Country

A Java library that provides country data and flag resources from 1900 until today.
Includes ISO 3166-1 countries, UK countries (ISO 3166-2:GB), and selected historical countries without ISO codes.

Sources:

• ISO 3166-1 alpha-2
• ISO 3166-2:GB
• Flag files are from Wikipedia (public domain).

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Overview

This library allows you to:

• Access all countries by ISO code.
• Get country names in different locales.
• Retrieve historical country names and intervals.
• Get SVG content of country flags.
• Configure native country and custom properties.

If a translation is not available for a selected Locale, the English name is used as a fallback.
One country is marked as native (default: your system locale), configurable via Country.properties.

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Requirements

• Java 8 or higher
• Maven for dependency management

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Installation

Maven

Add the following to your pom.xml:

<dependency>
    <groupId>se.ergot</groupId>
    <artifactId>country</artifactId>
    <version>2.0.2</version>
</dependency>

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Settings

Country Names / Translations

• Location: src/main/resources/config/countries/
• File format: CountryNames_<language-code>.properties Example for French: CountryNames_fr.properties

Note: Translations are not accumulative - a new file replaces the previous translations.

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Custom Properties

• Location: src/main/resources/config/countries/
• File format: Country.<key>.properties Example: Country.fifa.properties for FIFA codes

Note: Custom property files are accumulative — multiple files can be combined.

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Native Country

Set the native country in Country.properties: country.native=SE

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Flag Files

Location: src/main/resources/se/ergot/country/flags/

File naming convention:

• <iso>.svg - current flag
• <iso>_<endYear>.svg - historical flags

Usage

All countries are accessed from the Country enum via their ISO code.

Example:

final Country sweden = Country.SE;

// Get country name
String name = sweden.getName();                 // Default locale
String nameEN = sweden.getName(Locale.ENGLISH); // English

// Get flag SVG content
String flagSvg = sweden.getFlagSvg();

// Get all flags
List<CountryFlag> flags = sweden.getAllFlags();

// Check historical independence or relations at a specific year
boolean independent1997 = Country.EE.independentAtYear(Year.of(1997));
boolean partOfRU1907 = Country.EE.partOfAtYear(Country.RU, Year.of(1907));
boolean belongsToGB1977 = Country.DM.belongsToAtYear(Country.GB, Year.of(1977));

// Get all administering countries at a year (supports condominiums with multiple countries)
List<Country> rulers = Country.VU.getBelongsToAtYear(Year.of(1970)); // [GB, FR]

// Get the nature of the dependency relationship
BelongsToVariant variant = Country.NO.getBelongsToVariantAtYear(Year.of(1900)); // PERSONAL_UNION
BelongsToVariant variant = Country.DM.getBelongsToVariantAtYear(Year.of(1977)); // COLONY

// Get country by its iso code
Country congo = Country.find("CD");
String congoName = congo.getName(Locale.ENGLISH);

// Find country by previous ISO code
Country yugoslavia = Country.find("YU");

// Get previous names
Map<Year, String> previousNames = Country.CD.getPreviousNames(Locale.ENGLISH);

// Get country properties
String fifaCode = Country.SE.getValue("fifa");

Special ISO Code Cases

Some codes clash or are not standard ISO 3166-1:

Country	Code	Notes
Czechoslovakia	CSHH	ISO code CS clashes with Serbia & Montenegro
Ottoman Empire	OE_X	No ISO 3166-1 code
Zanzibar	TZ_Z	No ISO 3166-1 code
Korean Empire (-1910)	KR_X	No ISO 3166-1 code

Dependency Relationships (belongsTo)

The belongsTo field on a country interval describes that the country was under the authority of one or more other countries during that period. It is a list of ISO codes to support cases where multiple powers jointly administered a territory (condominiums).

The optional variant field classifies the nature of the relationship:

Variant	JSON value	Description	Example
COLONY	colony	Direct colonial administration	Lesotho → GB
PROTECTORATE	protectorate	External power controls foreign affairs/defence; local governance continues	Kuwait → GB
MANDATE	mandate	League of Nations mandate or UN Trust Territory	Iraq → GB
PERSONAL_UNION	personalUnion	Sovereign states sharing a monarch, each with their own government	Norway → SE
CONDOMINIUM	condominium	Joint administration by two or more powers	Vanuatu → GB + FR
ASSOCIATED_STATE	associatedState	Self-governing state in free association	Cook Islands → NZ
OCCUPIED_TERRITORY	occupiedTerritory	De facto administration without recognised sovereignty	Western Sahara → MA

A null variant means no classification has been assigned (e.g. territories with a unique legal status).

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License

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.