UN/LOCODEs: codes and abbreviations used
Published 13 January 2026
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/offshore-installations-with-a-un-code-for-trade-and-transport-locations-unlocode/unlocodes-codes-and-abbreviations-used
The UN approved location codes are presented in 11 columns, with the following content (column designations between quotes):
1.1 Column ‘LOCODE’
The 2 first digits in ‘LOCODE’ column indicates the country in which the place is located – GB for the United Kingdom. This value concurs with the ISO 3166 alpha-2 Country Code.
In the next part of the ‘LOCODE’ column you can find a 3-character code for the location. The 3-character code element for the location will normally comprise 3 letters. However, where all permutations available for a country have been exhausted, the numerals 2-9 may also be used.
Thus, a complete UN/LOCODE is a combination of a 2-character country code and a 3-character location code. For ease of reading, the country and location code elements are usually separated by a space. In actual use, this space could be suppressed.
1.2 Column ‘Name’
Column ‘Name’ shows the names of the locations which have been allocated a UN/ LOCODE.
A place name may be followed, after a comma sign, by an indication of geographical or administrative significance, such as the name of an island on which the place is located, for example Rhubodach, Isle of Bute.
There may be subordinate entities under a place name, for example, different airports serving the same main location, outlying ports, freight terminals. If a separate code element has been assigned to such a location, the name of the sublocation is added after the main name, separated by a hyphen (-), for example GB LHR London-Heathrow Apt
The sublocation name is also listed in its proper alphabetic name order place, followed by an oblique stroke (slash) (/) and the name of the main place to which it belongs, for example GB LHR Heathrow Apt/London.
Abbreviations used in Column 2 include:
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Apt | for Airport |
| I. | for Island(s) |
| Pt | for Port |
| St | for Saint |
1.3 Column ‘SubDiv’ (Subdivision)
Column ‘Subdivision’ is intended to contain the ISO 1-3 character alphabetic and/or numeric code for the administrative division of the country concerned (state, province, department, etc), as included in International Standard ISO 3166-2/1998 and when deemed desirable to enhance the use of the code, or when requested by the country concerned.
The country code element is not shown in this column. Only the latter part of the complete ISO 3166-2 code element (after the hyphen) is shown, as a qualifier to the location name.
1.4 Column ‘Function’
This column contains a 8-digit function classifier code for the location, where:
| Value | Location |
|---|---|
| 0 | A value ‘0’ in the first position specifies that the functional use of a location is not known and is to be specified |
| 1 | Specifies that the location is a Port, as defined in UN/ECE Recommendation 16 |
| 2 | Specifies that the location is a Rail terminal |
| 3 | Specifies that the location is a Road terminal |
| 4 | Specifies that the location is an Airport |
| 5 | Specifies that the location is a Postal exchange office |
| 6 | Value reserved for multimodal functions, ICDs etc |
| 7 | Value reserved for fixed transport functions (for example, oil platform) |
| B | Specifies that the location is Border crossing |
1.5 Column ‘Status’
This column is intended to indicate the status of the entry by a 2-character code, for example, whether approved by government, by customs, or based on a user requirement not necessarily recognised by an authority. It is also intended to show the status of checking, for example, that function indicators are not verified.
The following codes are used at present:
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| AA | Approved by competent national government agency |
| AC | Approved by Customs Authority |
| AF | Approved by national facilitation body |
| AI | Code adopted by international organisation (IATA or ECLAC) |
| AS | Approved by national standardisation body |
| RL | Recognised location - Existence and representation of location name confirmed by check against nominated gazetteer or other reference work |
| RN | Request from credible national sources for locations in their own country |
| RQ | Request under consideration |
| RR | Request rejected |
| Original entry not verified since date indicated | |
| XX | Entry that will be removed from the next issue of UN/LOCODE |
1.6 Column ‘IATA’
The IATA code for the location if different from location code in column LOCODE (second part of the code).
1.7 Column ‘Coordinates’
This column contains the geographical coordinates (latitude/longitude) of the location, if there is any.
In order to avoid unnecessary use of non-standard characters and space, the following standard presentation is used:
0000lat 00000long
(lat - Latitude: N or S ; long – Longitude: W or E, only one digit, capital letter)
Where the last two rightmost digits refer to minutes and the first two or three digits refer to the degrees for latitude and longitude respectively. In addition, you must specify N or S for latitude and W or E for longitude, as appropriate.