HTML Country Code

Beginner

⏱️ 8 min read

📚 Updated: Jul 2026

🎯 3 Try It + 238 codes

ISO 3166-1

Overview

Introduction

When you build international websites, checkout forms, or signup flows, you often need a standard way to identify countries. HTML does not ship its own country list—developers use ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes (two letters) in markup, forms, and JavaScript.

This guide explains what those codes are, how to use them in HTML, and provides a complete reference table plus Try It demos with plain HTML and no CSS.

What You’ll Learn

ISO alpha-2

Two letters.

Forms

Select options.

data-country

Custom attrs.

Full list

238 codes.

vs lang

Not the same.

Examples

Real markup.

Fundamentals

What is HTML Country Code?

HTML does not have specific country codes defined within its standard.

However, when it comes to specifying country-related information within HTML, the commonly accepted approach is to use ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes.

These are two-letter codes that represent countries and are widely used across various systems and standards.

For example, if you need to indicate the country of a user or display country-specific information, you can use ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes within your HTML markup or JavaScript code.

💡

Beginner Tip

Store the code (US) as the value in forms and the country name as visible text: <option value="US">United States</option>.

Example

Country Code Example in HTML

Here’s an example of how you can use country codes in HTML:

html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <title>HTML Country Code Example</title>
</head>
<body>
  <h1>Welcome to our website!</h1>
  <p>We are pleased to serve customers from different countries.</p>

  <div class="country-info" data-country="US">
    <h2>United States</h2>
    <p>This section contains specific information for customers in the United States.</p>
  </div>

  <div class="country-info" data-country="GB">
    <h2>United Kingdom</h2>
    <p>This section contains specific information for customers in the United Kingdom.</p>
  </div>

  <script>
    var countryDivs = document.getElementsByClassName('country-info');
    for (var i = 0; i < countryDivs.length; i++) {
      var countryDiv = countryDivs[i];
      var country = countryDiv.getAttribute('data-country');
      if (country === 'US') {
        // Do something for the United States
      } else if (country === 'GB') {
        // Do something for the United Kingdom
      } else {
        // Handle other countries
      }
    }
  </script>
</body>
</html>

Try It Yourself

Cheat Sheet

⚡ Quick Reference — Popular Codes

United States

US

United Kingdom

GB

India

IN

Canada

CA

Australia

AU

Germany

DE

Reference

ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2 Country Codes

Here are ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes for reference (238 entries):

