-2 Change Notice No. 14.
26. 1984-02-09: FIPS PUB 10-3 issued, incorporating all previous modifications to FIPS PUB 10-2.
27. 1984-06-01: West Bank split from some other area, according to FIPS 10-2 Change Notice No. 15.
28. 1984-08-26: Name of Upper Volta changed to Burkina, following the decree issued by the president of Burkina Faso on 1984-08-04, according to FIPS 10-2 Change Notice No. 16. (The same change was reported as a FIPS 10-3 change notice on 1984-11-09.)
29. 1985-01-02: Name of Kampuchea changed to Cambodia, according to FIPS 10-3 Change Notice No. 2.
30. 1986-04-24: Aruba split from Netherlands Antilles, according to FIPS 10-3 Change Notice No. 5.
31. 1987-02-10: Federated States of Micronesia and Marshall Islands split from Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (PS, was NQ before the change), according to FIPS 10-3 Change Notice No. 6.
32. 1989-07-07: Name of Saint Christopher and Nevis changed to Saint Kitts and Nevis, according to FIPS 10-3 Change Notice No. 7.
33. 1990-10-03: German Democratic Republic (GC), "Germany, Berlin" (BZ), and Federal Republic of Germany (GE) merged to form Germany (GM); Yemen (Aden) (YS) and Yemen (Sanaa) (YE) merged to form Yemen (YM), according to FIPS 10-3 Change Notice No. 8.
34. 1991-01-17: Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) (FA) split into Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) (FK) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; code for Netherlands Antilles changed from NA to NT, according to FIPS 10-3 Change Notice No. 9.
35. 1991-09-03: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania split from Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (UR), according to FIPS 10-3 Change Notice No. 10.
36. 1992-01-03: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (UR) split into Armenia, Azerbaijan, Byelarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan, according to FIPS 10-3 Change Notice No. 11.
37. 1992-08-19: Yugoslavia (YO) split into Bosnia and Hercegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro (MW), Serbia (SR), and Slovenia, according to FIPS 10-3 Change Notice No. 12.
38. 1992-09-08: Name of Byelarus changed to Belarus; Iraq-Saudia Arabia Neutral Zone (IY) divided between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, according to FIPS 10-3 Change Notice No. 13.
39. 1993-02-08: Name of Bosnia and Hercegovina changed to Bosnia and Herzegovina; Czechoslovlakia (CZ) split into Czech Republic and Slovakia; name of Ivory Coast changed to Côte d'Ivoire, according to FIPS 10-3 Change Notice No. 14.
40. 1993-05-06: Eritrea split from Ethiopia, according to FIPS 10-3 Change Notice No. 15.
41. 1995-04: FIPS PUB 10-4 issued, incorporating all previous modifications to FIPS PUB 10-3.
42. 1998-12-01: Name of Burkina changed to Burkina Faso; name of Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (Palau) changed to Palau; code for United Arab Emirates changed from (TC) to (AE); name of Western Samoa changed to Samoa; name of Zaire changed to Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to FIPS 10-4 Change Notice No. 1.
43. 2000-02-25: East Timor split from Indonesia, according to FIPS 10-4 Change Notice No. 4.
44. 2001-01-28: Montenegro (MW) and Serbia (SR) merged to form Yugoslavia (YI), according to FIPS 10-4 Change Notice No. 6.
45. 2004-10-01: Name of Yugoslavia changed to Serbia and Montenegro, according to FIPS 10-4 Change Notice No. 9.
46. 2006-07-11: Serbia and Montenegro (YI) split into two countries, according to FIPS 10-4 Change Notice No. 11.
47. 2007-06-11: New FIPS codes issued: Akrotiri Sovereign Base Area (AX), Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area (DX), Etorofu, Habomai, Kunashiri and Shikotan Islands (PJ), Undesignated Sovereignty (UU). The first two are British military bases in Cyprus. The third is a territory administered by Russia and claimed by Japan. The fourth encompasses the third, as well as the Spratly and Paracel Islands. This update was reported in FIPS 10-4 Change Notice No. 12.
48. 2008-02-04: Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin added to the country list, according to FIPS 10-4 Change Notice No. 13.
49. 2008-07-31: Code for Serbia changed to RI, and code KV issued for Kosovo, according to FIPS 10-4 Change Notice No. 14. The code for Kosovo was actually assigned in February.
50. 2008-09-02: FIPS PUB 10-4 withdrawn, replaced by "Geopolitical Entities and Codes".
51. 2010-08-20: Country names corresponding to AX and DX changed to Akrotiri and Dhekelia, respectively, according to Update 1.
52. 2010-11-30: Netherlands Antilles (NT) split into three parts, of which two were assigned country codes: Curaçao (UC) and Sint Maarten (NN), according to Update 2. The remainder became part of the Netherlands.
53. 2011-08-31: South Sudan split from Sudan. The code for Sudan is still SU. South Sudan became OD.
54. 2012-11-27: GENC Edition 1 released.
55. 2014-03-31: GENC Edition 2 released.
56. 2014-09-30: GENC Edition 2 Update 2 released.

Sources:

1. The FIPS publications and change notices cited.
2. [1] "Moving to a Standard Country Code in the Department of Defense " (dated 2009-10-29, retrieved 2014-12-09).