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ICANN Yokohama Meeting Topic: Definition of ICANN's Geographic Regions

Posted: 13 June 2000
Deadline for Public Comments: 10 July 2000

At its Yokohama meeting, the ICANN Board of Directors will be required to determine the specific definition of ICANN's five geographic regions, in connection with this year's At Large membership election. This page provides some background information, and asks for public review and comment. The deadline for public comments is July 10, 2000.

Background

The ICANN Bylaws emphasize the importance of geographic diversity for ICANN's Board of Directors. In particular, the Bylaws state the following requirements:

Section 6. INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATION

In order to ensure broad international representation on the Board: (1) at least one citizen of a country located in each of the geographic regions listed in this Section 6 shall serve as an At Large Director on the Board (other than the Initial Board) at all times; and (2) no more than one-half (1/2) of the total number of At Large Directors serving at any given time shall be citizens of countries located in any one Geographic Region.
....
As used herein, each of the following shall be a "Geographic Region": Europe; Asia/Australia/Pacific; Latin America/Caribbean islands; Africa; North America. The specific countries included in each Geographic Region shall be determined by the Board, and this Section shall be reviewed by the Board from time to time (but at least every three years) to determine whether any change is appropriate, taking account of the evolution of the Internet.

(ICANN Bylaws, Art. V, Sec. 6). The Board must therefore place each country, territory, and distinct economy into one of these five regions:

  • Europe;
  • Asia/Australia/Pacific;
  • Latin America/Caribbean islands;
  • Africa;
  • North America.

The Board may also consider whether the names of the regions need to be adjusted to accurately reflect their geographic areas of coverage.

Because of the relevance of this issue to the interests of governments, the ICANN staff asked for the advice of the Governmental Advisory Committee via email on 9 June, 2000.

Highlighted Questions

(1) The Middle East.

Should the Middle East be grouped with Africa, or with Asia/Australia/Pacific? For IP address allocation purposes, the Middle East countries are currently served by the same regional Internet registry as North Africa (RIPE NCC).

(2) The Caucasus.

Should the nations of the Caucasus (i.e., Azerbeijan, Armenia, and Georgia) be grouped with Europe or with Asia/Australia/Pacific? For IP address allocation purposes, the Caucasus countries are currently served by the same regional Internet registry as Europe (RIPE NCC).

Click here to enter the Public Comment Forum on the definition of ICANN's geographic regions.

List of Countries, Territories, and Distinct Economies
(based on ISO 3166-1 code elements)

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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