The registration group or identifier group is the second element in a 13-digit ISBN (first element in a 10-digit ISBN) and indicates the country, geographic region, or language area where a book was published. The element ranges from one to five numerical digits.
In 2007, the length of an ISBN changed from 10 to 13 digits, and a new 3-digit prefix (978 or 979) was added in front of 10-digit ISBNs.
The following registration groups are compatible with or without a 978- prefix:
0–5 600–639
65–66
69990–69999 7 80–94 950–989 9900–9989 99900–99999
The following must have a 979- prefix:
( is reserved for International Standard Music Numbers for sheet music) through
Shorter registration group numbers are generally used for countries or regions with greater publishing volume. Because a longer number leaves room for fewer publishers and ISBNs, several countries have more than one number assigned. On the other hand, some countries (Australia, Switzerland, Fiji) have no unique number because they fall in a broader geographic region or language area.
With 10-digit ISBN or 978- prefix Prefixes of length 1 Country,region, orlanguage areaTypeISBN example0EnglishLanguage area1EnglishLanguage area2FrenchLanguage area3GermanLanguage area4National5 former USSRRegional6see #Prefixes of length 2, #Prefixes of length 3, and #Prefixes of length 57National8see #Prefixes of length 29see #Prefixes of length 2, #Prefixes of length 3, #Prefixes of length 4, and #Prefixes of length 5
Prefixes of length 2 Country,region, orlanguage areaTypeISBN example00~59see #Prefixes of length 160~63see #Prefixes of length 364unallocated65National66Federated PanelOther67~68unallocated69see #Prefixes of length 570~79see #Prefixes of length 180 former CzechoslovakiaRegional81National82National83National84National85National86 former YugoslaviaRegional87National88National89National90National91National92International NGO Publishers and EC OrganizationsOther93National94National95~98see #Prefixes of length 399 see #Prefixes of length 4 and #Prefixes of length 5
Prefixes of length 3 Country,region, orlanguage areaTypeISBN example600National601National602National603National604National605National606National607National608National609National610unallocated611National612National613National614National615National616National.617National618National619National620National621National622National623National624National625National626National627National628National629National630National631National632 National633 National634National635 National636~649unallocated650~669see #Prefixes of length 2670~698unallocated699 see #Prefixes of length 5700~799see #Prefixes of length 1800~949see #Prefixes of length 2950National951National952National953National954National955National956National957National958National959National960National961National962National963National964National965National966National;967National968National969National970National971National972National973National974National975National976Regional977National978National979National980National981National982South PacificRegional983National984National985National 986National987National988National989National990~998see #Prefixes of length 4999 see #Prefixes of length 5
Prefixes of length 4 Country,region, orlanguage areaTypeISBN example8000~9499see #Prefixes of length 29500~9899see #Prefixes of length 39900~9904unallocated9905National9906National9907National9908National9909National9910National9911National9912National9913National9914National9915National9916National9917National9918National9919National9920National9921National9922National9923National9924National9925National9926National9927National9928National9929National9930National9931National9932National9933National9934National9935National9936National9937National9938National9939National9940National9941National9942National9943National9944National9945National9946National9947National9948National9949National9950National9951National9952National9953National9954National9955National9956National9957National9958National9959National9960National9961National9962National9963National9964National-->9965National9966National9967National9968National9969National9970National9971National9972National9973National9974National9975National9976National9977National9978National9979National9980National9981National9982National9983National9984National9985National9986National9987National9988National9989National9990~9999see #Prefixes of length 5
