HTML Country Code

Beginner

8 min read

Updated: Nov 2026

3 examples

238 codes

HTML country code tutorial — ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes in forms, data attributes, and lang region tags

Definition

Definition and Usage

An HTML country code is not a built-in HTML keyword. On the web it almost always means an ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 two-letter code—such as US, GB, or IN—that you place in HTML forms, custom attributes, and (as a region subtag) inside lang values like en-US.

What does a country code do in HTML?

It gives markup a stable, machine-readable nation identifier. Browsers do not look up a special “country” feature from the code alone; your HTML form, script, or server uses the value for shipping, localization, tax, or analytics.

Where do country codes appear in HTML?

Most often as <option value="US"> in a <select>, as data-country="GB" on a section, or as the region part of a BCP 47 tag on <html lang="en-US">.

When should you use them?

Any time an HTML page must submit or store a country: signup and checkout forms, region-specific content blocks, phone or address UIs, and locale tags that combine language + country (see HTML language codes).

HTML has no native country list.

Unlike elements and global attributes, country codes come from the ISO standard. Use alpha-2 consistently so forms and APIs stay interoperable.

Country code ≠ language code.

US is a country. en is a language. Do not put a bare country code in lang. Combine them only as lang="en-US".

Store the code, show the name.

In HTML forms, put the ISO code in value and the human-readable country name as the option text: <option value="US">United States</option>.

Syntax

HTML Syntax Patterns

There is no single country-code attribute in HTML. These are the patterns you will use most:

syntax.html

<option value=" CC">Country name</option>

data-attribute.html

<div data-country=" CC">...</div>

lang-region.html

<html lang=" xx-CC">

Replace CC with an ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code (uppercase by convention). Replace xx with an ISO 639 language code when building a BCP 47 tag.

Reference

Core HTML Concepts

Terms you will use when putting country codes into HTML:

Concept	Meaning in HTML
`ISO 3166-1 alpha-2`	Two-letter country codes such as `US`, `IN`, `DE`
`ISO 3166-1 alpha-3`	Three-letter codes (`USA`)—less common in HTML forms
`<select>` / `<option>`	Standard HTML controls for a country dropdown
`data-country`	Custom data attribute holding an ISO code for scripts
`lang` region subtag	Same alpha-2 codes inside BCP 47, e.g. `en-GB`
Language code	Identifies a language (`en`, `fr`)—not a nation
`hreflang`	Language (and optional region) of a linked alternate page

Popular HTML country codes

Country	Code	Try it
United States	`US`	Try it
United Kingdom	`GB`	Try it
India	`IN`	Try it
Canada	`CA`	Try it
Australia	`AU`	Try it
Germany	`DE`	Try it
France	`FR`	Try it
Japan	`JP`	Try it

Approach

How to Use Country Codes in HTML

Pick alpha-2 codes, put them in markup values users never have to type as raw codes, then read them in script or on the server.

Choose ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 (two letters) for HTML forms and APIs.
Build a <select name="country"> with <option value="CC">Name</option> for each country.
Sort options by localized country name for humans, not by code.
For region-specific blocks, add data-country="CC" and filter with JavaScript.
When declaring locale on the page, combine with a language code: <html lang="en-US">.

Task	HTML markup
Form option	`<option value="US">United States</option>`
Data attribute	`<section data-country="IN">...</section>`
Document locale	`<html lang="en-GB">`
Read in JS	`el.getAttribute("data-country")`

Try it

Live Preview

Choose a country code and see how it would appear as an HTML <option value> and a data-country attribute.

Code

HTML Examples

Copy-ready snippets for forms and regional content. Use Try It Yourself for a live HTML editor.

Example 1 — Country Select Dropdown

Use a native HTML <select>. Submit the ISO code; show the country name to the user.

HTML

<label for="country">Country:</label>
<select id="country" name="country">
  <option value="">-- Select --</option>
  <option value="US">United States</option>
  <option value="GB">United Kingdom</option>
  <option value="IN">India</option>
  <option value="CA">Canada</option>
  <option value="AU">Australia</option>
  <option value="DE">Germany</option>
</select>

Try It Yourself

How It Works

value holds the code. Servers and APIs prefer stable ISO alpha-2 values.
Text holds the name. Users see “United States”, not only US.
Empty first option forces an explicit choice when required.
Same pattern scales to the full table below.

Example 2 — `data-country` Sections

Mark HTML sections with a custom data attribute, then show or style them with JavaScript.

HTML

<div class="country-info" data-country="US">
  <h2>United States</h2>
  <p>US-specific content.</p>
</div>
<div class="country-info" data-country="GB">
  <h2>United Kingdom</h2>
  <p>UK-specific content.</p>
</div>

<script>
  var sections = document.querySelectorAll(".country-info");
  // Compare getAttribute("data-country") to "US", "GB", ...
</script>

Try It Yourself

How It Works

data-* attributes store machine values without affecting layout.
Same ISO codes as form options keep your HTML consistent.
querySelectorAll finds every country block for filtering.
Prefer progressive enhancement—content still readable if JS is off.

