Intended Audience and Contact Information
| Contact | Chief Data Officer, Office of the CIO |
|---|---|
| UDM Domain | Location |
| Intended Audience | Internal UBC |
Change Log
| Standard Version Date | Change Log |
|---|---|
| 2022-??-?? |
Align country names with Statistics Canada Countries and Areas of Interest (SCCAI) Non-ISO Country Code section and Country Descriptions Standard section. |
| 2022-03-09 |
New sub-section Reference Data Compliance for Data Integration of Compliance section |
Purpose
This standard aims to achieve consistency around the data collected for Countries and Subdivisions and the format in which it is collected and stored.
This standard is based on the International Organization for Standards' (ISO) ISO 3166, ISO 3166-1 and ISO 3166-21 and applies to all UBC applications collecting Countries and Subdivisions. Exceptions are listed in the Dispensation section.
Standard
The list of country codes and countries available as part of the ISO 3166 standard has been adopted in its entirety by UBC. The following versions of ISO 3166 and ISO 3166-1 are available, along with cross-mapping between them.
| Version | Definition | List | Collibra Link (CWL required) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ISO 3166 Country | The international standard-setting body designated country or dependent area. | ISO Country | |
| ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 | The international standard-setting body designated two letter combination for a country or a dependent area. | ISO 2-alpha Country Code | |
| ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 | The international standard-setting body designated three letter combination for a country or a dependent area. | ISO 3-alpha Country Code | |
| ISO 3166-1 numeric | The international standard-setting body designated three digit combination for a country or a dependent area. | ISO Numeric Country Code | |
| 2-alpha and 3-alpha Crosswalk | The translation mapping between the designated two letter combination and three letter combination of the same country or dependent area. | 2-alpha and 3-alpha Crosswalk | |
| Country and 2-alpha Crosswalk | The translation mapping between the name and the designated two letter combination of the same country or dependent area. | Country name and 2-alpha Crosswalk | |
| Country and 3-alpha Crosswalk | The translation mapping between the name and the designated three letter combination of the same country or dependent area. | Country name and 3-alpha Crosswalk |
Additional non-ISO customized country code from Statistics Canada has been adopted to align with Workday’s configuration:
| UBC Country Description | 2-alpha | 3-alpha |
|---|---|---|
| Kosovo | XK | XKO2 |
| Sark | XQ | XSQ2 |
2Standard Classification of Countries and Areas of Interest (SCCAI)
The country descriptions of ISO 3166-1 have been adopted with the following exceptions aligning with Workday’s configuration:
| 2-alpha | 3-alpha | ISO Country Description | UBC Country Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| BS | BHS | Bahamas (the) | Bahamas |
| BO | BOL | Bolivia (Plurinational State of) | Bolivia |
| IO | IOT | British Indian Ocean Territory (the) | British Indian Ocean Territory |
| VG | VGB | Virgin Islands (British) | British Virgin Islands |
| BN | BRN | Brunei Darussalam | Brunei |
| KY | CYM | Cayman Islands (the) | Cayman Islands |
| CF | CAF | Central African Republic (the) | Central African Republic |
| CC | CCK | Cocos (Keeling) Islands (the) | Cocos (Keeling) Islands |
| KM | COM | Comoros (the) | Comoros |
| CG | COG | Congo (the) | Congo |
| CD | COD | Congo (the Democratic Republic of the) | Congo, Democratic Republic of the |
| CK | COK | Cook Islands (the) | Cook Islands |
| DO | DOM | Dominican Republic (the) | Dominican Republic |
| FK | FLK | Falkland Islands (the) [Malvinas] | Falkland Islands |
| FO | FRO | Faroe Islands (the) | Faroe Islands |
| GM | GMB | Gambia (the) | Gambia |
| VA | VAT | Holy See (the) | Holy See (Vatican City State) |
| IR | IRN | Iran (Islamic Republic of) | Iran |
| KP | PRK | Korea (the Democratic People's Republic of) | Korea, North |
