Comparison of alphabetic country codes facts for kids

Have you ever noticed how countries are often given short, three-letter codes in sports or international organizations? This article helps you understand these codes! We'll look at the special three-letter codes used by the Olympics (IOC), FIFA (for soccer), and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

These codes are like nicknames for countries, making it easier to identify them quickly. We've put them all together in one easy-to-read table. Some rows in the table are highlighted to show when a country's code is different between the IOC, FIFA, or ISO lists. The last column tells you which codes are available for that country. 'O' means Olympic, 'F' means FIFA, and 'I' means ISO. A capital letter means the code matches others, while a small letter means it's different. A dash means that code isn't available for that country.

Codes That Can Be Confusing

Sometimes, the same three-letter code can mean different things, which can be a bit confusing! This is called an "ambiguous trigraph."

Currently, only one code can be confusing:

• BRN - This code is used for Bahrain by the Olympics (IOC) and for Brunei by ISO.

In the past, other codes caused confusion:

• ANT - The Olympics used this for Antigua and Barbuda. It was also used for the Netherlands Antilles by ISO and FIFA until 2010.
• BUR - The Olympics use this for Burkina Faso (since 1984). It was also used for Burma by ISO and FIFA until 1989.

Sometimes, a code for an old country or territory is now used for a country it joined. For example:

• KHM - This is the ISO code for Cambodia. It was also the Olympic code for the Khmer Republic (an older name for Cambodia).
• VNM - This was an old Olympic and ISO code for South Vietnam. Now, it's the ISO code for the unified country of Vietnam.
• WSM - This is the ISO code for Samoa. It was also the Olympic code for Western Samoa (an older name for Samoa).
• YEM - This was the old ISO code for North Yemen. Now, it's the main code for the unified country of Yemen.

If we look at even more lists of country codes, there can be even more confusing codes. For example:

• AUS - This code is used for Australia by the Olympics, FIFA, and ISO. But, another organization (UNDP) uses AUS for Austria! (For UNDP, Australia is AUL).

Country Code List

This list includes countries or territories that have at least one of these three types of country codes. If you want a longer list of countries, you can check out the list of countries.

