Asia Vehicle Registration Codes
The country in which a motor vehicle's vehicle registration plate was issued may be indicated by an international licence plate country code, formerly known as an International Registration Letter or International Circulation Mark. It is referred to as the Distinguishing sign of the State of registration in the Geneva Convention on Road Traffic of 1949 and the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic of 1968.
The allocation of codes is maintained by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe as the Distinguishing Signs Used on Vehicles in International Traffic (sometimes abbreviated to DSIT), authorised by the UN's Geneva Convention on Road Traffic and the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. Many vehicle codes created since the adoption of ISO 3166 coincide with ISO two- or three-letter codes. The 2004 South-East Asian Agreement ... for the Facilitation of Cross-Border Transport of Goods and People uses a mixture of ISO and DSIT codes: Myanmar uses MYA, China CHN, and Cambodia KH (ISO codes), Thailand uses T (DSIT code), Laos LAO, and Vietnam VN (coincident ISO and DSIT codes).
The Geneva Convention on Road Traffic entered into force on 26 March 1952. One of the main benefits of the convention for motorists is the obligation on signatory countries to recognize the legality of vehicles from other signatory countries. When driving in other signatory countries, the distinguishing sign of the country of registration must be displayed on the rear of the vehicle. This sign must be placed separately from the registration plate and may not be incorporated into the vehicle registration plate.
- Click the table header to sort the table data by the respective column heading.
- Type keyword(s) in the table’s search box for a quick display of the searched data.
Current Code(s) | Country | From | Previous Code(s) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
AFG | Afghanistan | 1971 | - | - |
AZ | Azerbaijan | 1993 | SU | Formerly part of the Soviet Union |
BD | Bangladesh | 1978 | PAK | Formerly East Pakistan |
BRN | Bahrain | 1954 | - | - |
BRU | Brunei | 1956 | - | - |
MYA | Myanmar | 1956 | BA, BUR | Also known as Burma. |
CL | Sri Lanka | 1961 | - | Formerly Ceylon. However, “SL” is being used on current driver licenses. |
CN* | China | - | - | - |
HK* | Hong Kong | 1932 | - | Hong Kong |
HKJ | Jordan | 1966 | JOR | Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan |
IL | Israel | 1952 | - | "Israel" is written on the plate also in Hebrew (ישראל) and Arabic (إسرائيل) |
IND | India | 1947 | BI | - |
IR | Iran | 1936 | PR | - |
IRQ | Iraq | 1930 | - | - |
J | Japan | 1964 | - | - |
KH | Cambodia | 1956 | F − 1949, K | Known as Kampuchea 1976–89. Formerly a territory of France. |
KG | Kyrgyzstan | 1992 | SU − 1991, KS − 2016 | Formerly part of the Soviet Union. The Kyrgyz government notified the change from "KS" to "KG", which featured on the new car registration plates from March 2016, in August that year to the UN Secretary-General. Additionally, most vehicles use "KGZ" oval stickers instead of "KS"{{cn}}. |
KGZ* | Kyrgyzstan | 1992 | SU − 1991, KS 1991-2016 | Formerly part of the Soviet Union |
KP* | North Korea | - | - | - |
KSA | Saudi Arabia | 1973 | SA | Kingdom of Saudi Arabia |
KWT | Kuwait | 1954 | - | - |
KZ | Kazakhstan | 1992 | SU − 1991 | Formerly part of the Soviet Union |
LAO | Laos | 1959 | F – 1949 | Formerly a territory of France (French Indochina) |
MAL | Malaysia | 1967 | PRK – 1957, FM 1954-7, PTM 1957–67 | Formerly Perak, then Federated Malay States, then Persekutuan Tanah Melayu (Malay) |
MGL | Mongolia | 2002 | - | MNG displayed on current plates. Nevertheless, the new format will include MGL once again. |
MV* | Maldives | - | - | - |
NEP | Nepal | 1970 | - | - |
OM | Oman | ? | - | - |
PK | Pakistan | 1947 | - | - |
PS | Palestine | - | - | - |
Q | Qatar | 1972 | - | - |
RC | Republic of China (Taiwan) | 1932 | - | The Republic of Congo also uses RC illegally on their license plates (République du Congo). |
RI | Indonesia | 1955 | - | Republik Indonesia (Indonesian) |
RL | Lebanon | 1952 | - | République Libanaise (French) |
ROK | South Korea | 1971 | - | Republic of Korea, since September 2019 passenger plates now display the code KOR. |
RP | Philippines | 1975 | - | Republika ng Pilipinas (Republic of the Philippines) |
SGP | Singapore | 1952 | - | - |
SYR | Syria | 1952 | - | - |
T | Thailand | 1955 | SM | - |
TJ | Tajikistan | 1992 | SU − 1991 | Formerly part of the Soviet Union, used code PT for "Республика Таджикистан" on plates from 1993 to 2003 |
TL* | East Timor | - | P, RI | Timor-Leste |
TM | Turkmenistan | 1992 | SU − 1991 | Formerly part of the Soviet Union |
UAE | United Arab Emirates | 1971 | - | - |
UZ | Uzbekistan | 1992 | SU | Formerly part of the Soviet Union |
VN | Vietnam | 1953 | - | - |
YAR | Yemen | 1960 | - | North Yemen formerly known as the Yemen Arab Republic |
* - unofficial code.