Talk:ISO 3166-2

message: I'm not sure if this is an appropriate place to ask, but I don't know where else, sorry: is there a way to get the data (two-char abbreviations + country names) downloaded in machine-readable format?  It used to be possible through iso, but they have evidently disabled direct download.  All the other places I can find for download are not kept up to date, e.g., "Cape Verde" vs. "Cabo Verde".  Wikipedia's list itself is up to date, but is there a way besides manually munging the text on the page, to get it?
Of course this would be nice for many other lists besides iso 3166-2, but that's the one I most need, so asking here.  Thanks.
Answering my own question (1 July 2018): /usr/share/zoneinfo/iso3166.tab. Furthermore, notice of updates now available at
http://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink/Open/16944257 (noted in that file).
karl (talk) 13:27, 12 May 2016 (UTC)
thread_title: Download of data

message: Shouldn't there a row for nations (and maybe other bodies) that have an ISO 3166-1 code, but not a known set of ISO 3166-2 codes? --Paploo (talk) 02:46, 20 November 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: List of other nations

message: The ISO publication probably provides a definition of "country subdivision". It seems to me the definition would be along the lines of "political division of a country subordinate only to the central government". All the country subdivisions I see in the chart are subordinate only to the central government. The second-last sentence in the introduction reads: "For some countries, codes are defined for more than one level of subdivision." I question the accuracy of the statement. I think clarification is needed. - The Aviv (talk) 01:41, 8 September 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Please take a look at some of the entries where there are more than one level of subdivisions, e.g., ISO 3166-2:BE, ISO 3166-2:ES, ISO 3166-2:FR, ISO 3166-2:GB, ISO 3166-2:ID, ISO 3166-2:NZ, etc. Chanheigeorge (talk) 01:52, 8 September 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Definition of country subdivision 

message: Current practice appears to be to redirect subnational codes, like ISO 3166-2:CA-NS to the national code page, e.g. ISO 3166-2:CA. As I couldn't find this explicitly stated anywhere, I thought I'd mention it here. 63.251.123.2 (talk) 19:01, 8 January 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: Special:PrefixIndex/ISO 3166-2: shows many such redirects exist, though certainly not for all countries' subdivisions. I remember the ISO codes for the Argentine provinces, without the "ISO 3166-2:" prefix, being redirected to the main article about each province (for example  redirects to Chubut Province). This appears to have been done for several other countries too, such as Brazil and Russia. SiBr4 ("CyberFour") (talk) 19:50, 8 January 2014 (UTC)
replies: text:  Yeah, it looks like the current practice is to redirect the ones with the ISO prefix to the national page, and the ones without the prefix to the main article. And in neither case is there a general habit of creating them -- it's done sporadically, as users feel motivated. I'd lean towards requesting a bot redirect all of them (both with and without the prefix) to the matching main article, but I don't feel like pushing that forward right now. 63.251.123.2 (talk) 00:05, 9 January 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Redirects from subnational pages 

message: Hello,
Based on the Wikipedia article, I built up this table with complementary data about continents.
Could be merge into the article.
