pycountry-convert: Country and Continent Code Conversion

0.7.2 · maintenance · verified Tue Apr 14

pycountry-convert is a Python library that extends `pycountry` by providing conversion functions between ISO country names, various country codes (Alpha-2, Alpha-3), and continent names. It facilitates mapping between these geographical identifiers. The current version is 0.7.2, released in 2018, indicating an infrequent release cadence.

Warnings

gotcha Direct conversion from country name to continent name is not supported. Users must first convert the country name to an ISO Alpha-2 code, then convert the Alpha-2 code to a continent code, and finally convert the continent code to its name.
Fix: Chain the conversion functions: `country_name_to_country_alpha2()` -> `country_alpha2_to_continent_code()` -> `convert_continent_code_to_continent_name()`.
gotcha The `pycountry-convert` library has not been updated since version 0.7.2 in February 2018. This means its internal data for countries and continents may be outdated and might not reflect recent geopolitical changes or updates to ISO standards, even if its dependency `pycountry` (which has seen more recent updates) is installed separately.
Fix: Be aware of potential data staleness. For highly current data, consider verifying results against other sources or implementing manual updates if specific country/continent mappings are critical.
gotcha For large datasets, repeatedly calling conversion functions can be slow due to re-computation. The library itself does not inherently cache results between calls.
Fix: For performance-critical applications, consider implementing caching (e.g., using `functools.lru_cache` on a wrapper function) or pre-processing and mapping unique country names/codes once.

Install

pip install pycountry-convert Install via pip

Imports

pycountry_convert
```
import pycountry_convert as pc
```

Quickstart

This example demonstrates how to convert a country name to its ISO Alpha-2 code, then to its continent code, and finally to the continent name, chaining the necessary functions. Direct conversion from country name to continent name is not available, requiring these intermediate steps.

import pycountry_convert as pc

# Convert country name to Alpha-2 code
country_name = 'Germany'
try:
    country_alpha2 = pc.country_name_to_country_alpha2(country_name, cn_name_format='default')
    print(f"Alpha-2 code for {country_name}: {country_alpha2}")

    # Convert Alpha-2 code to continent code
    continent_code = pc.country_alpha2_to_continent_code(country_alpha2)
    print(f"Continent code for {country_alpha2}: {continent_code}")

    # Convert continent code to continent name
    continent_name = pc.convert_continent_code_to_continent_name(continent_code)
    print(f"Continent name for {continent_code}: {continent_name}")

except KeyError:
    print(f"Could not find data for country: {country_name}")

view raw JSON →