| KR | KOR | Korea (the Republic of) | Korea, South |
| XK | XKO2 | Kosovo | |
| LA | LAO | Lao People's Democratic Republic (the) | Laos |
| MH | MHL | Marshall Islands (the) | Marshall Islands |
| FM | FSM | Micronesia (Federated States of) | Micronesia, Federated States of |
| MD | MDA | Moldova (the Republic of) | Moldova |
| NL | NLD | Netherlands (the) | Netherlands |
| NE | NER | Niger (the) | Niger |
| MP | MNP | Northern Mariana Islands (the) | Northern Mariana Islands |
| PS | PSE | Palestine, State of | Palestine |
| PH | PHL | Philippines (the) | Philippines |
| RU | RUS | Russian Federation (the) | Russian Federation |
| MF | MAF | Saint Martin (French part) | Saint Martin |
| XQ | XSQ2 | Sark | |
| SX | SXM | Sint Maarten (Dutch part) | Sint Maarten |
| SD | SDN | Sudan (the) | Sudan |
| SY | SYR | Syrian Arab Republic (the) | Syria |
| TW | TWN | Taiwan (Province of China) | Taiwan |
| TZ | TZA | Tanzania, the United Republic of | Tanzania |
| TC | TCA | Turks and Caicos Islands (the) | Turks and Caicos Islands |
| VI | VIR | Virgin Islands (U.S.) | U. S. Virgin Islands |
| AE | ARE | United Arab Emirates (the) | United Arab Emirates |
| GB | GBR | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the) | United Kingdom |
| UM | UMI | United States Minor Outlying Islands (the) | United States Minor Outlying Islands |
| US | USA | United States of America (the) | United States of America |
| VE | VEN | Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) | Venezuela |
| VN | VNM | Viet Nam | Vietnam |
See Country, ISO 2-alpha Country Code, ISO 3-alpha Country Code, and ISO Numeric Country Code for a complete list.
2Standard Classification of Countries and Areas of Interest (SCCAI)
ISO's standard ISO 3166-2 comprises of all subdivisions such as State, Province, County, Parish, etc. The list of subdivisions available as part of the ISO 3166-2 standard has been adopted in its entirety as a standard for State/Province data at UBC. The list of subdivisions from ISO 3166-2 can be found in Country Subdivision.
Compliance
Compliance to this standard is required at every stage of the data lifecycle with the exception of dispensations listed on the Dispensation section.
- Applications where Countries and Subdivisions are collected, must collect this information as recommended in this standard.
- Enterprise Data Integration must adopt this standard.
Reference Data Compliance for Data Integration
The use of accepted reference data values in this standard for data integration among applications must comply with the enterprise integration pattern of leveraging the reference data common service API (Application Programming Interface) published in UBC MuleSoft Exchange.
Any application that intends to access real-time, case-level reference data should have the application owner or manager complete and submit a Request API Access form.
For any compliance questions or requests for a dispensation temporarily, please contact the Enterprise Data Governance Team.
Dispensation
Legacy systems are exempt from this data standard. As systems are replaced, adoption of this standard is required. Examples of legacy systems are:
- Student Information System (SIS)
| Crosswalk | Student Information System (SIS) | Collibra Link (CWL required) |
|---|---|---|
| 4-alpha 2-alpha Crosswalk | The translation mapping between legacy four letter combination and the designated two letter combination of the same country or dependent area. | 4-alpha 2-alpha Crosswalk |
As existing systems change to adopt this standard, the Enterprise Data Governance team needs to be informed.
Related Documents
- Glossary for ISO 3166 - Codes for countries and their subdivisions
- Statistics Canada: Standard Classification of Countries and Areas of Interest (SCCAI)
- Statistics Canada: Standard Classification of Countries and Areas of Interest (SCCAI) 2019
- Statistics Canada: Differences between SCCAI 2019 and ISO 3166-1:2013
- Statistics Canada: Current and Historical Countries and Areas of Interest 2019
- United Nations - Standard country or area codes for statistical use (M49)