country	country_name                                	continent	continent_name
AD     	Andorra                                     	EU       	Europe
AE     	United Arab Emirates                        	AS       	Asie
AF     	Afghanistan                                 	AS       	Asie
AG     	Antigua and Barbuda                         	NA       	Amérique du Nord
AI     	Anguilla                                    	NA       	Amérique du Nord
AL     	Albania                                     	EU       	Europe
AM     	Armenia                                     	AS       	Asie
AO     	Angola                                      	AF       	Afrique
AQ     	Antarctica                                  	AS       	Asie
AR     	Argentina                                   	SA       	Amérique du Sud
AS     	American Samoa                              	SA       	Amérique du Sud
AT     	Austria                                     	OC       	Océanie
AU     	Australia                                   	EU       	Europe
AW     	Aruba                                       	OC       	Océanie
AX     	Åland Islands                               	NA       	Amérique du Nord
AZ     	Azerbaijan                                  	EU       	Europe
BA     	Bosnia and Herzegovina                      	AS       	Asie
BB     	Barbados                                    	EU       	Europe
BD     	Bangladesh                                  	NA       	Amérique du Nord
BE     	Belgium                                     	AS       	Asie
BF     	Burkina Faso                                	EU       	Europe
BG     	Bulgaria                                    	AF       	Afrique
BH     	Bahrain                                     	EU       	Europe
BI     	Burundi                                     	AS       	Asie
BJ     	Benin                                       	AF       	Afrique
BL     	Saint Barthélemy                            	AF       	Afrique
BM     	Bermuda                                     	NA       	Amérique du Nord
BN     	Brunei Darussalam                           	NA       	Amérique du Nord
BO     	Bolivia, Plurinational State of             	AS       	Asie
BQ     	Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba            	SA       	Amérique du Sud
BR     	Brazil                                      	SA       	Amérique du Sud
BS     	Bahamas                                     	NA       	Amérique du Nord
BT     	Bhutan                                      	AS       	Asie
BV     	Bouvet Island                               	AN       	Antartique
BW     	Botswana                                    	AF       	Afrique
BY     	Belarus                                     	EU       	Europe
BZ     	Belize                                      	NA       	Amérique du Nord
CA     	Canada                                      	NA       	Amérique du Nord
CC     	Cocos (Keeling) Islands                     	AS       	Asie
CD     	Congo, the Democratic Republic of the       	AF       	Afrique
CF     	Central African Republic                    	AF       	Afrique
CG     	Congo                                       	AF       	Afrique
CH     	Switzerland                                 	EU       	Europe
CI     	Côte d'Ivoire                               	AF       	Afrique
CK     	Cook Islands                                	OC       	Océanie
CL     	Chile                                       	SA       	Amérique du Sud
CM     	Cameroon                                    	AF       	Afrique
CN     	China                                       	AS       	Asie
CO     	Colombia                                    	SA       	Amérique du Sud
CR     	Costa Rica                                  	NA       	Amérique du Nord
CU     	Cuba                                        	NA       	Amérique du Nord
CV     	Cabo Verde                                  	AF       	Afrique
CW     	Curaçao                                     	SA       	Amérique du Sud
CX     	Christmas Island                            	AS       	Asie
CY     	Cyprus                                      	AS       	Asie
CZ     	Czechia                                     	EU       	Europe
DE     	Germany                                     	EU       	Europe
DJ     	Djibouti                                    	AF       	Afrique
DK     	Denmark                                     	EU       	Europe
DM     	Dominica                                    	NA       	Amérique du Nord
DO     	Dominican Republic                          	NA       	Amérique du Nord
DZ     	Algeria                                     	AF       	Afrique
EC     	Ecuador                                     	SA       	Amérique du Sud
EE     	Estonia                                     	EU       	Europe
EG     	Egypt                                       	AF       	Afrique
EH     	Western Sahara                              	AF       	Afrique
ER     	Eritrea                                     	AF       	Afrique
ES     	Spain                                       	EU       	Europe
ET     	Ethiopia                                    	AF       	Afrique
FI     	Finland                                     	EU       	Europe
FJ     	Fiji                                        	OC       	Océanie
FK     	Falkland Islands (Malvinas)                 	SA       	Amérique du Sud
FM     	Micronesia, Federated States of             	OC       	Océanie
FO     	Faroe Islands                               	EU       	Europe
FR     	France                                      	EU       	Europe