Flag	Country	IOC	FIFA	ISO	*
	Afghanistan	AFG	AFG	AFG	3OFI
	Åland			ALA	1--ï
	Albania	ALB	ALB	ALB	3OFI
	Algeria	ALG	ALG	DZA	3OFï
	American Samoa	ASA	ASA	ASM	3OFï
	Andorra	AND	AND	AND	3OFI
	Angola	ANG	ANG	AGO	3OFï
	Anguilla		AIA	AIA	2-FI
	Antarctica			ATA	1--ï
	Antigua and Barbuda	ANT	ATG	ATG	3öFI
	Argentina	ARG	ARG	ARG	3OFI
	Armenia	ARM	ARM	ARM	3OFI
	Aruba	ARU	ARU	ABW	3OFï
	Australia	AUS	AUS	AUS	3OFI
	Austria	AUT	AUT	AUT	3OFI
	Azerbaijan	AZE	AZE	AZE	3OFI
	The Bahamas	BAH	BAH	BHS	3OFï
	Bahrain	BRN	BHR	BHR	3öFI
	Bangladesh	BAN	BAN	BGD	3OFï
	Barbados	BAR	BRB	BRB	3öFI
	Belarus	BLR	BLR	BLR	3OFI
	Belgium	BEL	BEL	BEL	3OFI
	Belize	BIZ	BLZ	BLZ	3öFI
	Benin	BEN	BEN	BEN	3OFI
	Bermuda	BER	BER	BMU	3OFï
	Bhutan	BHU	BHU	BTN	3OFï
	Bolivia	BOL	BOL	BOL	3OFI
	Caribbean Netherlands: Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba			BES	1--ï
	Bosnia and Herzegovina	BIH	BIH	BIH	3OFI
	Botswana	BOT	BOT	BWA	3OFï
	Bouvet Island			BVT	1--ï
	Brazil	BRA	BRA	BRA	3OFI
	British Indian Ocean Territory			IOT	1--ï
	British Virgin Islands	IVB	VGB	VGB	3öFI
	Brunei	BRU	BRU	BRN	3OFï
	Bulgaria	BUL	BUL	BGR	3OFï
	Burkina Faso	BUR	BFA	BFA	3öFI
	Burundi	BDI	BDI	BDI	3OFI
	Cambodia	CAM	CAM	KHM	3OFï
	Cameroon	CMR	CMR	CMR	3OFI
	Canada	CAN	CAN	CAN	3OFI
	Cape Verde	CPV	CPV	CPV	3OFI
	Cayman Islands	CAY	CAY	CYM	3OFï
	Central African Republic	CAF	CTA	CAF	3OƒI
	Chad	CHA	CHA	TCD	3OFï
	Chile	CHI	CHI	CHL	3OFï
	China, People's Republic of	CHN	CHN	CHN	3OFI
	Christmas Island			CXR	1--ï
	Cocos (Keeling) Islands			CCK	1--ï
	Colombia	COL	COL	COL	3OFI
	Comoros	COM	COM	COM	3OFI
	Congo, Democratic Republic of the	COD	COD	COD	3OFI
	Congo, Republic of the	CGO	CGO	COG	3OFï
	Cook Islands	COK	COK	COK	3OFI
	Costa Rica	CRC	CRC	CRI	3OFï
	Côte d'Ivoire	CIV	CIV	CIV	3OFI
	Croatia	CRO	CRO	HRV	3OFï
	Cuba	CUB	CUB	CUB	3OFI
	Curaçao		CUW	CUW	2-FI
	Cyprus	CYP	CYP	CYP	3OFI
	Czech Republic	CZE	CZE	CZE	3OFI
	Denmark	DEN	DEN	DNK	3OFï
	Djibouti	DJI	DJI	DJI	3OFI
	Dominica	DMA	DMA	DMA	3OFI
	Dominican Republic	DOM	DOM	DOM	3OFI
	Ecuador	ECU	ECU	ECU	3OFI
	Egypt	EGY	EGY	EGY	3OFI
	El Salvador	ESA	SLV	SLV	3öFI
	England		ENG		1-ƒ-
	Equatorial Guinea	GEQ	EQG	GNQ	3öƒï
	Eritrea	ERI	ERI	ERI	3OFI
	Estonia	EST	EST	EST	3OFI
	Eswatini	SWZ	SWZ	SWZ	3OFI
	Ethiopia	ETH	ETH	ETH	3OFI
	Falkland Islands			FLK	1--ï
	Faroe Islands		FRO	FRO	2-FI
	Fiji	FIJ	FIJ	FJI	3OFï
	Finland	FIN	FIN	FIN	3OFI
	France	FRA	FRA	FRA	3OFI
	French Guiana			GUF	1--ï
	French Polynesia		TAH	PYF	2-ĕ
	French Southern and Antarctic Lands			ATF	1--ï
	Gabon	GAB	GAB	GAB	3OFI
	The Gambia	GAM	GAM	GMB	3OFï
	Georgia	GEO	GEO	GEO	3OFI
	Germany	GER	GER	DEU	3OFï
	Ghana	GHA	GHA	GHA	3OFI
	Gibraltar		GIB	GIB	2-FI
	Greece	GRE	GRE	GRC	3OFï
	Greenland			GRL	1--ï
	Grenada	GRN	GRN	GRD	3OFï
	Guadeloupe			GLP	1--ï
	Guam	GUM	GUM	GUM	3OFI
	Guatemala	GUA	GUA	GTM	3OFï
	Guernsey			GGY	1--ï
	Guinea	GUI	GUI	GIN	3OFï
	Guinea-Bissau	GBS	GNB	GNB	3öFI
	Guyana	GUY	GUY	GUY	3OFI
	Haiti	HAI	HAI	HTI	3OFï
	Heard Island and McDonald Islands			HMD	1--ï
	Honduras	HON	HON	HND	3OFï
	Hong Kong	HKG	HKG	HKG	3OFI
	Hungary	HUN	HUN	HUN	3OFI
	Iceland	ISL	ISL	ISL	3OFI
	India	IND	IND	IND	3OFI
	Indonesia	INA	IDN	IDN	3öFI
	Iran	IRI	IRN	IRN	3öFI
	Iraq	IRQ	IRQ	IRQ	3OFI
	Ireland	IRL	IRL	IRL	3OFI
	Isle of Man			IMN	1--ï
	Israel	ISR	ISR	ISR	3OFI
	Italy	ITA	ITA	ITA	3OFI
	Jamaica	JAM	JAM	JAM	3OFI
	Japan	JPN	JPN	JPN	3OFI
	Jersey			JEY	1--ï
	Jordan	JOR	JOR	JOR	3OFI
	Kazakhstan	KAZ	KAZ	KAZ	3OFI
	Kenya	KEN	KEN	KEN	3OFI
	Kiribati	KIR		KIR	2O-I
	Korea, Democratic People's Rep. (North)	PRK	PRK	PRK	3OFI
	Korea, Republic of (South)	KOR	KOR	KOR	3OFI
	Kosovo	KOS	KOS		2OF-
	Kuwait	KUW	KUW	KWT	3OFï
	Kyrgyzstan	KGZ	KGZ	KGZ	3OFI
	Laos	LAO	LAO	LAO	3OFI
	Latvia	LAT	LVA	LVA	3öFI
	Lebanon	LBN	LBN	LBN	3OFI
	Lesotho	LES	LES	LSO	3OFï
