See also General principles for place names.
International standards and resources
Use the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN) listing of world geographical names(Opens in a new tab/window) or The World factbook(Opens in a new tab/window) of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for the English names of countries (formal and short), capitals and major cities.
Australian conventions and resources
For documents with an Australian readership, use the country names(Opens in a new tab/window) recognised by the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Abbreviations for country names
In most texts, it is acceptable to use the short form of a country name (see table below).
Examples of long and short forms of country names
| Long form | Short form | Abbreviationa |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic People’s Republic of Korea | North Korea | PRK |
| Federal Republic of Germany (the) | Germany | DEU |
| Independent State of Papua New Guinea | Papua New Guinea | PNG |
| Lao People’s Democratic Republic (the) | Laos | LAO |
| Republic of Korea | South Korea | KOR |
| Syrian Arab Republic (the) | Syria | SYR |
| Republic of the Union of Myanmarb | Myanmar | MMR |
| the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (UN) | Myanmar | MMT |
| United Republic of Tanzania (the) | Tanzania | TZA |
| United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the) | United Kingdom | GBRc |
| United States of America | United States | USAd |
a Several different listings of abbreviations exist, including the 3-letter codes of the United Nations(Opens in a new tab/window) (used here); 2-letter codes suggested by the International Organization for Standardization, which are based on the United Nations list; and 3-letter codes used by the International Olympic Committee.
b The Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has previously used the name Burma in some contexts; however, Myanamar is now (2020) used.
c Commonly abbreviated as UK
d Commonly abbreviated as US
Caution! Note that the UNGEGN lists Viet Nam, while both the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the CIA factbook list Vietnam.
Use of articles in country names
In running text, most country names do not require an article (the). Exceptions are the Philippines (formal name: Republic of the Philippines), the Netherlands (Kingdom of the Netherlands), the Bahamas, the Comoros, the Congo (Republic of the Congo), the Gambia, the Marshall Islands, the Niger, the Sudan, the United States of America and the United Kingdom. Do not capitalise the:
We went to Germany She was born in the Netherlands
An exception for a capitalised The is The Hague.
For countries that take an article in running text, do not include the article at the start of a heading:
Philippines economy Netherlands climate
Also omit the article when the country name is part of the place of publication in a reference (see formatting books in a reference list).