GA     	Gabon                                       	AF       	Afrique
GB     	United Kingdom                              	EU       	Europe
GD     	Grenada                                     	NA       	Amérique du Nord
GE     	Georgia                                     	AS       	Asie
GF     	French Guiana                               	SA       	Amérique du Sud
GG     	Guernsey                                    	EU       	Europe
GH     	Ghana                                       	AF       	Afrique
GI     	Gibraltar                                   	EU       	Europe
GL     	Greenland                                   	NA       	Amérique du Nord
GM     	Gambia                                      	AF       	Afrique
GN     	Guinea                                      	AF       	Afrique
GP     	Guadeloupe                                  	NA       	Amérique du Nord
GQ     	Equatorial Guinea                           	AF       	Afrique
GR     	Greece                                      	EU       	Europe
GS     	South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands	SA       	Amérique du Sud
GT     	Guatemala                                   	NA       	Amérique du Nord
GU     	Guam                                        	OC       	Océanie
GW     	Guinea-Bissau                               	AF       	Afrique
GY     	Guyana                                      	SA       	Amérique du Sud
HK     	Hong Kong                                   	AS       	Asie
HM     	Heard Island and McDonald Islands           	AN       	Antartique
HN     	Honduras                                    	NA       	Amérique du Nord
HR     	Croatia                                     	EU       	Europe
HT     	Haiti                                       	NA       	Amérique du Nord
HU     	Hungary                                     	EU       	Europe
ID     	Indonesia                                   	AS       	Asie
IE     	Ireland                                     	EU       	Europe
IL     	Israel                                      	AS       	Asie
IM     	Isle of Man                                 	EU       	Europe
IN     	India                                       	AS       	Asie
IO     	British Indian Ocean Territory              	AS       	Asie
IQ     	Iraq                                        	AS       	Asie
IR     	Iran, Islamic Republic of                   	AS       	Asie
IS     	Iceland                                     	EU       	Europe
IT     	Italy                                       	EU       	Europe
JE     	Jersey                                      	EU       	Europe
JM     	Jamaica                                     	NA       	Amérique du Nord
JO     	Jordan                                      	AS       	Asie
JP     	Japan                                       	AS       	Asie
KE     	Kenya                                       	AF       	Afrique
KG     	Kyrgyzstan                                  	AS       	Asie
KH     	Cambodia                                    	AS       	Asie
KI     	Kiribati                                    	OC       	Océanie
KM     	Comoros                                     	AF       	Afrique
KN     	Saint Kitts and Nevis                       	NA       	Amérique du Nord
KP     	Korea (the Democratic People's Republic of) 	AS       	Asie
KR     	Korea (the Republic of)                     	AS       	Asie
KW     	Kuwait                                      	AS       	Asie
KY     	Cayman Islands                              	NA       	Amérique du Nord
KZ     	Kazakhstan                                  	AS       	Asie
LA     	Lao People's Democratic Republic            	AS       	Asie
LB     	Lebanon                                     	AS       	Asie
LC     	Saint Lucia                                 	NA       	Amérique du Nord
LI     	Liechtenstein                               	EU       	Europe
LK     	Sri Lanka                                   	AS       	Asie
LR     	Liberia                                     	AF       	Afrique
LS     	Lesotho                                     	AF       	Afrique
LT     	Lithuania                                   	EU       	Europe
LU     	Luxembourg                                  	EU       	Europe
LV     	Latvia                                      	EU       	Europe
LY     	Libya                                       	AF       	Afrique
MA     	Morocco                                     	AF       	Afrique
MC     	Monaco                                      	EU       	Europe
MD     	Moldova, Republic of                        	EU       	Europe
ME     	Montenegro                                  	EU       	Europe
MF     	Saint Martin (French part)                  	NA       	Amérique du Nord
MG     	Madagascar                                  	AF       	Afrique
MH     	Marshall Islands                            	OC       	Océanie
MK     	Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of  	EU       	Europe
ML     	Mali                                        	AF       	Afrique
MM     	Myanmar                                     	AS       	Asie
MN     	Mongolia                                    	AS       	Asie
MO     	Macao                                       	AS       	Asie
MP     	Northern Mariana Islands                    	OC       	Océanie
MQ     	Martinique                                  	NA       	Amérique du Nord
MR     	Mauritania                                  	AF       	Afrique
MS     	Montserrat                                  	NA       	Amérique du Nord