Example 3 — Full HTML Page Pattern

Combine document language with country-tagged sections on one page.

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 country = countryDivs[i].getAttribute("data-country");
      if (country === "US") {
        // United States logic
      } else if (country === "GB") {
        // United Kingdom logic
      }
    }
  </script>
</body>
</html>

Try It Yourself

How It Works

lang on html declares the page language (not the country).
data-country attaches ISO nation codes to content blocks.
A simple loop branches on each code for region-specific behaviour.
UTF-8 charset keeps international country names display-safe.

Reference

ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2 Country Codes

Full HTML country code reference (238 entries). Use these values in option, data-country, and as the region part of lang / hreflang tags.

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`

ISO alpha-2 covers countries and many territories, but not every geopolitical label. Prefer this list for HTML forms; refresh it if your product needs newly assigned codes.

Edge Cases & Pitfalls

Most HTML country-code mistakes mix nations with languages or store display names instead of codes.

lang

Putting a country code in lang alone

lang="US" is invalid. Use a language first: lang="en-US".

Using UK instead of GB

ISO alpha-2 for the United Kingdom is GB. Prefer GB in HTML forms and APIs.

value

Submitting the country name as value

Names vary by language and spelling. Store US in value; localize the visible label.

alpha-3

Mixing alpha-2 and alpha-3

Do not mix US and USA in the same HTML form field without converting on the server.

sort

Sorting the select by code

Users scan country names. Sort options alphabetically by the localized name in the HTML.

stale

Hard-coding a never-updated list

ISO occasionally assigns new codes. Keep your HTML/JSON source maintainable and refresh it when needed.

Compatibility

Browser Support

Country codes in HTML rely on ordinary markup (select, option, data-*, lang). Those features are universally supported in browsers.

✓ Baseline · Widely available

forms / data-* / lang region

ISO country codes themselves are a data standard. HTML form controls and attributes that carry them work in all major browsers.

100% HTML feature support (approx.)

Google Chrome All

Full support

Mozilla Firefox All

Full support

Apple Safari All

Full support

Microsoft Edge All

Full support

Opera All

Full support

Samsung Internet All

Full support

Internet Explorer All

Full support

select, data-*, lang Universally supported

Bottom line: You do not need a special browser API for country codes — use standard HTML values consistently.

Remember

Key Takeaways

Role: ISO alpha-2 codes identify countries inside HTML forms and attributes.
Forms: value="US" on options; show the country name as text.
Not language: combine with language codes only in tags like en-US.
UK tip: prefer GB for the United Kingdom in HTML.

One line: use ISO alpha-2 in HTML value / data-country → show names to users → combine with language only in BCP 47 tags.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an HTML country code?

HTML does not define its own country codes. In web pages, country codes usually mean ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 — two-letter codes like US, GB, and IN that you put in form values, data attributes, and lang region tags.

Where do I use country codes in HTML?

Common places: option value on a select dropdown, data-country on elements, hidden inputs submitted with a form, and the region subtag of lang such as en-US.

What is ISO 3166-1 alpha-2?

An international standard of two-letter country codes. It is the usual choice for HTML forms, payment APIs, and BCP 47 region subtags.

Is a country code the same as a language code?

No. Country codes identify nations (US, FR). Language codes identify languages (en, fr). Combine them in HTML as lang="en-US" for English as used in the United States.

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

Prefer alpha-2 (two letters) for HTML forms and most web APIs. Alpha-3 (USA) appears in some databases but is less common in front-end markup.

How do I build a country dropdown in HTML?

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

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

Definition and Usage

What does a country code do in HTML?

Where do country codes appear in HTML?

When should you use them?

HTML Syntax Patterns

Core HTML Concepts

Popular HTML country codes

How to Use Country Codes in HTML

Live Preview

HTML Examples

Example 1 — Country Select Dropdown

How It Works

Example 2 — data-country Sections

How It Works

Example 3 — Full HTML Page Pattern

How It Works

ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2 Country Codes

Edge Cases & Pitfalls

Putting a country code in lang alone

Using UK instead of GB

Submitting the country name as value

Mixing alpha-2 and alpha-3

Sorting the select by code

Hard-coding a never-updated list

Browser Support

forms / data-* / lang region

Key Takeaways

Frequently Asked Questions

Related HTML Topics

Language Codes

lang Attribute

<select> Tag

<option> Tag

HTML Charset

HTTP Status Codes

Try a country select in the editor

About the author

Example 2 — `data-country` Sections