GEOPOLITICAL ENTITIES and CODES (formerly FIPS PUB 10-4): FIPS PUB 10-4 was withdrawn by the National Institute of Standards and Technology on 2 September 2008 based on Public Law 104-113 (codified OMB Circular A-119 and the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995). The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), as the maintenance authority for FIPS PUB 10-4, has continued to maintain and provide regular updates to its content in a document known as Geopolitical Entities and Codes (GEC) (Formerly FIPS 1PUB 10-4).
ISO 3166: Codes for the Representation of Names of Countries (ISO 3166) is prepared by the International Organization for Standardization. ISO 3166 includes two- and three-character alphabetic codes and three-digit numeric codes that may be needed for activities involving exchange of data with international organizations that have adopted that standard. Except for the numeric codes, ISO 3166 codes have been adopted in the US as FIPS 104-1: American National Standard Codes for the Representation of Names of Countries, Dependencies, and Areas of Special Sovereignty for Information Interchange.
STANAG 1059: Letter Codes for Geographical Entities (8th edition, 2004) is a Standardization Agreement (STANAG) established and maintained by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO/OTAN) for the purpose of providing a common set of geo-spatial identifiers for countries, territories, and possessions. The 8th edition established trigraph codes for each country based upon the ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 character sets. These codes are used throughout NATO.
Internet: The Internet country code is the two-letter digraph maintained by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in the ISO 3166 Alpha-2 list and used by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) to establish country-coded top-level domains (ccTLDs).
Antarctica -- ISO defines as the territory south of 60 degrees south latitude
Ashmore and Cartier Islands -- ISO includes with Australia
Australia -- ISO includes Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Coral Sea Islands
Baker Island -- ISO includes with the US Minor Outlying Islands
Bassas da India -- administered as part of French Southern and Antarctic Lands; no ISO codes assigned
Burma -- ISO uses the name Myanmar
China -- see also Taiwan
Clipperton Island -- ISO includes with France
Congo, Democratic Republic of the -- formerly Zaire
Coral Sea Islands -- ISO includes with Australia
Europa Island -- administered as part of French Southern and Antarctic Lands; no ISO codes assigned
France -- ISO includes metropolitan France along with the dependencies of Clipperton Island, French Guiana, French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, New Caledonia, Reunion, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Wallis and Futuna
France, Metropolitan -- ISO limits to the European part of France
French Southern and Antarctic Lands -- FIPS 10-4 does not include the French-claimed portion of Antarctica (Terre Adelie)
Gaza Strip -- ISO identifies as Occupied Palestinian Territory
Glorioso Islands -- administered as part of French Southern and Antarctic Lands; no ISO codes assigned
Greece -- For its internal communications, the European Union recommends the use of the code EL in lieu of the ISO 3166-2 code of GR
Howland Island -- ISO includes with the US Minor Outlying Islands
Jan Mayen -- ISO includes with Svalbard
Jarvis Island -- ISO includes with the US Minor Outlying Islands
Johnston Atoll -- ISO includes with the US Minor Outlying Islands
Juan de Nova Island -- administered as part of French Southern and Antarctic Lands; no ISO codes assigned
Kingman Reef -- ISO includes with the US Minor Outlying Islands
Kosovo -- XK and XKS are ISO 3166 user assigned codes; ISO 3166 Maintenace Authority has not assigned codes
Midway Islands -- ISO includes with the US Minor Outlying Islands
Myanmar -- see Burma
Navassa Island -- ISO includes with the US Minor Outlying Islands
Netherlands Antilles -- disestablished in October 2010 this entity no longer exists; ISO deleted the codes in December 2010
Palmyra Atoll -- ISO includes with the US Minor Outlying Islands
Saint Barthelemy -- ccTLD .fr and .gp may also be used
Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha -- includes Saint Helena Island, Ascension Island, and the Tristan da Cunha archipelago
Saint Martin -- ccTLD .fr and .gp may also be used
South Sudan -- IANA has designated .ss as the ccTLD for South Sudan, however it has not been activated in DNS root zone
Svalbard -- ISO includes Jan Mayen
Tromelin Island -- administered as part of French Southern and Antarctic Lands; no ISO codes assigned
United Kingdom -- for its internal communications, the European Union recommends the use of the code UK in lieu of the ISO 3166-2 code of GB
United States Minor Outlying Islands -- ISO includes Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Islands, Navassa Island, Palmyra Atoll, Wake Island
Virgin Islands (UK) -- see British Virgin Islands
Virgin Islands (US) -- see Virgin Islands
Wake Island -- ISO includes with the US Minor Outlying Islands
West Bank -- ISO identifies as Occupied Palestinian Territory
Western Samoa -- see Samoa
World -- the Factbook uses the W data code from DIAM 65-18 Geopolitical Data Elements and Related Features, Data Standard No. 3, December 1994, published by the Defense Intelligence Agency
Zaire -- see Democratic Republic of the Congo