Stream: terminology
Topic: Code System for the 'UK' country code
Giorgio Cangioli (Mar 10 2021 at 18:46):
I'm still struggling in finding the code system the 'UK' country code belong to.. this is a thread I started some time ago in the europe stream https://chat.fhir.org/#narrow/stream/242580-europe/topic/Code.20System.20for.20'UK'. Have you any suggestion ?
Vassil Peytchev (Mar 10 2021 at 22:12):
Looks like UK is an informal designation, and the ISO code is GB: https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/united_kingdom.htm
Elliot Silver (Mar 10 2021 at 22:35):
Is it from ISO 3166?
Kevin Mayfield (Mar 11 2021 at 06:17):
What is the use case? For practical reasons GB won't work, we effectively don't have a national NHS. For many use cases codes like
GB-ENG England country (uses FHIR)
GB-NIR Northern Ireland province
GB-SCT Scotland country
GB-WLS Wales [Cymru GB-CYM] country (starting to use FHIR)
maybe more practical.
Kevin Mayfield (Mar 11 2021 at 06:19):
these are subdivision of ISO 3166-2
Giorgio Cangioli (Mar 11 2021 at 18:11):
Elliot Silver said:
Is it from ISO 3166?
Hi Eliott, is reserved by ISO 3166 but it seems not a 3166 code :-(
Elliot Silver (Mar 11 2021 at 18:14):
@Giorgio Cangioli , are you sure? https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:code:3166:GB
Giorgio Cangioli (Mar 11 2021 at 18:20):
Kevin Mayfield said:
What is the use case?
The European Health Insurance Card (UK is still there..https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=653&langId=en)
It is used the code 'UK', as in many EU official communications, and not GB .
Not sure however what is happening with the new UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC)...
Giorgio Cangioli (Mar 11 2021 at 18:21):
Elliot Silver said:
Giorgio Cangioli , are you sure? https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:code:3166:GB
In fact is GB not UK :-)
Elliot Silver (Mar 11 2021 at 18:22):
Except it is, in the context of 3166. For historical reasons, "GB" is the code for "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".
Elliot Silver (Mar 11 2021 at 18:23):
Or, maybe I'm misinterpreting you. Are you looking for a code to represent the United Kingdom, or are you wondering where the "UK" code is defined?
Giorgio Cangioli (Mar 11 2021 at 18:25):
Elliot Silver said:
Except it is, in the context of 3166. For historical reasons, "GB" is the code for "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".
Yes, but unfortunately, in the EHIC it is used the code UK (and I cannot change that ...)
Giorgio Cangioli (Mar 11 2021 at 18:26):
Elliot Silver said:
Or, maybe I'm misinterpreting you. Are you looking for a code to represent the United Kingdom, or are you wondering where the "UK" code is defined?
the second case the coding system where UK is defined
Elliot Silver (Mar 11 2021 at 18:31):
Ah, sorry, can't help with that one.
Giorgio Cangioli (Mar 11 2021 at 18:34):
Elliot Silver said:
Ah, sorry, can't help with that one.
thanks anyway :-)
Jean Duteau (Mar 11 2021 at 18:35):
Though GB is the United Kingdom's ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code, UK is exceptionally reserved for the United Kingdom on the request of the country.
"Reserved on request of the United Kingdom lest UK be used for any other country
Also used by the European Commission
United Kingdom is officially assigned the alpha-2 code GB"
Giorgio Cangioli (Mar 11 2021 at 18:44):
Jean Duteau said:
Also used by the European Commission
... This is my problem ;-)
Giorgio Cangioli (Mar 11 2021 at 18:51):
Joking apart, my first question is: are reserved codes still ISO 3166 codes ? (even if not active)
If they are, I can use urn:iso:std:iso:3166#UK but I'd expect not to have validation errors.