Country	ISO Code
Afghanistan	`AF`
Albania	`AL`
Algeria	`DZ`
American Samoa	`AS`
Andorra	`AD`
Angola	`AO`
Antarctica	`AQ`
Antigua And Barbuda	`AG`
Argentina	`AR`
Armenia	`AM`
Aruba	`AW`
Australia	`AU`
Austria	`AT`
Azerbaijan	`AZ`
Bahamas	`BS`
Bahrain	`BH`
Bangladesh	`BD`
Barbados	`BB`
Belarus	`BY`
Belgium	`BE`
Belize	`BZ`
Benin	`BJ`
Bermuda	`BM`
Bhutan	`BT`
Bolivia	`BO`
Bosnia And Herzegovina	`BA`
Botswana	`BW`
Bouvet Island	`BV`
Brazil	`BR`
British Indian Ocean Territory	`IO`
Brunei Darussalam	`BN`
Bulgaria	`BG`
Burkina Faso	`BF`
Burundi	`BI`
Cambodia	`KH`
Cameroon	`CM`
Canada	`CA`
Cape Verde	`CV`
Cayman Islands	`KY`
Central African Republic	`CF`
Chad	`TD`
Chile	`CL`
China	`CN`
Christmas Island	`CX`
Cocos (Keeling) Islands	`CC`
Colombia	`CO`
Comoros	`KM`
Congo	`CG`
Congo, The Democratic Republic Of The	`CD`
Cook Islands	`CK`
Costa Rica	`CR`
Côte D'ivoire	`CI`
Croatia	`HR`
Cuba	`CU`
Cyprus	`CY`
Czech Republic	`CZ`
Denmark	`DK`
Djibouti	`DJ`
Dominica	`DM`
Dominican Republic	`DO`
Ecuador	`EC`
Egypt	`EG`
El Salvador	`SV`
Equatorial Guinea	`GQ`
Eritrea	`ER`
Estonia	`EE`
Ethiopia	`ET`
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)	`FK`
Faroe Islands	`FO`
Fiji	`FJ`
Finland	`FI`
France	`FR`
French Guiana	`GF`
French Polynesia	`PF`
French Southern Territories	`TF`
Gabon	`GA`
Gambia	`GM`
Georgia	`GE`
Germany	`DE`
Ghana	`GH`
Gibraltar	`GI`
Greece	`GR`
Greenland	`GL`
Grenada	`GD`
Guadeloupe	`GP`
Guam	`GU`
Guatemala	`GT`
Guinea	`GN`
Guinea-Bissau	`GW`
Guyana	`GY`
Haiti	`HT`
Heard Island And Mcdonald Islands	`HM`
Honduras	`HN`
Hong Kong	`HK`
Hungary	`HU`
Iceland	`IS`
India	`IN`
Indonesia	`ID`
Iran, Islamic Republic Of	`IR`
Iraq	`IQ`
Ireland	`IE`
Israel	`IL`
Italy	`IT`
Jamaica	`JM`
Japan	`JP`
Jordan	`JO`
Kazakhstan	`KZ`
Kenya	`KE`
Kiribati	`KI`
Korea, Democratic People's Republic Of	`KP`
Korea, Republic Of	`KR`
Kuwait	`KW`
Kyrgyzstan	`KG`
Lao People's Democratic Republic(Laos)	`LA`
Latvia	`LV`
Lebanon	`LB`
Lesotho	`LS`
Liberia	`LR`
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya	`LY`
Liechtenstein	`LI`
Lithuania	`LT`
Luxembourg	`LU`
Macao	`MO`
Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic Of	`MK`
Madagascar	`MG`
Malawi	`MW`
Malaysia	`MY`
Maldives	`MV`
Mali	`ML`
Malta	`MT`
Marshall Islands	`MH`
Martinique	`MQ`
Mauritania	`MR`
Mauritius	`MU`
Mayotte	`YT`
Mexico	`MX`
Micronesia, Federated States Of	`FM`
Moldova, Republic Of	`MD`
Monaco	`MC`
Mongolia	`MN`
Montenegro	`ME`
Montserrat	`MS`
Morocco	`MA`
Mozambique	`MZ`
Myanmar	`MM`
Namibia	`NA`
Nauru	`NR`
Nepal	`NP`
Netherlands	`NL`
Netherlands Antilles	`AN`
New Caledonia	`NC`
New Zealand	`NZ`
Nicaragua	`NI`
Niger	`NE`
Nigeria	`NG`
Niue	`NU`
Norfolk Island	`NF`
Northern Mariana Islands	`MP`
Norway	`NO`
Oman	`OM`
Pakistan	`PK`
Palau	`PW`
Palestinian Territory, Occupied	`PS`
Panama	`PA`
Papua New Guinea	`PG`
Paraguay	`PY`
Peru	`PE`
Philippines	`PH`
Pitcairn	`PN`
Poland	`PL`
Portugal	`PT`
Puerto Rico	`PR`
Qatar	`QA`
Réunion	`RE`
Romania	`RO`
Russian Federation	`RU`
Rwanda	`RW`
Saint Helena	`SH`
Saint Kitts And Nevis	`KN`
Saint Lucia	`LC`
Saint Pierre And Miquelon	`PM`
Saint Vincent And The Grenadines	`VC`
Samoa	`WS`
San Marino	`SM`
Sao Tome And Principe	`ST`
Saudi Arabia	`SA`
Senegal	`SN`
Serbia	`RS`
Seychelles	`SC`
Sierra Leone	`SL`
Singapore	`SG`
Slovakia	`SK`
Slovenia	`SI`
Solomon Islands	`SB`
Somalia	`SO`
South Africa	`ZA`
South Georgia And The South Sandwich Islands	`GS`
Spain	`ES`
Sri Lanka	`LK`
Sudan	`SD`
Suriname	`SR`
Svalbard And Jan Mayen	`SJ`
Swaziland	`SZ`
Sweden	`SE`
Switzerland	`CH`
Syrian Arab Republic	`SY`
Taiwan	`TW`
Tajikistan	`TJ`
Tanzania, United Republic Of	`TZ`
Thailand	`TH`
Timor-Leste	`TL`
Togo	`TG`
Tokelau	`TK`
Tonga	`TO`
Trinidad And Tobago	`TT`
Tunisia	`TN`
Turkey	`TR`
Turkmenistan	`TM`
Turks And Caicos Islands	`TC`
Tuvalu	`TV`
Uganda	`UG`
Ukraine	`UA`
United Arab Emirates	`AE`
United Kingdom	`GB`
United States	`US`
United States Minor Outlying Islands	`UM`
Uruguay	`UY`
Uzbekistan	`UZ`
Vanuatu	`VU`
Venezuela	`VE`
Viet Nam	`VN`
Virgin Islands, British	`VG`
Virgin Islands, U.S.	`VI`
Wallis And Futuna	`WF`
Western Sahara	`EH`
Yemen	`YE`
Zambia	`ZM`
Zimbabwe	`ZW`