MT     	Malta                                       	EU       	Europe
MU     	Mauritius                                   	AF       	Afrique
MV     	Maldives                                    	AS       	Asie
MW     	Malawi                                      	AF       	Afrique
MX     	Mexico                                      	NA       	Amérique du Nord
MY     	Malaysia                                    	AS       	Asie
MZ     	Mozambique                                  	AF       	Afrique
NA     	Namibia                                     	AF       	Afrique
NC     	New Caledonia                               	OC       	Océanie
NE     	Niger                                       	AF       	Afrique
NF     	Norfolk Island                              	OC       	Océanie
NG     	Nigeria                                     	AF       	Afrique
NI     	Nicaragua                                   	NA       	Amérique du Nord
NL     	Netherlands                                 	EU       	Europe
NO     	Norway                                      	EU       	Europe
NP     	Nepal                                       	AS       	Asie
NR     	Nauru                                       	OC       	Océanie
NU     	Niue                                        	OC       	Océanie
NZ     	New Zealand                                 	OC       	Océanie
OM     	Oman                                        	AS       	Asie
PA     	Panama                                      	NA       	Amérique du Nord
PE     	Peru                                        	SA       	Amérique du Sud
PF     	French Polynesia                            	OC       	Océanie
PG     	Papua New Guinea                            	OC       	Océanie
PH     	Philippines                                 	AS       	Asie
PK     	Pakistan                                    	AS       	Asie
PL     	Poland                                      	EU       	Europe
PM     	Saint Pierre and Miquelon                   	NA       	Amérique du Nord
PN     	Pitcairn                                    	OC       	Océanie
PR     	Puerto Rico                                 	NA       	Amérique du Nord
PS     	Palestine, State of                         	AS       	Asie
PT     	Portugal                                    	EU       	Europe
PW     	Palau                                       	OC       	Océanie
PY     	Paraguay                                    	SA       	Amérique du Sud
QA     	Qatar                                       	AS       	Asie
RE     	Réunion                                     	AF       	Afrique
RO     	Romania                                     	EU       	Europe
RS     	Serbia                                      	EU       	Europe
RU     	Russian Federation                          	EU       	Europe
RW     	Rwanda                                      	AF       	Afrique
SA     	Saudi Arabia                                	AS       	Asie
SB     	Solomon Islands                             	OC       	Océanie
SC     	Seychelles                                  	AF       	Afrique
SD     	Sudan                                       	AF       	Afrique
SE     	Sweden                                      	EU       	Europe
SG     	Singapore                                   	AS       	Asie
SH     	Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha	AF       	Afrique
SI     	Slovenia                                    	EU       	Europe
SJ     	Svalbard and Jan Mayen                      	EU       	Europe
SK     	Slovakia                                    	EU       	Europe
SL     	Sierra Leone                                	AF       	Afrique
SM     	San Marino                                  	EU       	Europe
SN     	Senegal                                     	AF       	Afrique
SO     	Somalia                                     	AF       	Afrique
SR     	Suriname                                    	SA       	Amérique du Sud
SS     	South Sudan                                 	AF       	Afrique
ST     	Sao Tome and Principe                       	AF       	Afrique
SV     	El Salvador                                 	NA       	Amérique du Nord
SX     	Sint Maarten (Dutch part)                   	AS       	Asie
SY     	Syrian Arab Republic                        	AF       	Afrique
SZ     	Swaziland                                   	NA       	Amérique du Nord
TC     	Turks and Caicos Islands                    	         	Amérique du Nord
TD     	Chad                                        	AF       	Afrique
TF     	French Southern Territories                 	AN       	Antartique
TG     	Togo                                        	AF       	Afrique
TH     	Thailand                                    	AS       	Asie
TJ     	Tajikistan                                  	AS       	Asie
TK     	Tokelau                                     	OC       	Océanie
TL     	Timor-Leste                                 	AS       	Asie
TM     	Turkmenistan                                	AS       	Asie
TN     	Tunisia                                     	AF       	Afrique
TO     	Tonga                                       	OC       	Océanie
TR     	Turkey                                      	EU       	Europe
TT     	Trinidad and Tobago                         	NA       	Amérique du Nord
TV     	Tuvalu                                      	OC       	Océanie
TW     	Taiwan                                      	AS       	Asie
TZ     	Tanzania, United Republic of                	AF       	Afrique