If they are not I'd like to understand where UK is defined (I don't think defining a local code system for the UK code would be a reasonable)
Jean Duteau (Mar 11 2021 at 18:53):
from my reading, they are not codes. they are reserved so that other's can't use those or become codes in the future. So urn:iso:std:iso:3166#UK is not valid.
Jean Duteau (Mar 11 2021 at 18:54):
so en-uk is never valid because uk isn't a ISO code. en-gb is.
Rob Hausam (Mar 11 2021 at 18:57):
I think that @Jean Duteau's reading is correct.
Giorgio Cangioli (Mar 11 2021 at 19:01):
.. so where I can get where the UK code (used everywhere) is defined ?
The closest thing I've been able to find is in the internet space (.uk) , but I don't think it fits for purpose :-(
Rob Hausam (Mar 11 2021 at 19:03):
So who is using it and in what contexts? If the EC is using it, can it be defined in an EC specified and published code system?
Rob Hausam (Mar 11 2021 at 19:06):
Or maybe by HL7 Europe?
Giorgio Cangioli (Mar 11 2021 at 19:07):
Probably this is the solution (via HL7 EU), but before doing that I'd like to be sure that there are no other options
Kevin Mayfield (Mar 11 2021 at 20:43):
It does sound part of an EU codesystem. Didn't realise my ehic had UK on it, presumed it would be GB like my car (but maybe that is Wales, Scotland and Wales only)
Giorgio Cangioli (Mar 13 2021 at 18:12):
I've been told where EC has defined these codes: http://publications.europa.eu/code/en/en-370100.htm my doubt is what to use as uri ...because there are different pages for each language (e.g. http://publications.europa.eu/code/bg/bg-370100.htm is the version in bulgarian)
Giorgio Cangioli (Mar 13 2021 at 18:12):
I'll try to further investigate ..
Jean Duteau (Mar 13 2021 at 21:08):
except that UK isn't defined there and they say that for non-EU countries (hah), to use the two-character ISO code which would be GB.
Lin Zhang (Mar 14 2021 at 03:15):
Delegation Record for .UK
(Country-code top-level domain)
https://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/uk.html
Lin Zhang (Mar 14 2021 at 03:17):
Country domains: a comprehensive ccTLD list
https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/domains/domain-extensions/cctlds-a-list-of-every-country-domain/
ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is the company that regulates the allocation of all ccTLDs. Meanwhile an NIC (Network Information Center, also known as the Domain Name Registry) is the body responsible for the management and registration of all regional domain extensions in a country. In total there are now more than 200 ccTLDs, all of which can be found in the top-level domain list.
Lin Zhang (Mar 14 2021 at 03:19):
Country domain names
https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/domains/domain-extensions/cctlds-all-you-need-to-know-about-country-code-domains/
ccTLDs are always made up of a two-letter code that is assigned to every country according to the 1974 ISO-3166 standard.
...
There are also two exceptions that deviate from the standard coding. These are:
- The United Kingdom uses the ccTLD .uk, although the ISO domain .gb, while registered, isn’t used
- Although it’s not a sovereign state (or a dependent territory), the European Union uses the ccTLD, .eu, thanks to an exemption from the standard protocol.
Lin Zhang (Mar 14 2021 at 04:36):
@Giorgio Cangioli UK was also a code from the ISO 3166 (1974).
Lin Zhang (Mar 14 2021 at 07:19):
So if we have this version of the CodeSystem ISO 3166, maybe a versioned ValueSet could be created to enbale a versioned reference/binding.
Giorgio Cangioli (Mar 14 2021 at 08:32):
Jean Duteau said:
except that UK isn't defined there and they say that for non-EU countries (hah), to use the two-character ISO code which would be GB.
You are right... it is no more there because UK is no more part of European Union ... ;-)
You highlighted a typo in that page about the rule for non -Eu countries, because in the publication that includes also non-EU countries http://publications.europa.eu/code/en/en-5000500.htm United Kingdom is coded as UK..
Last updated: Apr 12 2022 at 19:14 UTC
