ISO language and country codes

This topic describes the use and background of ISO codes.

An ISO code is a code from a coding standard set up by the International Organization for Standardization. These standards and codes are internationally accepted.

Language codes - ISO 639-1

ISO 639-1 is a standard for languages. ISO 639-1 codes consist of two alphabetical characters, for example, en for English and fr for French.

Language codes are not case sensitive.

In LN, internal language codes can be linked to ISO codes in the Languages (tcmcs0146m000) session.

Country codes - ISO 3166-1

ISO 3166 is a standard for geographic codes. ISO 3166-1 covers the codes for countries and independent areas.

Every country has the following codes:

  • A two-character country code (ISO 3166-1-alpha-2)
  • A three-character country code (ISO 3166-1-alpha-3)
  • A three-digit country code (ISO 3166-1 numeric)

For example, the ISO 3166-1 codes for The Netherlands are 'NL', 'NLD' and '528'.

Due to the increasing integration of the Internet into many aspects of (business) life, the need for coded information related to geographical concepts such as countries or places will increase. ISO 3166-1 is one of the ISO standards that help facilitate this integration process.

Therefore, it is strongly advised to use only the two-character country code from ISO 3166-1. Some financial reports (for example, the BTL91 reports) only display the ISO 3166-1 two-character country codes.

In LN, internal country codes can be linked to ISO codes in the Countries (tcmcs0510m000) session.

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