ICANN|ARCHIVES

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

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