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Create a list of all countries

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This might be useful for creating lists of countries to display in things such as DropDown lists on forms and so-forth:

List<string> GetCountries() {
    List<string> countries = new List<string>();

    countries.Add("Afghanistan");
    countries.Add("Aland Islands");
    countries.Add("Albania");
    countries.Add("Algeria");
    countries.Add("American Samoa");
    countries.Add("Andorra");
    countries.Add("Angola");
    countries.Add("Anguilla");
    countries.Add("Antarctica");
    countries.Add("Antigua and Barbuda");
    countries.Add("Argentina");
    countries.Add("Armenia");
    countries.Add("Aruba");
    countries.Add("Australia");
    countries.Add("Austria");
    countries.Add("Azerbaijan");
    countries.Add("Bahamas");
    countries.Add("Bahrain");
    countries.Add("Bangladesh");
    countries.Add("Barbados");
    countries.Add("Belarus");
    countries.Add("Belgium");
    countries.Add("Belize");
    countries.Add("Benin");
    countries.Add("Bermuda");
    countries.Add("Bhutan");
    countries.Add("Bolivia");
    countries.Add("Bosnia and Herzegovina");
    countries.Add("Botswana");
    countries.Add("Bouvet Island");
    countries.Add("Brazil");
    countries.Add("British Indian Ocean Territory");
    countries.Add("Brunei");
    countries.Add("Bulgaria");
    countries.Add("Burkina Faso");
    countries.Add("Burundi");
    countries.Add("Cambodia");
    countries.Add("Cameroon");
    countries.Add("Canada");
    countries.Add("Cape Verde");
    countries.Add("Cayman Islands");
    countries.Add("Central African Republic");
    countries.Add("Chad");
    countries.Add("Chile");
    countries.Add("China");
    countries.Add("Christmas Island");
    countries.Add("Cocos Islands");
    countries.Add("Colombia");
    countries.Add("Comoros");
    countries.Add("Congo");
    countries.Add("Congo, Democratic Republic of the");
    countries.Add("Cook Islands");
    countries.Add("Costa Rica");
    countries.Add("Côte d&#39;Ivoire");
    countries.Add("Croatia");
    countries.Add("Cuba");
    countries.Add("Cyprus");
    countries.Add("Czech Republic");
    countries.Add("Denmark");
    countries.Add("Djibouti");
    countries.Add("Dominica");
    countries.Add("Dominican Republic");
    countries.Add("East Timor");
    countries.Add("Ecuador");
    countries.Add("Egypt");
    countries.Add("El Salvador");
    countries.Add("Equatorial Guinea");
    countries.Add("Eritrea");
    countries.Add("Estonia");
    countries.Add("Ethiopia");
    countries.Add("Falkland Islands");
    countries.Add("Faroe Islands");
    countries.Add("Fiji");
    countries.Add("Finland");
    countries.Add("France");
    countries.Add("French Guiana");
    countries.Add("French Polynesia");
    countries.Add("French Southern Territories");
    countries.Add("Gabon");
    countries.Add("Gambia");
    countries.Add("Georgia");
    countries.Add("Germany");
    countries.Add("Ghana");
    countries.Add("Gibraltar");
    countries.Add("Greece");
    countries.Add("Greenland");
    countries.Add("Grenada");
    countries.Add("Guadeloupe");
    countries.Add("Guam");
    countries.Add("Guatemala");
    countries.Add("Guernsey");
    countries.Add("Guinea");
    countries.Add("Guinea-Bissau");
    countries.Add("Guyana");
    countries.Add("Haiti");
    countries.Add("Heard Island and McDonald Islands");
    countries.Add("Honduras");
    countries.Add("Hong Kong");
    countries.Add("Hungary");
    countries.Add("Iceland");
    countries.Add("India");
    countries.Add("Indonesia");
    countries.Add("Iran");
    countries.Add("Iraq");
    countries.Add("Ireland");
    countries.Add("Isle of Man");
    countries.Add("Israel");
    countries.Add("Italy");
    countries.Add("Jamaica");
    countries.Add("Japan");
    countries.Add("Jersey");
    countries.Add("Jordan");
    countries.Add("Kazakhstan");
    countries.Add("Kenya");
    countries.Add("Kiribati");
    countries.Add("Kuwait");
    countries.Add("Kyrgyzstan");
    countries.Add("Laos");
    countries.Add("Latvia");
    countries.Add("Lebanon");
    countries.Add("Lesotho");
    countries.Add("Liberia");
    countries.Add("Libya");
    countries.Add("Liechtenstein");
    countries.Add("Lithuania");
    countries.Add("Luxembourg");
    countries.Add("Macao");
    countries.Add("Macedonia");
    countries.Add("Madagascar");
    countries.Add("Malawi");
    countries.Add("Malaysia");
    countries.Add("Maldives");
    countries.Add("Mali");
    countries.Add("Malta");
    countries.Add("Marshall Islands");
    countries.Add("Martinique");
    countries.Add("Mauritania");
    countries.Add("Mauritius");
    countries.Add("Mayotte");
    countries.Add("Mexico");