Prefixes of length 5 Country,region, orlanguage areaTypeISBN example60000~60999see #Prefixes of length 361000~61099unallocated61100~63599see #Prefixes of length 363600~64999unallocated65000~66999see #Prefixes of length 267000~69989unallocated69990National69991~69999unallocated70000~79999see #Prefixes of length 180000~94999see #Prefixes of length 295000~98999see #Prefixes of length 399000~99049unallocated99050~99899see #Prefixes of length 499900unallocated99901National99902Reserved Agency (was )Other99903National99904 (was , and )National99905National99906National99907unallocated99908National99909National99910National99911National99912National99913National99914National99915National99916National99917National99918National99919National99920National-->99921National99922National99923National99924National99925National99926National99927National99928National99929National99930National99931National99932National99933National99934National99935National99936National99937National99938National99939National99940National99941National99942National99943National99944National99945National99946National99947National99948National99949National99950National99951Reserved Agency (was )Other99952National99953National99954National99955National99956National99957National99958National99959National99960National99961National99962National99963National99964National99965National99966National99967National99968National99969National99970National99971National99972National99973National99974National99975National99976National99977National99978National99979National99980National99981National99982National99983National99984National99985National99986National99987National99988National99989National99990National99991National99992National99993National99994National99995National99996National99997National99998National99999unallocated
Distribution
Length Allocated Unallocated Unallocated list 1 7 (100%) - 2 17 (85%) 3 (15%) 64, 67~68 3 75 (84%) 14 (16%) 610, 636~639, 690~698 4 85 (86%) 14 (14%) 6990~6998, 9900~9904 5 98 (89%) 12 (11%) 69991~69999, 99900, 99907, 99999 total 282 (87%) 43 (13%)
Countries by language area
Country English0 English1 French2 German3 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Countries in broader registration groups
5 former USSR (14) , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
80 former (2) ,
86 former (7) , , , , , ,
976 (5) , , , ,
982 South Pacific (14) , , , , , , , , , , , , , and
Countries with no exclusive registration group
18 countries , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Countries with multiple registration groups
In parentheses, how many numbers are available.
Countries with over one million numbers are highlighted.
Two (52 countries) Andorra (2×104), Bahrain (2×104), Benin (2×104), Bhutan (2×104), Bosnia and Herzegovina (20×104), Botswana (2×104), (2000×104), Brunei (2×104), (200×104), (200×104), Cyprus (20×104), Dominican Republic (11×104), (200×104), Ethiopia (2×104), Faroe Islands (2×104), (200×104), Ghana (20×104), (200×104), Honduras (2×104), (200×104), (200×104), Iceland (20×104), (2000×104), Jordan (20×104), (110×104), Kenya (20×104), Latvia (20×104), (110×104), Luxembourg (2×104), Malawi (2×104), Montenegro (20×104), Myanmar (2×104), (2000×104), Nicaragua (2×104), (110×104), Oman (2×104), (200×104), (110×104), (200×104), (200×104), Qatar (11×104), (110×104), Seychelles (2×104), (110×104), (200×104), Sudan (2×104), Uganda (20×104), (200×104), Uruguay (20×104), Uzbekistan (20×104), (200×104), Zambia (11×104)
Three (20 countries) (300×104), Armenia (12×104), Cambodia (12×104), Costa Rica (30×104), Ecuador (30×104), El Salvador (3×104), Georgia (12×104), Guatemala (12×104), Haiti (3×104), Kuwait (12×104), (120×104), (300×104), (300×104), Morocco (30×104), Namibia (3×104), (300×104), (300×104), Tanzania (30×104), (300×104), Tunisia (30×104)
Four (13 countries) Albania (13×104), Algeria (40×104), Bolivia (13×104), Estonia (40×104), (400×104), (400×104), Macau (4×104), Malta (13×104), Nepal (22×104), Paraguay (4×104), Republika Srpska (4×104), Tajikistan (13×104), (310×104)
Five (2 countries) (203×104), Mongolia (14×104)
ISBN vs UN
UN countries not part of ISBN (37) , , , , , , , (formerly "99951-"), , , , , , (formerly "99902-"), , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
ISBN agencies not part of the UN (10) , , , , , , , , ,
With 979- prefix Country,region, orlanguage areaTypeISBN example0-reserved for ISMN10-National11-National12-National13-National14~19-unallocated, shared with ISMN2~7-unallocated, shared with ISMN8-National9-unallocated, shared with ISMN
See also International Standard Book Number International Standard Serial Number List of group-0 ISBN publisher codes List of group-1 ISBN publisher codes List of GS1 country codes
Notes
References
External links International ISBN Agency - Ranges