Data Reference Standard on Countries, Territories and Geographic areas - Data Reference Standard on Countries, Territories and Geographic areas

Data Dictionary

ID
HIST_ID
Type
text
Label
GC Historic Country Identifier
Description
Unique numeric identifier corresponding to a unique record of an entity in this list. The GC_COUNTRY_HIST_ID is the GC_COUNTRY_ID with the addition of a version number at the end. Every row must have a value in this column.
ID
GC_ID
Type
text
Label
GC Country Identifier
Description
Unique  numeric identifier of a country, territory or geographical area of the world. The number was arbitrarily assigned by GAC to the initial set of rows starting with 10001. Future rows will be assigned the next number in sequence. There is no business (or technical) meaning to the assignment of the value to the row. Every row must have a value in this column.
ID
NM_OFF_EN
Type
text
Label
GC Country Full Name English
Description
The complete English name for this row as defined by GAC
ID
NM_OFF_FR
Type
text
Label
GC Country Full Name French
Description
The complete French name for this row as defined by GAC
ID
NM_AB_EN
Type
text
Label
GC Country Short Name English
Description
The shortened (or common) English name for this row as defined by GAC
ID
NM_AB_FR
Type
text
Label
GC Country Short Name French
Description
The shortened (or common) French name for this row as defined by GAC
ID
STAT_CD
Type
text
Label
GC Country Status Code
Description
An identifier to denote the current or historical status of a record. Values: * 1 - 'Active' records on this list correspond to the current valid name for the country or area of interest. * 2 - 'Inactive' records include countries that are no longer recognised as sovereign states by the Canadian government (e.g. USSR, Yougoslavia, etc.) or previous names of 'active' country or area of interest (e.g. Burma --> Myanmar)
ID
STAT_DESC_EN
Type
text
Label
Country Status Description
Description
Current or historical status of a record.
ID
STAT_DESC_FR
Type
text
Label
Country Status Description (French)
Description
Current or historical status of a record.
ID
TYPE_CD
Type
text
Label
GC Country Type Code
Description
Indicates whether the row represents a country, territory, geographical area or disputed territory, or a special case. There are 6 possible values for this row: * 1 - Country: A country (nation state) that has jurisdiction over itself. In ISO terms, this is either a UN Member State or a UN Observer State. It may also be a country recognized by Canada but NOT recognized by the UN nor ISO. * 2 - Territory: A territory over which a country claims jurisdiction and exists either outside the primary borders of its parent country or of the territorial waters of its parent country. * 3 - Geographical area: A geographical area over which no country claims jurisdiction and exists outside any country's borders. * 4 - Disputed territory: A territory over which more than one country claims jurisdiction and where the dispute has not been resolved. * 5 - Special case: The remarks field will provide additional information to the reader. * 6 - Non-self-governing Territory: A territory identified by the UN as a non-self-governing territory.
ID
TYPE_DESC_EN
Type
text
Label
Country Type Description
Description
Indicates whether the row represents a country, territory, geographical area or disputed territory, or a special case.
ID
TYPE_DESC_FR
Type
text
Label
Country Type Description (French)
Description
Indicates whether the row represents a country, territory, geographical area or disputed territory, or a special case.
ID
EFF_DT
Type
text
Label
Effective Date
Description
Period of validity (start date) of the name of a country or area of interest, as of the time this name was recognised by the government of Canada. (*Note 1900 when start date is on or prior to 1900)
ID
EFF_FN_DT
Type
text
Label
Effective End Date
Description
Period of validity (end date) of the name of a country or area of interest, as of the time this name was deprecated by the government of Canada. (*Note end date is set to 2100 when the name of the country or area of interest is still current).
ID
OBSERVATIONS_EN
Type
text
Label
Observations
Description
English observations by data steward
ID
OBSERVATIONS_FR
Type
text
Label
Observations (French)
Description
Observations en Anglais par responsable des données
ID
GC_PAR_ID
Type
text
Label
Parent country ID
Description
The GC_COUNTRY_ID of the geographic entity from which this country or area of interest originated, through seceding from, or dissolution of a country or area of interest.
ID
JUR_ID
Type
text
Label
Administrative Juristiction ID
Description
The GC_COUNTRY_ID of the country that has administrative jurisdiction over the territory. Only rows where the GC Country Type code is 'Territory' (2) and the GC Country Status Code is 'Active' (1) will have a value. If there is no value, that means:   1) Its a country  2) its a geographical area and there is no country that claims jurisdiction  3) its a territory that has expired  4) its a area where there is a dispute or a special case (from Canada's perspective). The dispute may involve the countries that claim jurisdiction over the area, or the dispute may involve the nature of the area itself (is it a country or a territory).    When a value is assigned it must reference an existing GC_COUNTRY_ID where the TYPE_CD is 1.
ID
ISO_ALPHA_2_CD
Type
text
Label
ISO Alpha-2 Code
Description
The 2 digit code for this row as defined by the ISO standard 3166 part 1 or part 3. For rows not recognized on ISO 3166 (part 1 and part 3) no value will be provided. For additional information on the ISO 3166 standard, see https://www.iso.org/iso-3166-country-codes.html
ID
ISO_ALPHA_3_CD
Type
text
Label
ISO Alpha-3 Code
Description
The 3 digit code for this row as defined by the ISO standard 3166 part 1 or part 3. For rows not recognized on ISO 3166 (part 1 and part 3) no value will be provided. For additional information on the ISO 3166 standard, see https://www.iso.org/iso-3166-country-codes.html
ID
UN_ONU_CD
Type
text
Label
UN Country Numeric Code
Description
The Numeric code for this row as defined by the United Nations (UN). UN M49 or the Standard Country or Area Codes for Statistical Use (Series M, No. 49) is a standard for area codes used by the United Nations for statistical purposes, developed and maintained by the United Nations Statistics Division (https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/). For rows not recognized by this UN standard no value will be provided. For additional information, see https://unstats.un.org/unsd/classifications/Family/Detail/12
ID
MODIF_DT
Type
text
Label
Date Modified
Description
Date record was modified

Additional Information
Created May 23, 2024
Format CSV