    countries.Add("Micronesia");
    countries.Add("Moldova");
    countries.Add("Monaco");
    countries.Add("Mongolia");
    countries.Add("Montenegro");
    countries.Add("Montserrat");
    countries.Add("Morocco");
    countries.Add("Mozambique");
    countries.Add("Myanmar");
    countries.Add("Namibia");
    countries.Add("Nauru");
    countries.Add("Nepal");
    countries.Add("Netherlands");
    countries.Add("Netherlands Antilles");
    countries.Add("New Caledonia");
    countries.Add("New Zealand");
    countries.Add("Nicaragua");
    countries.Add("Niger");
    countries.Add("Nigeria");
    countries.Add("Niue");
    countries.Add("Norfolk Island");
    countries.Add("Northern Mariana Islands");
    countries.Add("North Korea");
    countries.Add("Norway");
    countries.Add("Oman");
    countries.Add("Pakistan");
    countries.Add("Palau");
    countries.Add("Palestine");
    countries.Add("Panama");
    countries.Add("Papua New Guinea");
    countries.Add("Paraguay");
    countries.Add("Peru");
    countries.Add("Philippines");
    countries.Add("Pitcairn");
    countries.Add("Poland");
    countries.Add("Portugal");
    countries.Add("Puerto Rico");
    countries.Add("Qatar");
    countries.Add("Reunion");
    countries.Add("Romania");
    countries.Add("Russia");
    countries.Add("Rwanda");
    countries.Add("Saint Helena");
    countries.Add("Saint Kitts and Nevis");
    countries.Add("Saint Lucia");
    countries.Add("Saint Pierre and Miquelon");
    countries.Add("Saint Vincent and the Grenadines");
    countries.Add("Samoa");
    countries.Add("San Marino");
    countries.Add("São Tomé and Príncipe");
    countries.Add("Saudi Arabia");
    countries.Add("Senegal");
    countries.Add("Serbia");
    countries.Add("Serbia and Montenegro");
    countries.Add("Seychelles");
    countries.Add("Sierra Leone");
    countries.Add("Singapore");
    countries.Add("Slovakia");
    countries.Add("Slovenia");
    countries.Add("Solomon Islands");
    countries.Add("Somalia");
    countries.Add("South Africa");
    countries.Add("South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands");
    countries.Add("South Korea");
    countries.Add("Spain");
    countries.Add("Sri Lanka");
    countries.Add("Sudan");
    countries.Add("Suriname");
    countries.Add("Svalbard and Jan Mayen");
    countries.Add("Swaziland");
    countries.Add("Sweden");
    countries.Add("Switzerland");
    countries.Add("Syria");
    countries.Add("Taiwan");
    countries.Add("Tajikistan");
    countries.Add("Tanzania");
    countries.Add("Thailand");
    countries.Add("Togo");
    countries.Add("Tokelau");
    countries.Add("Tonga");
    countries.Add("Trinidad and Tobago");
    countries.Add("Tunisia");
    countries.Add("Turkey");
    countries.Add("Turkmenistan");
    countries.Add("Turks and Caicos Islands");
    countries.Add("Tuvalu");
    countries.Add("Uganda");
    countries.Add("Ukraine");
    countries.Add("United Arab Emirates");
    countries.Add("United Kingdom");
    countries.Add("United States");
    countries.Add("United States minor outlying islands");
    countries.Add("Uruguay");
    countries.Add("Uzbekistan");
    countries.Add("Vanuatu");
    countries.Add("Vatican City");
    countries.Add("Venezuela");
    countries.Add("Vietnam");
    countries.Add("Virgin Islands, British");
    countries.Add("Virgin Islands, U.S.");
    countries.Add("Wallis and Futuna");
    countries.Add("Western Sahara");
    countries.Add("Yemen");
    countries.Add("Zambia");
    countries.Add("Zimbabwe");

    return countries;
}

posted 7/19/2007 11:11:28 AM

 

Comments:

# Country source
posted by Jason Stangroome on 7/19/2007 11:31:41 PM :

Hi Darren,

I don't know why but I just don't like code like that. "Hard coding" all the country names just feels wrong. I prefer to download the official XML file from ISO (link below) and load it from an embedded resource or import it into the database. You also get the two-letter abbreviations used for Internet domains as part of the list so it has other benefits too.

http://www.iso.org/iso/en/prods-services/iso3166ma/02iso-3166-code-lists/index.html

# The link...
posted by Darren Neimke on 7/20/2007 5:50:13 AM :

Hey Jason, this is why I love the blogosphere... you know I looked over and over for a good list of countries, and didn't find one. What I ended up doing was going to a Google sign-up page, grabbing the <option>'s from a country dropdown, and writing a little formatter program to turn that list into what you see above.

If I'd known about that link as iso.org it would have saved me the hour that it took to create my own - thanks! :-)

# excel format
posted by Dean on 6/13/2008 2:58:27 PM :

It maybe a little mpore user freindly if available in different formats

 

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