ISBN Country code (language)

The first numbers of an ISBN indicate the language and/or the country it was published in. See: ISBN for a more in-depth discussion of ISBN parts.

for example

ISBN  1-478334-34-7 

see the red blocked, the country code

• 0 and 1 English - (United Kingdom, United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Ireland)
• 2 French (France, Belgium, Canada, Switzerland)
• 3 German (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)
• 4 Japan
• 5 Russia and former USSR
• 600 Iran
• 601 Kazakhstan
• 602 Indonesia
• 603 Saudi Arabia
• 604 Vietnam
• 605 Turkey
• 606 Romania
• 607 Mexico
• 608 Macedonia (FYR)
• 609 Lithuania
• 611 Thailand
• 612 Peru
• 613 Mauritius
• 614 Lebanon
• 615 Hungary
• 616 Thailand
• 617 Ukraine
• 7 China
• 80 Czech Republic, Slovakia
• 81 India (see also 93)
• 82 Norway
• 83 Poland
• 84 Spain
• 85 Brazil
• 86 Montenegro, Serbia
• 87 Denmark
• 88 Italian (Italy, Switzerland)
• 89 South Korea
• 90 Dutch/Flemish
• 91 Sweden
• 92 International organisations and non-profits (Unesco, European Union)
• 93 India (see also 81)
• 94 Dutch/Flemish
• 950 Argentina
• 951 Finland
• 952 Finland
• 953 Croatia
• 954 Bulgaria
• 955 Sri Lanka
• 956 Chile
• 957 Taiwan
• 958 Colombia
• 959 Cuba
• 960 Greece
• 961 Slovenia
• 962 Hong Kong
• 963 Hungary
• 964 Iran
• 965 Israel
• 966 Ukraine
• 967 Malaysia (see also 983)
• 968 Mexico (see also 970)
• 969 Pakistan
• 970 Mexico (see also 968)
• 971 Philippines
• 972 Portugal
• 973 Romania
• 974 Thailand
• 975 Turkey
• 976 Caribbean: Anguilla, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, British Virgin Islands
• 977 Egypt
• 978 Nigeria
• 979 Indonesia
• 980 Venezuela
• 981 Singapore (see also 9971)
• 982 Pacific: Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, New Caledonia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Samoa
• 983 Malaysia (see also 967)
• 984 Bangladesh
• 985 Belarus
• 986 Taiwan]
• 987 Argentina
• 988 Hong Kong
• 989 Portugal
• 9927 Qatar
• 9928 Albania
• 9929 Guatemala
• 9930 Costa Rica
• 9931 Algeria
• 9932 Laos
• 9933 Syria
• 9934 Latvia
• 9935 Iceland
• 9936 Afghanistan
• 9937 Nepal
• 9938 Tunisia
• 9939 Armenia
• 9940 Montenegro
• 9941 Georgia
• 9942 Ecuador
• 9943 Uzbekistan
• 9944 Turkey
• 9945 Dominican Republic
• 9946 North Korea
• 9947 Algeria
• 9948 United Arab Emirates
• 9949 Estonia
• 9950 Palestine (Palestinian Authority)
• 9951 Kosovo
• 9952 Azerbaijan
• 9953 Lebanon
• 9954 Morocco
• 9955 Lithuania
• 9956 Cameroon
• 9957 Jordan
• 9958 Bosnia and Herzegovina
• 9959 Libya
• 9960 Saudi Arabia
• 9961 Algeria
• 9962 Panama
• 9963 Cyprus
• 9964 Ghana
• 9965 Kazakhstan
• 9966 Kenya
• 9967 Kyrgyzstan
• 9968 Costa Rica (see also 9977)
• 9970 Uganda
• 9971 Singapore (see also 981)
• 9972 Peru
• 9973 Tunisia
• 9974 Uruguay
• 9975 Moldova
• 9976 Tanzania (see also 9987)
• 9977 Costa Rica (see also 9968)
• 9978 Ecuador
• 9979 Iceland
• 9980 Papua New Guinea
• 9981 Morocco
• 9982 Zambia
• 9983 Gambia
• 9984 Latvia
• 9985 Estonia
• 9986 Lithuania
• 9987 Tanzania (see also 9976)
• 9988 Ghana
• 9989 Macedonia
• 99901 Bahrain
• 99902 Gabon
• 99903 Mauritius
• 99904 Netherlands Antilles/Aruba
• 99905 Bolivia
• 99906 Kuwait
• 99908 Malawi
• 99909 Malta
• 99910 Sierra Leone
• 99911 Lesotho
• 99912 Botswana
• 99913 Andorra (see also 99920)
• 99914 Suriname
• 99915 Maldives
• 99916 Namibia
• 99917 Brunei
• 99918 Faroe Islands
• 99919 Benin
• 99920 Andorra (see also 99913)
• 99921 Qatar
• 99922 Guatemala
• 99923 El Salvador
• 99924 Nicaragua
• 99925 Paraguay
• 99926 Honduras
• 99927 Albania
• 99928 Georgia
• 99929 Mongolia
• 99930 Armenia
• 99931 Seychelles
• 99932 Malta
• 99933 Nepal
• 99934 Dominican Republic
• 99935 Haiti
• 99936 Bhutan
• 99937 Macau
• 99938 Republika Srpska
• 99939 Guatemala
• 99940 Georgia
• 99941 Armenia
• 99942 Sudan
• 99943 Albania
• 99944 Ethiopia
• 99945 Namibia
• 99946 Nepal
• 99947 Tajikistan
• 99948 Eritrea
• 99949 Mauritius
• 99950 Cambodia
• 99951 Congo Rep.
• 99952 Mali
• 99953 Paraguay
• 99954 Bolivia
• 99955 Republika Srpska
• 99956 Albania
• 99957 Malta
• 99958 Bahrain
• 99959 Luxembourg
• 99960 Malawi
• 99961 El Salvador
• 99962 Mongolia
• 99963 Cambodia
• 99964 Nicaragua
• 99965 Macau
• 99966 Kuwait
• 99967 Paraguay

