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Independent States in The World-REPUBLIC of
Independent States in The World-REPUBLIC of
Fact Sheet
BUREAU OF INTELLIGENCE AND RESEARCH
Washington, DC
December 9, 2013
See also:
Dependencies and Areas of Special Sovereignty
STATE
FIPS
Code
Short-form name Long-form name Capital
(see note
2)
Antigua and
Antiqua and Barbuda AC Saint John's
Barbuda *+
Commonwealth
Bahamas, The *+ BF Nassau
of The Bahamas
People's Republic
Bangladesh *+ BG Dhaka
of Bangladesh
La Paz (administrative)
Bolivia *+ Plurinational State of Bolivia BL
Sucre (legislative/judiciary)
Bosnia and
Bosnia and Herzegovina BK Sarajevo
Herzegovina *+
Rangoon
Burma *+ Union of Burma BM
Nay Pyi Taw (administrative)
Central
Central African Republic CT Bangui
African Republic *+
Congo (Brazzaville) *+
Republic of the Congo CF Brazzaville
(see note 4)
Federal Democratic
Ethiopia *+ ET Addis Ababa
Republic of Ethiopia
Hashemite
Jordan *+ JO Amman
Kingdom of Jordan
Lao People's
Laos *+ LA Vientiane
Democratic Republic
Republic of the
Marshall Islands *+ RM Majuro
Marshall Islands
Islamic Republic
Mauritania *+ MR Nouakchott
of Mauritania
Yaren District
Nauru *+ Republic of Nauru NR
(no capital city)
Amsterdam
Netherlands *+ Kingdom of the Netherlands NL
The Hague (seat of gov't)
Independent State
Papua New Guinea *+ PP Port Moresby
of Papua New Guinea
Pretoria (administrative)
South Africa *+ Republic of South Africa SF Cape Town (legislative)
Bloemfontein (judiciary)
Colombo
Democratic Socialist
Sri Lanka *+ CE Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte
Republic of Sri Lanka
(legislative)
Mbabane (administrative)
Swaziland *+ Kingdom of Swaziland WZ
Lobamba (legislative)
Dar es Salaam
Tanzania *+ United Republic of Tanzania TZ
Dodoma (legislative)
OTHER
NOTES
Note 1: In this listing, the term "independent state" refers to a people politically organized
into a sovereign state with a definite territory recognized as independent by the US.
Note 2: Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 10-4 codes. On September 2, 2008 the National Institute of Standards and Technology
withdrew FIPS 10-4 as a United States Government standard. No successor standard for country codes has been identified.
Note 3: With the establishment of diplomatic relations with China on January 1, 1979, the
US Government recognized the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government
of China and acknowledged the Chinese position that there is only one China and that
Taiwan is part of China.
Note 4: "Congo" is the official short-form name for both the Republic of the Congo and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. To distinguish one from the other, the U.S. Department
of State adds the capital in parentheses. This practice is unofficial and provisional.
Note 5: Israel proclaimed Jerusalem as its capital in 1950. The United States, like nearly all other countries, maintains its embassy in Tel Aviv.
Note 6: Claimed by both the Government of the People's Republic of China and the authorities
on Taiwan. Administered by the authorities on Taiwan. (see note 3)
Source: Office of The Geographer and Global Issues, Bureau of Intelligence and Research,
U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C.