Talk:ISO 3166-3

AIDJ

Is there any reason why the old code and new cold are connected together (without space or separator of any kind), like AIDJ? After each code, it is already clearly explained that, say, AI became DJ. Having the two codes joined look confusing like these old codes were four-lettered. If there's no reason why it is so, the 2nd code (the new) should be removed. --Menchi 11:15, 13 Nov 2003 (UTC)

The reason is that these are 4-letter codes in ISO 3166-3. They are four letters long to distinguish them from the 2-letter and 3-letter codes in current use. However, I think the list was clearer as I originally did it (with just the old 2-letter codes). Perhaps we should give both the old 2-letter code and also the ISO 3166-3 4-letter code - this would be a bit redundant, but it would probably be clearer than what we have at present. --Zundark 17:16, 5 Dec 2003 (UTC)

What about the three-letter code? I'm curious about what the three-letter codes were for, say, the Soviet Union or Yugoslavia. -Branddobbe 21:42, Jul 3, 2004 (UTC)

BYAA

I was syncing our government list with the Wiki one and noticed BYAA was missing. I double checked this with martinez_AT_iso_DOT_org (a member of ISO 3166/MA) and he responded that it should be included. Following is his response:
The ISO 3166-3:1999 code for Byelorussian SSR is "BYAA". SSR is not an ISO 3166-3 code, it is an accronym for "Soviet Socialist Republic". The former ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 and alpha-3 codes for Byelorussian SSR were; BY, BYS. These were valid from 1974 to 1992
--Reow 01:50, 18 Jun 2008 (UTC)

Shouldn't UAAA also be included then as well. The SUHH entry on this page mentions that BY and UA already had their own codes, but only BYAA is mentioned above. One might think, with Ukrainian SSR changing its name to Ukraine, but keeping the codes, would be almost exactly the same situation with Belarus/Byelorussian SSR? --Canuckguy (talk) 01:30, 5 October 2008 (UTC)

I don't think there's an entry for Ukrainian SSR in ISO 3166-3. Perhaps because while the change in Belarus's name involved a code change (the alpha-3 code was changed from BYS to BLR), the change in Ukraine's name did not involve any code change. Chanheigeorge (talk) 09:05, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Five or fifty years?

This page says deleted codes are reserved for fifty years, while the 3166-2 pages says it's five years. Which is right? 68.156.95.34 (talk) 05:26, 29 July 2015 (UTC)

ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 and ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 both say the codes can only be used during a transitional period of five years. However, further in the table, the codes seem to be reserved for a period of fifty years before they can be reassigned. Codes like ISO_3166-2:CS were already reassigned after a shorter period, but according to the page for CS, it did not appear for Czechoslovakia in the first publication of the ISO standard. --Aethy (talk) 11:05, 14 April 2021 (UTC)