All above numbers use the first "bookland" prefix 978 in the ISBN-13 system. The 979 expansion is in progress and the few assignments already made follow:

• 10 France

ISBN 10&13 Digits. identifiying

The 10-digit ISBN 

for example :

ISBN  X-NNNNNN-AA-C

You’ll notice this sequence is actually divided into 4 number combinations but only three have any usefulness to us. First is the initial digit, in this case “X″:

X-xxxxxx-xx-x

The “X″ is the “language group identifier” which here indicates English. 

Next is the six digit series “NNNNNN″:

X-NNNNNN-AA-C

This is the “publisher identifier.

 the third part of ISBN, in this case “AA″:

X-NNNNNN-AA-C

This is the “title identifier,” and it’s assigned by the publisher to a particular book or a sprecific edition of a book. For instance, I might assign this ISBN to a softcover edition, and another ISBN to an ebook edition.

The last digit,"C"

X-NNNNNN-AA-C

This digit is mathematically calculated and helps assure that the rest of the ISBN has been recorded or scanned accurately.

The 13-digit came into use in 2007.

The format is the same, but it adds “978″ at the beginning, and identifies the following string of numbers as an ISBN. 

This ISBN would become 978-X-NNNNNN-AA-C 

(different string of numbers generates a different check digit at the end).

Publishing Professionals Can Read ISBN Details

Book sellers, publishing professionals, and others who know how to “read” the ISBN, can tell for instance that you are publishing your first book. If your title identifier is “0″ or “00″ obviously you have started at the top of your ISBN logbook and just assigned the first number. If your publisher identifier is 7 digits, leaving only 1 digit for book identifiers, you are only planning to publish a few books. All these little clues from the ISBN give some insight into a publisher and their books.

For ISBN 5-digit add-on

Per BISG:

• First digit is "5" for $US
• First digit is "4" for $CAN
• First digit is "0" for GBP
• Last four digits are price * 100
• use 59999 (or 49999 etc.) for price of $100 or more
• 90000-98999 for internal use (BISG recommends 90000 if no price designated and 5 digit code not used for internal use)
• 99000-99999 reserved for industry-wide use.
• 99990-99999 reserved for Nat'l Ass'n of College Stores (NACS)
• 99990 = NACS used books
• 99991 = NACS desk copies 

 if you have a book and the price is USD $20.99, you will need to fill in 52099 in the 5 digit supplement, the first digit in this case is 5 for USD.

OCR-A and OCR-B

Download (ZIP)
OCR-A is the font used for the ISBNs on books; and OCR-B is used for the human-readable digits on UPC/EAN bar codes. A book with a standard bar code label uses both.

ISBN is also known as

• International Standard Book Number
• Bookland EAN
• ISBN-13
• ISBN-10
• ISBN+5
• ISBN+2
• ISBN Supplement 5/Five-digit Add-On
• ISBN Supplement 2/Two-digit Add-On

Became book publisher

Some new self-publishers won’t need to start a new business, since they already have a business structure of some kind. Consultants, therapists, and free lance writers, for instance—all candidates for self-publishing—usually do business as a company, and can publish their books in the same way they do the rest of their business.

If you don’t have a company already, you’ll need to start one. The laws of the local area where you live will govern the exact process by which you set up a company. And keep in mind that you should make the decision about what kind of company to have in consultation with an attorney or your tax adviser. There are three basic types of companies that can be book publishers:

1. Sole proprietorship—The simplest business model, an operation controlled by you alone.
2. Corporation—A commercial entity is created in which you and others hold shares. Most complex business structure.
3. Partnership—A contractual relationship in which two or more people exercise control of the company.

Most new self-publishers will undoubtedly decide to be sole proprietors.

One of the parts of book publishing that seems to confound newcomers to the field is the purpose and use of the International Standard Book Number (ISBN). Usually the ISBN appears to be the same thing as the ubiquitous Bookland EAN scannable barcode that graces the back covers of almost all books printed today.

ISBN was created as a stock-keeping identifier. Originating in the United Kingdom, the concept of a unique identifier for each version of a published book became an international standard in the 1970s.

2 Reasons to Own Your Own ISBNs

Most of the self-publishers I’ve worked with are setting up their own publishing companies and funding their project in the expectation of becoming profitable. In every case I’ve advised them to buy their own ISBNs. Here’s why:

1. The ISBN contains within it a “publisher identifier.” This enables anyone to locate the pubisher of any particular book or edition. If you use a “free” ISBN from an author services company or a subsidy publisher, that company will be identified in bibliographic databases as the publisher.
2. Owning your own ISBNs gives you the ability to control the bibligraphic record for your book. This is an important part of your book’s metadata, and is a key component in your book being discoverable by online searchers. This has a powerful influence on your efforts to attract search engine traffic to your title.