landskode

Landskode, or country code, is a label used to identify a country in international systems. It encompasses several coding schemes used in different contexts, including telecommunication, the internet, and data standards. In telecommunication, the landskode refers to the country calling code defined by the ITU and used after the international access code when dialing: e.g., Denmark +45, Norway +47, Germany +49. Some territories have distinct dialing codes despite shared sovereignty, such as Greenland +299 and the Faroe Islands +298, though they are connected to the Kingdom of Denmark; their ISO and internet codes differ (Greenland uses .gl, Faroe Islands use .fo).

In the internet and data standards, landskodes are represented by ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes (such as DK for Denmark, NO for Norway, DE for Germany) and by country code top-level domains (ccTLDs) such as .dk, .no, .de. These codes are used in software localization, shipping addresses, and web hosting, among other uses. They are not interchangeable: E.164 dialing codes, ISO codes, and ccTLDs serve different purposes and may diverge for the same country or territory.

Governance: ITU maintains telephone country codes; ISO 3166 maintains the two-letter codes; ICANN manages ccTLDs with administrative oversight by regional Internet registries. The concept of a landskode has evolved since the mid-20th century to facilitate international communication and data exchange.

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