Country Codes Sourcebook ======================== by Maurits van der Veen last modified: October 2008 file format: Microsoft Excel Workbook (Office 2004) This file contains side-by-side listings of different sets of country codes used in international datasets. This makes it much easier to merge datasets together that use not only different sets of countries but different codes to identify those countries (or different spellings of the names of the country). Note: not all countries in the list are still in existence or are independent. Any corrections and updates are most welcome. Please email to maurits@uga.edu Variables --------- Name - standard name Name2 - alternative spelling, former name, etc. IMFcode - 3-digit code used in IMF publications (IFS, DOTS) ICPSRcode - 3-digit code used in Correlates of War dataset & other ICPSR datsets WBcode - World Bank 3-letter country code (variants noted in notes) This code is now also used by the Penn World Tables (identified as ISO code) McCcode - McClelland 3-letter country code PWTcode - 3-digit code used in Penn World Tables 5.6 dataset CapCode - 4-letter country code from National Capabilities dataset (I09904) Notes - Some variant and former codings for different variables Known problem cases ------------------- When countries split up or (re-)unify, different datasets follow different protocols. It is impossible to anticipate the choice made in a particular dataset, so some changes by hand may be necessary. Common cases where this arises: 1. Germany: some datasets consider the re-unified post-1991 Germany to be a new country (with a new code); others keep the code they assigned to West Germany prior to unification. 2. Yugoslavia: some datasets consider all other states to have broken away from Serbia, leaving Serbia with the code that used to be assigned to all of Yugoslavia. Others created new codes for all post-Yugoslav republics. An added problem is that Montenegro split off from Serbia considerably later than the others, so some datasets may keep the Yugoslavia code until that last timepoint. 3. Russia/USSR: most datasets consider Russia to be the same state as the USSR, but a few assigned it a new code after the break-up of the USSR 4. Some other countries that have split or unified and warrant special attention: - Belgium & Luxembourg vs. Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union (individual-country economic data available only after 1999) - Korea vs. North & South Korea (split 1945) - Vietnam vs. North & South Vietnam (split 1955, unified 1975) - Yemen vs. North & South Yemen (unified 1990) - Czechoslovakia vs. Czech & Slovak Republics (split 1993) Temporary IMFcode values ------------------------ Real IMF codes start at 100. There are some countries in the dataset for which I have unable to track down the IMF code so far; they are mostly dependent territories, but they pop up in some datasets. I have assigned these states dummy IMF codes (less than 100) for the time being, as follows: 01 Abu Dhabi 03 Andorra 28 Azores 29 Bophutatswana 30 Canary Islands 22 Channel Islands 31 Christmas Islands 32 Cocos Islands 40 Cyprus, Turkish 33 Easter Island 23 Isle of Man 06 Liechtenstein 36 Madeira 08 Mayotte 09 Monaco 11 Niue 37 Norfolk Islands 12 Northern Marianas Islands 24 Pacific Islands (Trust territory) 25 Palestinian Administration Areas / West Bank and Gaza 13 Puerto Rico 41 South Vietnam 17 Tokelau 38 Transkei 18 Turks & Caicos Islands 19 Vatican / Papal States 39 Venda 20 Virgin Islands (UK) 21 Wallis & Futuna