Deleted Codes
When countries merge, split, or undergo territorial change, their numeric codes are deleted and new numeric codes are assigned. For example:
- East Germany and West Germany used numeric codes 278 and 280 respectively before their unification in 1990. Since then, the unified Germany has used numeric code 276, while keeping the alphabetic codes for West Germany.
- Ethiopia used numeric code 230 before Eritrea split away in 1993. Since then, Ethiopia has used numeric code 231, while keeping the same alphabetic codes.
- Sudan used numeric code 736 before South Sudan split away in 2011. Since then, Sudan has used numeric code 729, while keeping the same alphabetic codes.
If a country changes its name without any territorial change, its 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 104 has remained the same.
The following numeric codes have been deleted from ISO 3166-1:
| Code | Country name |
|---|---|
| 080 | British Antarctic Territory |
| 128 | Canton and Enderbury Islands |
| 200 | Czechoslovakia |
| 216 | Dronning Maud Land |
| 230 | Ethiopia (before Eritrea split away in 1993) |
| 249 | France, Metropolitan |
| 278 | German Democratic Republic (i.e., East Germany) |
| 280 | Germany, Federal Republic of (i.e., West Germany) |
| 396 | Johnston Island |
| 488 | Midway Islands |
| 530 | Netherlands Antilles (after Aruba split away in 1986) |
| 532 | Netherlands Antilles (before Aruba split away in 1986) |
| 536 | Neutral Zone |
| 582 | Pacific Islands, Trust Territory of the |
| 590 | Panama (before adding Panama Canal Zone in 1979) |
| 594 | Panama Canal Zone |
| 658 | Saint Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla |
| 698 | Sikkim |
| 714 | Viet-Nam, Republic of (i.e., South Vietnam) |
| 720 | Yemen, Democratic (i.e., South Yemen) |
| 736 | Sudan (before South Sudan split away in 2011) |
| 810 | USSR |
| 849 | U.S. Miscellaneous Pacific Islands |
| 872 | Wake Island |
| 886 | Yemen Arab Republic (i.e., North Yemen) |
| 890 | Yugoslavia, Socialist Federal Republic of |
| 891 | Serbia and Montenegro (original name: Yugoslavia, Federal Republic of) |
The following numeric codes were also assigned by the United Nations Statistics Division, but these territories were never officially included in ISO 3166-1:
| Code | Territory name |
|---|---|
| 274 | Gaza Strip (Palestine) |
| 282 | German Democratic Republic, Berlin |
| 284 | Germany, West Berlin |
| 650 | Ryukyu Islands |
| 728 | Spanish North Africa (note: this code is now used by South Sudan) |
| 830 | Channel Islands |
In the UN M.49 standard developed by the United Nations Statistics Division, additional numeric codes are used to represent geographical regions and groupings of countries and areas for statistical processing purposes, but these codes are not included in ISO 3166-1. Unlike alphabetic codes, there are no reserved numeric codes in ISO 3166-1.
Read more about this topic: ISO 3166-1 Numeric
Famous quotes containing the words deleted and/or codes:
“There is never finality in the display terminal’s screen, but an irresponsible whimsicality, as words, sentences, and paragraphs are negated at the touch of a key. The significance of the past, as expressed in the manuscript by a deleted word or an inserted correction, is annulled in idle gusts of electronic massacre.”
—Alexander Cockburn (b. 1941)
“We must trust infinitely to the beneficent necessity which shines through all laws. Human nature expresses itself in them as characteristically as in statues, or songs, or railroads, and an abstract of the codes of nations would be an abstract of the common conscience.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)