Definition ISO 3166-2:SA is the ISO 3166-2 subset of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). It defines codes for the administrative subdivisions of Saudi Arabia (SA), the country's ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code.
Overview ISO 3166-2:SA establishes a standardized system of codes to represent the primary administrative divisions of Saudi Arabia. These codes are used for various international applications, including data processing, shipping, geographic referencing, and internet domain registration. The standard provides unique alphanumeric codes for each of Saudi Arabia's 13 administrative regions (also referred to as provinces or emirates).
Each code in ISO 3166-2:SA consists of two parts, separated by a hyphen. The first part is "SA", the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code for Saudi Arabia. The second part is a two-letter code uniquely identifying a specific region within the country. For example, "SA-01" corresponds to Riyadh Province, and "SA-02" refers to Makkah Province.
The standard is maintained and updated by the ISO 3166 Maintenance Agency, which ensures consistency and accuracy in response to administrative changes.
Etymology/Origin The designation "ISO 3166-2:SA" follows the naming convention of the ISO 3166 standard. "ISO" refers to the International Organization for Standardization. "3166" is the standard number, and "2" indicates Part 2, which covers subdivision codes. "SA" is the two-letter country code derived from the country’s name, Saudi Arabia, in accordance with ISO 3166-1.
Characteristics
- Part of the ISO 3166-2 standard for country subdivision codes.
- Contains codes for 13 provinces (emirates) of Saudi Arabia.
- Codes are two letters or digits following "SA-".
- Officially recognized and used in international systems requiring geographic coding.
- Revisions may occur if administrative boundaries or names change in Saudi Arabia.
Related Topics
- ISO 3166-1: Country codes for the representation of country names.
- ISO 3166-2: Standard for country subdivision codes.
- Administrative divisions of Saudi Arabia.
- International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
- Geographic coding systems.