UA     	Ukraine                                     	EU       	Europe
UG     	Uganda                                      	AF       	Afrique
UM     	United States Minor Outlying Islands        	OC       	Océanie
US     	United States                               	NA       	Amérique du Nord
UY     	Uruguay                                     	SA       	Amérique du Sud
UZ     	Uzbekistan                                  	AS       	Asie
VA     	Holy See (Vatican City State)               	EU       	Europe
VC     	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines            	NA       	Amérique du Nord
VE     	Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of           	SA       	Amérique du Sud
VG     	Virgin Islands, British                     	NA       	Amérique du Nord
VI     	Virgin Islands, U.S.                        	NA       	Amérique du Nord
VN     	Viet Nam                                    	AS       	Asie
VU     	Vanuatu                                     	OC       	Océanie
WF     	Wallis and Futuna                           	OC       	Océanie
WS     	Samoa                                       	OC       	Océanie
YE     	Yemen                                       	AS       	Asie
YT     	Mayotte                                     	AF       	Afrique
ZA     	South Africa                                	AF       	Afrique
ZM     	Zambia                                      	AF       	Afrique
ZW     	Zimbabwe                                    	AF       	Afrique
Yug (talk) 14:11, 12 April 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: Oppose unless someone can show sufficient benefit. That's assuming the errors were corrected, including Oceania is not a continent and Australia is not in Europe. ―Mandruss ☎ 07:43, 11 May 2018 (UTC)

text: Oppose due to lack of usefulness and errors (Russia is at least partially in Asia). Note that continent borders are quite subjective Mateusz Konieczny (talk) 19:28, 27 September 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Table with region 

message: Am I missing something?  I don't understand how all of the subarticles say anything substantive whatsoever.  The sole bit of content they contain are tables of subdivisions by country.  That's fine, but there can just be a single list article for that: List of ISO 3166-2 subdivisions by country or the like.  Maybe two articles if the list is truly unwieldly, an A-M and an N-Z.  Is there a positive case to be made for what these subarticles are doing? SnowFire (talk) 01:52, 9 July 2021 (UTC)
replies: text: I think there are a few arguments against a single table: 1) The prohibitive length. 2) Difficulty organizing a single table with multiple languages, eg ISO_3166-2:IE.  3) Difficulty listing change history relevant to a specific country. DRMcCreedy (talk) 02:02, 9 July 2021 (UTC)
replies: text: So could we merge to an article or two that uses sections-by-country rather than One Big Table?  So the IE example would just have the table as-is merged to a subsection under ===IE (Ireland)=== or the like if these distinctions are worth keeping.  It would still allow dispensing with all the boilerplate repeated across these articles in their lead sections.  SnowFire (talk) 03:25, 9 July 2021 (UTC)
replies: text: That saves what, like three sentences per article?  I just don't see that as an improvement.  I don't know that I've ever wanted to see EVERY country at once.  And it would be really cumbersome on mobile devices. DRMcCreedy (talk) 03:38, 9 July 2021 (UTC)
replies: text: I guess my point is that the current articles seem to tread very close to the border on Wikipedia is not a directory.  Merging to a slimmer overview article makes this somewhat less of a concern.  Alternatively, the articles could be expanded, but that might be tricky to find notable coverage of the Irish subdivisions specifically.  For example, ISO 3166-2:SJ is a good article (!!!) but more than half of its citations aren't actually talking about the ISO standard - they're just talking about background material.  What little is directly related to the standard is just regurgitation of primary sources.  If there's no secondary coverage of the ISO standards specifically, then these lists of subdivisions should just be merged back into overall list as data points as they're not actually Wikipedia-article worthy to begin with.  Or outright deleted, which would be a last resort.  SnowFire (talk) 05:38, 9 July 2021 (UTC)
replies: text: I think the current set of articles are the most effective way to convey the detailed information about the Standard.  That said, if you think they violate Wikipedia guidelines, propose specific option(s) and solicit more feedback on each of the affected articles.  There seem to be distinct editors for many of the specific articles, so while the discussion about merging or deleting the articles should be centralized, I think the notice of the discussion should be noted on each of the articles' talk page for an informed discussion to take place. DRMcCreedy (talk) 17:13, 9 July 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Walled garden of subarticles 

message: Is EH code referring to currently existing entity? Or only to defunct country? I encountered claim that it refers to "former state of Western Sahara, not the territory held by the Polisario Front" Mateusz Konieczny (talk) 19:30, 27 September 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Is EH code referring to currently existing entity? Or only to defunct country?