On 14 September 2011 22:50, Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton(a)gmail.com> wrote:
x.wikimedia.org subdomains use country codes (ISO 3166).
x.wikipedia.org subdomains use language codes (ISO 639). "uk" is the
language code for Ukrainian. In country codes, it is a recognised
alternative code for the UK [1].
That's not quite true. "uk" has been "exceptionally reserved" at
the
request of the United Kingdom, as it is "required in order to support
a particular application, as specified by the requesting body and
limited to such use; any further use of such code elements is subject
to approval by the ISO 3166/MA". Therefore it should not be used in
applications of ISO 3166, and is not a recognised alternative code --
"gb" is the only official country code for the "United Kingdom".
Nevertheless, the use of ISO 3166 country codes for wikimedia
subdomains is just a wikimedia convention, and there is no law against
us squatting on Ukraine's country code.
Andrew
BabelStone