View source for ISO 3166-1

ISO 3166-1 is a list of two-letter codes for existing sovereign nations developed by the International Standard Organization (ISO). 

==Background==
The purpose of the ISO 3166 standard is to define internationally recognized codes of letters and/or numbers that are used to refer to countries and subdivisions within those countries.<ref>[https://www.iso.org/iso-3166-country-codes.html ISO.org - ISO 3166]</ref> The standard defines multiple codes for specific countries, including codes used for historical purposes. For example, SU, once the code for Soviet Union, has been removed to the ISO 3166-1 list and placed on the ISO 3166-3 list with a new four-letter code, SUHH, to indicate that the Soviet Union no longer exists as a country, and was not replaced by a different sovereign entity.<https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:code:3166:SU ISO Online Browsing Platform - SU]</ref> The code ZR, for "Zaire," was removed from the ISO 3166-1 list and placed on the ISO 3166-3 list as ZRCD, indicating that ZR has become CD, the new ISO 3166-1 code for the Democratic Republic of the Congo.<ref>[https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:code:3166:ZR ISO Online Browsing Platform: ZR]</ref>

==ISO 3166-1 and ccTLDs==
The ISO 3166-1 Alpha-two code was adopted by [[RFC 1591]] as the two-letter [[ccTLD]], delegable to each country's ccTLD registry operator.<ref name="rfc">[https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1591 RFC 1591] at IETF.org</ref> RFC 1591 enshrines a core premise of IANA functions as they relate to ccTLDs - "The IANA is not in the business of deciding what is and what is not a country."<ref name="rfc" /> The ISO 3166-1 list is used because it is maintained by a neutral body that undertakes regular review of the list, and has explicit and transparent standards for decision-making regarding changes to the list.<ref name="rfc" />

===Retirement===
ICANN has not yet adopted a consistent policy for dealing with delegated ccTLDs whose countries "cease to exist," at least in the view of the ISO 3166 Maintenance Agency. A [[PDP]] for [[ccNSO Policy Development Process - Retirement|retirement of ccTLDs]] is in the final stages of public comment and consideration by the ICANN Board.

===Internationalized ccTLDs===
Similarly, there is currently no policy for dealing with approved and delegated [[Internationalized Domain Name|internationalized]] country code top-level domains when the related country code is removed from or amended on the ISO-3166 standard. The [[ccNSO]] is also engaged in a [[ccNSO Policy Development Process - IDN Strings|policy development process]] to fill that gap in policy, as well as to provide additional structure and rules for managing variant strings of the same country name.

==References==
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