	Liberia	LBR	LBR	LBR	3OFI
	Libya	LBA	LBY	LBY	3öFI
	Liechtenstein	LIE	LIE	LIE	3OFI
	Lithuania	LTU	LTU	LTU	3OFI
	Luxembourg	LUX	LUX	LUX	3OFI
	Macau		MAC	MAC	2-FI
	Madagascar	MAD	MAD	MDG	3OFï
	Malawi	MAW	MWI	MWI	3öFI
	Malaysia	MAS	MAS	MYS	3OFï
	Maldives	MDV	MDV	MDV	3OFI
	Mali	MLI	MLI	MLI	3OFI
	Malta	MLT	MLT	MLT	3OFI
	Marshall Islands	MHL		MHL	2O-I
	Martinique			MTQ	1--ï
	Mauritania	MTN	MTN	MRT	3OFï
	Mauritius	MRI	MRI	MUS	3OFï
	Mayotte			MYT	1--ï
	Mexico	MEX	MEX	MEX	3OFI
	Micronesia, Federated States of	FSM		FSM	2O-I
	Moldova	MDA	MDA	MDA	3OFI
	Monaco	MON		MCO	2ö-ï
	Mongolia	MGL	MNG	MNG	3öFI
	Montenegro	MNE	MNE	MNE	3OFI
	Montserrat		MSR	MSR	2-FI
	Morocco	MAR	MAR	MAR	3OFI
	Mozambique	MOZ	MOZ	MOZ	3OFI
	Myanmar	MYA	MYA	MMR	3OFï
	Namibia	NAM	NAM	NAM	3OFI
	Nauru	NRU		NRU	2O-I
	Nepal	NEP	NEP	NPL	3OFï
	Netherlands	NED	NED	NLD	3OFï
	New Caledonia		NCL	NCL	2-FI
	New Zealand	NZL	NZL	NZL	3OFI
	Nicaragua	NCA	NCA	NIC	3OFï
	Niger	NIG	NIG	NER	3OFï
	Nigeria	NGR	NGA	NGA	3öFI
	Niue			NIU	1--ï
	Norfolk Island			NFK	1--ï
	Northern Ireland		NIR		1-ƒ-
	Northern Mariana Islands			MNP	1--ï
	North Macedonia	MKD	MKD	MKD	3OFI
	Norway	NOR	NOR	NOR	3OFI
	Oman	OMA	OMA	OMN	3OFï
	Pakistan	PAK	PAK	PAK	3OFI
	Palau	PLW		PLW	2O-I
	State of Palestine	PLE	PLE	PSE	3OFï
	Panama	PAN	PAN	PAN	3OFI
	Papua New Guinea	PNG	PNG	PNG	3OFI
	Paraguay	PAR	PAR	PRY	3OFï
	Peru	PER	PER	PER	3OFI
	Philippines	PHI	PHI	PHL	3OFï
	Pitcairn Islands			PCN	1--ï
	Poland	POL	POL	POL	3OFI
	Portugal	POR	POR	PRT	3OFï
	Puerto Rico	PUR	PUR	PRI	3OFï
	Qatar	QAT	QAT	QAT	3OFI
	Réunion			REU	1--ï
	Romania	ROU	ROU	ROU	3OFI
	Russian Federation	RUS	RUS	RUS	3OFI
	Rwanda	RWA	RWA	RWA	3OFI
	Saint Barthélemy			BLM	1--ï
	Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha			SHN	1--ï
	Saint Kitts and Nevis	SKN	SKN	KNA	3OFï
	Saint Lucia	LCA	LCA	LCA	3OFI
	Saint Martin (French part)			MAF	1--ï
	Saint Pierre and Miquelon			SPM	1--ï
	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	VIN	VIN	VCT	3OFï
	Samoa	SAM	SAM	WSM	3OFï
	San Marino	SMR	SMR	SMR	3OFI
	São Tomé and Príncipe	STP	STP	STP	3OFI
	Saudi Arabia	KSA	KSA	SAU	3OFï
	Scotland		SCO		1-ƒ-
	Senegal	SEN	SEN	SEN	3OFI
	Serbia	SRB	SRB	SRB	3OFI
	Seychelles	SEY	SEY	SYC	3OFï
	Sierra Leone	SLE	SLE	SLE	3OFI
	Singapore	SGP	SGP	SGP	3OFI
	Sint Maarten (Dutch part)			SXM	1--ï
	Slovakia	SVK	SVK	SVK	3OFI
	Slovenia	SLO	SVN	SVN	3öFI
	Solomon Islands	SOL	SOL	SLB	3OFï
	Somalia	SOM	SOM	SOM	3OFI
	South Africa	RSA	RSA	ZAF	3OFï
	South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands			SGS	1--ï
	South Sudan	SSD	SSD	SSD	3OFI
	Spain	ESP	ESP	ESP	3OFI
	Sri Lanka	SRI	SRI	LKA	3OFï
	Sudan	SUD	SDN	SDN	3öFI
	Suriname	SUR	SUR	SUR	3OFI
	Svalbard and Jan Mayen			SJM	1--ï
	Sweden	SWE	SWE	SWE	3OFI
	Switzerland	SUI	SUI	CHE	3OFï
	Syria	SYR	SYR	SYR	3OFI
	Taiwan	TPE	TPE	TWN	3OFï
	Tajikistan	TJK	TJK	TJK	3OFI
	Tanzania	TAN	TAN	TZA	3OFï
	Thailand	THA	THA	THA	3OFI
	Timor-Leste	TLS	TLS	TLS	3OFI
	Togo	TOG	TOG	TGO	3OFï
	Tokelau			TKL	1--ï
	Tonga	TGA	TGA	TON	3OFï
	Trinidad and Tobago	TTO	TRI	TTO	3OƒI
	Tunisia	TUN	TUN	TUN	3OFI
	Turkey	TUR	TUR	TUR	3OFI
	Turkmenistan	TKM	TKM	TKM	3OFI
	Turks and Caicos Islands		TCA	TCA	2-FI
	Tuvalu	TUV		TUV	2O-I
	Uganda	UGA	UGA	UGA	3OFI
	Ukraine	UKR	UKR	UKR	3OFI
	United Arab Emirates	UAE	UAE	ARE	3OFï
	United Kingdom	GBR		GBR	2O-I
	United States	USA	USA	USA	3OFI
	United States Minor Outlying Islands			UMI	1--ï
	United States Virgin Islands	ISV	VIR	VIR	3öFI
	Uruguay	URU	URU	URY	3OFï
	Uzbekistan	UZB	UZB	UZB	3OFI
	Vanuatu	VAN	VAN	VUT	3OFï
	Vatican City State			VAT	1--ï
	Venezuela	VEN	VEN	VEN	3OFI
	Vietnam	VIE	VIE	VNM	3OFï
	Wales		WAL		1-ƒ-
	Wallis and Futuna			WLF	1--ï
	Western Sahara			ESH	1--ï
	Yemen	YEM	YEM	YEM	3OFI
	Zambia	ZAM	ZAM	ZMB	3OFï
	Zimbabwe	ZIM	ZIM	ZWE	3OFï