You can use these country codes in various contexts, such as within form fields, data attributes, or JavaScript functions, to handle country-specific logic or display relevant information.

It’s important to note that while ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes are widely used, they might not cover all geopolitical entities or regions. In some cases, there are additional codes defined for specific regions or territories.

Hands-On

Examples Gallery

Three Try It demos: a country <select>, data-country sections, and the full reference page pattern.

Example 1 — Country Select Dropdown

html

<select name="country">
  <option value="US">United States</option>
  <option value="GB">United Kingdom</option>
  <option value="IN">India</option>
</select>

Try It Yourself

Example 2 — data-country Attribute

html

<div data-country="US">US content</div>
<div data-country="GB">UK content</div>

Try It Yourself

Applications

🚀 Common Use Cases

Checkout forms — shipping and billing country fields.
Phone inputs — pair country code with dial prefix (+1, +44).
Localization — show prices in local currency by country.
Compliance — GDPR, tax rules, or age gates by region.
Analytics — segment users by ISO country code.
hreflang / SEO — combine with language for en-US, en-GB.

Guidelines

Best Practices

Use ISO alpha-2 — stick to the standard two-letter codes for interoperability.
Store codes, display names — submit US to the server, show “United States” to users.
Sort for users — list countries alphabetically by localized name, not by code.
Do not confuse with lang — country is not language; see HTML lang attribute.
Keep lists updated — ISO occasionally adds or changes codes; refresh your data source periodically.

Wrap-Up

Conclusion

Country codes in HTML are really ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes used inside your markup and scripts. They power international forms, regional content, and APIs across the web.

Bookmark the table above as your reference, try the demos in the editor, and continue with HTML language codes (lang) for declaring page language.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

What is an HTML country code?

HTML does not define its own country codes. In web development, country codes usually mean ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 — two-letter codes like US for United States, GB for United Kingdom, and IN for India.

Where do I use country codes in HTML?

Common places: value attributes on option elements in a select dropdown, data-country attributes on elements, form field names submitted to a server, and JavaScript for showing region-specific content.

What is ISO 3166-1 alpha-2?

It is an international standard of two-letter country codes maintained by the ISO. It is used by HTML forms, APIs, payment systems, and the lang attribute region subtag (e.g. en-US).

Is a country code the same as a language code?

No. Country codes identify nations (US, FR). Language codes identify languages (en, fr). They are often combined in BCP 47 tags like en-US (English as used in the United States).

Should I use alpha-2 or alpha-3 codes?

For HTML forms and most web APIs, alpha-2 (two letters) is standard. Alpha-3 (three letters, e.g. USA) appears in some databases but is less common in front-end markup.

How do I build a country dropdown?

Use a select element with option value set to the ISO code and visible text set to the country name. Load options from this reference table or a maintained JSON list.

Did you know?

The lang attribute can include a region subtag that uses the same ISO country codes: lang="en-US" means English as used in the United States, while lang="en-GB" is British English.

Try a country select in the editor

Pick a country from the dropdown and see its ISO alpha-2 code—plain HTML, no CSS.

Open Try It editor →

About the author

Mari Selvan M P 🔗

Developer, cloud engineer, and technical writer

Experience 12 years building web and cloud systems
Focus Full Stack Development, AWS, and Developer Education

I write practical tutorials so students and working developers can learn by doing—from databases and APIs to deployment on AWS.

AWS Certified Developer – Associate (Credly)

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HTML video Tag HTML Language Code

HTML Country Code

Introduction

What You’ll Learn

ISO alpha-2

Forms

data-country

Full list

vs lang

Examples

What is HTML Country Code?

Country Code Example in HTML

⚡ Quick Reference — Popular Codes

ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2 Country Codes

Examples Gallery

Example 1 — Country Select Dropdown

Example 2 — data-country Attribute

🚀 Common Use Cases

Best Practices

Conclusion

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

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