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Staff Request for Advice of GAC
On Definition of Geographic Regions

Sent: 9 June, 2000


From: Andrew McLaughlin
Sent: Friday, June 09, 2000
To: Paul Twomey
Subject: Request for Advice: Allocation of Countries and Territories to Geographic Regions

Dear Paul:

This note is a formal request for advice from the GAC. The ICANN staff seeks the GAC's views on the proper allocation of countries, territories, and distinct economies as recognized in international fora among the five geographic regions defined by the ICANN Bylaws.

The GAC's advice is needed on a relatively urgent basis, because ICANN will be conducting regionally-based At Large elections for the ICANN Board over the next few months. As supported by the GAC, a candidate will be assigned to the region of her/his citizenship, while an At Large member will vote according to her/his place of residence. Accordingly, every country, territory, and distinct economy as recognized in international fora must be placed within one of the five regions. As a practical matter, the allocation must be finalized at the ICANN meetings in Yokohama (July 13-17, 2000).

The ICANN Bylaws define five geographic regions: Europe; Asia/Australia/Pacific; Latin America/Caribbean islands; Africa; North America. See Article V, Section 6 of the ICANN Bylaws. The Bylaws do not provide any further guidance as to the appropriate definition of the five regions. Attached to this email is ICANN's current list of countries, territories and distinct economies as recognized in international fora, primarily drawn from the ISO 3166-1 list of code elements. Our objective is a comprehensive division of this list among the five regions.

Let me highlight for your attention two particular questions:

(1) The Middle East.

The Bylaws do not specify whether the Middle East should be grouped with Africa or with Asia/Australia/Pacific. The ICANN staff observes that, for Internet addressing purposes, the Middle East countries have been served by the same regional Internet registry as North Africa (RIPE NCC).

(2) The Caucasus.

The Bylaws do not specify whether the nations of the Caucasus (i.e., Azerbeijan, Armenia, and Georgia) should be grouped with Europe or with Asia/Australia/Pacific. The ICANN staff observes that, for Internet addressing purposes, the Caucasus countries have been served by the same regional Internet registry as Europe (RIPE NCC).

Let me know if I can provide any further assistance.

On behalf of the ICANN staff, let me thank in advance you and the members of the GAC for your timely advice.

Best regards,

--Andrew

===========================

List of Countries, Territories, and Distinct Economies

af Afghanistan
al Albania
dz Algeria
as American Samoa
ad Andorra
ao Angola
ai Anguilla
aq Antartica
ag Antigua and Barbuda
ar Argentina
am Armenia
aw Aruba
ac Ascension Island
au Australia
at Austria
az Azerbaijan
bs Bahamas
bh Bahrain
bd Bangladesh
bb Barbados
by Belarus
be Belgium
bz Belize
bj Benin
bm Bermuda
bt Bhutan
bo Bolivia
ba Bosnia and Herzegovina
bw Botswana
bv Bouvet Island
br Brazil
io British Indian Ocean Territory
bn Brunei Darussalam
bg Bulgaria
bf Burkina Faso
bi Burundi
kh Cambodia
cm Cameroon
ca Canada
cv Cape Verde
ky Cayman Islands
cf Central African Republic
td Chad
cl Chile
cn China
cx Christmas Island
cc Cocos (Keeling) Islands
co Colombia
km Comoros
cd Congo, Democratic People's Republic
cg Congo, Republic of
ck Cook Islands
cr Costa Rica
ci Cote d'Ivoire
hr Croatia/Hrvatska
cu Cuba
cy Cyprus
cz Czech Republic
dk Denmark
dj Djibouti
dm Dominica
do Dominican Republic
tp East Timor
ec Ecuador
eg Egypt
sv El Salvador
gq Equatorial Guinea
er Eritrea
ee Estonia
et Ethiopia
fk Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)
fo Faroe Islands
fj Fiji
fi Finland
fr France
gf French Guiana
pf French Polynesia
tf French Southern Territories
ga Gabon
gm Gambia
ge Georgia
de Germany
gh Ghana
gi Gibraltar
gr Greece
gl Greenland
gd Grenada
gp Guadeloupe
gu Guam
gt Guatemala
gg Guernsey
gn Guinea
gw Guinea-Bissau
gy Guyana
ht Haiti
hm Heard and McDonald Islands
va Holy See (Vatican City State)
hn Honduras
hk Hong Kong SAR, China
hu Hungary
is Iceland
in India
id Indonesia
ir Iran (Islamic Republic of)
iq Iraq
ie Ireland
im Isle of Man
il Israel
it Italy
jm Jamaica
jp Japan
je Jersey
jo Jordan
kz Kazakhstan
ke Kenya
ki Kiribati
kp Korea, Democratic People's Republic
kr Korea, Republic of
kw Kuwait
kg Kyrgyzstan
la Lao, People's Democratic Republic
lv Latvia
lb Lebanon
ls Lesotho
lr Liberia
ly Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
li Liechtenstein
lt Lithuania
lu Luxembourg
mo Macau, China
mk Macedonia, Former Yugoslav Republic
mg Madagascar
mw Malawi
my Malaysia
mv Maldives
ml Mali
mt Malta
mh Marshall Islands
mq Martinique
mr Mauritania
mu Mauritius
yt Mayotte
mx Mexico
fm Micronesia, Federal State of
md Moldova, Republic of
mc Monaco
mn Mongolia
ms Montserrat
ma Morocco
mz Mozambique
mm Myanmar
na Namibia
nr Nauru
np Nepal
nl Netherlands
an Netherlands Antilles
nc New Caledonia
nz New Zealand
ni Nicaragua
ne Niger
ng Nigeria
nu Niue
nf Norfolk Island
mp Northern Mariana Islands
no Norway
om Oman
pk Pakistan
pw Palau
ps Palestinian Territory
pa Panama
pg Papua New Guinea
py Paraguay
pe Peru
ph Philippines
pn Pitcairn Island
pl Poland
pt Portugal
pr Puerto Rico
qa Qatar
re Reunion Island
ro Romania
ru Russian Federation
rw Rwanda
sh Saint Helena
kn Saint Kitts and Nevis
lc Saint Lucia
pm Saint Pierre and Miquelon
vc Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
ws Samoa
sm San Marino
st Sao Tome and Principe
sa Saudi Arabia
sn Senegal
sc Seychelles
sl Sierra Leone
sg Singapore
sk Slovak Republic
si Slovenia
sb Solomon Islands
so Somalia
za South Africa
gs South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
su Soviet Union
es Spain
lk Sri Lanka
sd Sudan
sr Suriname
sj Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands
sz Swaziland
se Sweden
ch Switzerland
sy Syrian Arab Republic
tw Taiwan, China
tj Tajikistan
tz Tanzania
th Thailand
tg Togo
tk Tokelau
to Tonga
tt Trinidad and Tobago
tn Tunisia
tr Turkey
tm Turkmenistan
tc Turks and Caicos Islands
tv Tuvalu
ug Uganda
ua Ukraine
ae United Arab Emirates
uk United Kingdom
us United States
uy Uruguay
um US Minor Outlying Islands
uz Uzbekistan
vu Vanuatu
ve Venezuela
vn Vietnam
vg Virgin Islands (British)
vi Virgin Islands (USA)
wf Wallis and Futuna Islands
eh Western Sahara
ye Yemen
yu Yugoslavia
zr Zaire
zm Zambia
zw Zimbabwe

 


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