Old Countries and Names

Some countries or territories have changed their names or no longer exist. Here are their old codes and the last year they were used.

Flag	Country	IOC	FIFA	ISO
	British Honduras	HBR 1972	BHO
	Burma	BIR 1988	BUR 1989	BUR 1989
	Ceylon	CEY 1972	CEY 1972
	Dahomey	DAH 1972	DAH 1975	DHY 1977
	Czechoslovakia	TCH 1992	TCH 1993	CSK 1993
	East Germany	GDR 1988	GDR 1990	DDR 1990
	Khmer Republic	KHM 1976	? 1975
	Malaya	MAL 1960	? 1963
	Netherlands Antilles	AHO 2010	ANT 2010	ANT 2010
	North Borneo	NBO 1956	NBO 1963
	North Yemen	YAR 1988	NYE 1990	YEM 1990
	Northern Rhodesia	NRH 1964	NRH 1964
	Rhodesia	RHO 1972	RHO 1980	RHO 1980
	Serbia and Montenegro	SCG 2006	SCG 2006	SCG 2006
	South Yemen	YMD 1988	SYE 1990	YMD 1990
	Soviet Union	URS 1988	URS 1991	SUN 1992
	Upper Volta	VOL 1984	UPV 1984	HVO 1984
	Viet Nam, Democratic Republic of	n.a.	VNO 1975	VDR 1977
	Viet Nam, Republic of	VNM 1976	VSO 1975	VNM 1977
	West Germany	FRG 1988	FRG 1990	DEU 1990
	Yugoslavia, Federal Republic of	YUG 2002	YUG 2003	YUG 2003
	Yugoslavia, Socialist Federal Republic of	YUG 1992	YUG 1992	YUG 1992
	Zaire	ZAI 1996	ZAI 1997	ZAR 1997

See also

In Spanish: Anexo:Comparación de los códigos del COI, la FIFA y la ISO 3166 para niños

• List of IOC country codes