UNCLASSIFIED Country Codes FIPS PUB 10 4 ISO

UNCLASSIFIED Country Codes FIPS PUB 10 -4 & ISO 3166 UNCLASSIFIED Richard A. Pearsall NCGIS FGDC Coordination Working Group 4 November 2008 1 UNCLASSIFIED

UNCLASSIFIED Agenda • Country Codes - FIPS 10 -4 and ISO 3166 – What they are (not the only Country Code “standards”) – How/Why are they different • The Country Code Standards Authority • FIPS 10 -4, ISO 3166 Crosswalk • NGA NCGIS Proposal and Transition Planning 2 UNCLASSIFIED

UNCLASSIFIED FIPS PUB 10 -4 FIPS 10 -4 - COUNTRIES, DEPENDENCIES, AREAS OF • • SPECIAL SOVEREIGNTY, AND THEIR PRINCIPAL ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS FIPS 10 is a coding system for entities (geopolitical) Two-character alphabetic country codes (digraph) Issued April 1995 with updates (FIPS 10 -3 February 1984, FIPS 10 -2 March 1977) Used primarily within the US Government State Department dictates policy NGA Maintenance Authority (issued several updates) Federal Register – Intent to Withdraw (July 1995), Withdrawn by NIST (2 September 2008) Mandated with Sunset tag in the Defense Information Technology Standards Registry (DISR) 3 UNCLASSIFIED

UNCLASSIFIED ISO 3166 - Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions • ISO 3166 is a coding system for country names • two- (digraph) and three-character (trigraph) alphabetic country codes, three-digit -numeric country codes, and spelled-out country names • Managed by ISO/Geneva - Issued 1974 (5 updates), change notices quarterly (9 published) via UN/3166 MA • Also known as ANSI Z 39. 27 -1984 (withdrawn by NISO 1990), FIPS 1041 (withdrawn by NIST July 29, 1997). Referenced by FIPS 5 -2 (Withdrawn by NIST Sept 2, 2008 -New ANSI Standard being worked by Census) • Enables “reserved codes” - Nations can request three-character reserved codes (USA via NISO) • Mandated in the DISR • Use – Finance and Commerce, internet-cc. TLD [. us], European Commission/Union, IC Security Markings/Do. D Message Clearance traffic, STANAGS (1059 Ed 8), Do. D Coalition partners, numerous international commercial vendors. Normative Reference in many ISO (i. e. 191 XX) and Geo. INT Standards. Partial harmonization - Postal Unions, International Vehicle License plates, IOC UNCLASSIFIED 4

UNCLASSIFIED CIA World Factbook https: //www. cia. gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/appendix-d. html 5 UNCLASSIFIED

UNCLASSIFIED The Country Code Standards Authority ISO JTC 1 Replace FIPS 10 -4 aka 191 XX TC 46 TC 211 “FIPS 10 -5” ISO/UN 3166(MA) Z 39. 50 ANSI INCITS NIST - FIPS NISO – Information and Documentation L 1 (GIS) FGDC, USGS, NGA, USACE, Oracle, Bentley, LMC, NGC, …. . 6 UNCLASSIFIED

UNCLASSIFIED ISO 3166 - FIPS 10 -4 Crosswalk 7 UNCLASSIFIED

UNCLASSIFIED NCGIS Proposal • Do. D & NGA - Profile ISO 3166 -1 trigraph – Includes ISO 3166 trigraph – Includes USA Reserved Codes (geopolitical entities) – Includes USA International “Coalition” Partner codes/reserved codes • Civilian – Profile ISO 3166 -1 trigraph ISO 3166 trigraph (base) – Profile includes only those Countries recognized by the US State Dept. – Includes USA Reserved Codes (geopolitical entities) – Includes USA International Partner reserved codes (GSDI? ) 8 UNCLASSIFIED

UNCLASSIFIED Recommended Transition Plan From FIPS 10 -4 to ISO 3166 Trigraphs • Strongly recommend transitioning to a profile of ISO 3166 -1 trigraph codes – Reserved codes available to accommodate State Dept “geopolitical entities” and international partner exchange requirements – Many Coalition Partners have adopted 3166 trigraph – Broad use of the trigraph already exits, and would better facilitate interoperability • Recommend the “Transition” time to occur within the next four years – A change request has been approved to change the current status of the FIPS 10 -4 in the DISR to mandated sunset, which is not a permanent state in the DISR • Recommend that any new coding identify which Country Code Standard is being used (i. e. , the code AG is used differently in 10 -4 and 3166, where one represents Algeria and the other Antigua and Barbuda) 9 UNCLASSIFIED

UNCLASSIFIED Recommended Transition Plan From FIPS 10 -4 to ISO 3166 Digraphs • • If resource constrictions require continued use of a two-letter code for the immediate future, profile the ISO 3166 -1 digraph Consequences to transition to ISO 3166 -1 digraph – There are no reserved codes available to extend the existing set – There is minimal relationship between the digraphs of FIPS 10 -4 and ISO 3166 -1 – Mappings available between FIPS 10 -4 and ISO 3166 -1 digraph – Mappings available between ISO 3166 -1 digraph/trigraph – Recommend programs develop their transition plan to profile ISO 3166 -1 trigraph Recommend the “Transition” time to occur within the next four years – A change request has been submitted to change the current status of the FIPS 10 -4 in the DISR to mandated sunset, which is not a permanent state in the DISR Recommend that any new coding identify which Country Code Standard is being used 10 UNCLASSIFIED

UNCLASSIFIED Questions? ? Richard Pearsall NGA/OCIO/NCGIS 703 -814 -4556 Richard. A. Pearsall@nga. mil 11 UNCLASSIFIED

UNCLASSIFIED www. nga. mil 12 UNCLASSIFIED