ISBN What The Numbers Mean Exactly

The prefix element. The registration group identifier. The registrant and the publisher element. The publication element or item number. The check digit character. Examples.

The prefix element

The registration group identifier The first part of the ISBN identifies a country, area or language area participating in the ISBN system Example: ISBN All group identifiers are allocated by the International ISBN Agency in Berlin.

0English (UK, US, Australia, NZ, Canada, ) 1English ( South Africa, Zimbabwe) 2 French (France, Belgium, Canada, Switzerland) 3German (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) 4Japan 5USSR 7China 80Czechoslovakia 81India (see also 93) 82Norway 83Poland 84Spain 85Brazil 86Yugoslavia -> Serbia and Mentenegro 87Denmark 88Italian (Italy, Switzerland) 89South Korea 90Dutch/Flemish 91Sweden 92International (Unesco and EEC) 93India (see also 81) 950Argentina (see also 987) 951Finland (see also 952) 952Finland (see also 951) 953Croatia (see also 86) 954 Bulgaria 955Sri Lanka 956Chile 957Taiwan (see also 986) 958Colombia 959Cuba 960Greece 961Slovenia (see also 86) 962Hong Kong (see also 988) 963Hungary 964Iran 965Israel 966Ukraine (see also 5) 967Malaysia (see also 983) 968Mexico (see also 970) 969Pakistan 970Mexico (see also 968) 971Philippines 972Portugal (see also 989) 973Romania 974Thailand 975Turkey 976 Carribean: AG,BS,BB,BZ,DM,GD,GY,JM,MS,KN,LC,VC,TT 977Egypt 978Nigeria 979Indonesia 980Venezuela 981Singapore (see also 9971) 982 South Pacific: CK,FJ,KI,NR,NU,SB,TK,TO,TV,VU,WS 983Malaysia (see also 967) 984Bangladesh 985Belarus (see also 5) 986Taiwan (see also 957) 987Argentina (see also 950) 988Hong Kong (see also 962) 989Portugal (see also 972) 9945Dominican Republic (see also 99934) 9946North Korea 9947Algeria (see also 9961) 9948United Arab Emirates 9949Estonia (see also 5 and 9985) 9950Palestine 9951Kosova 9952Azerbaijan 9953Lebanon 9954Morocco (see also 9981) 9955Lithuania (see also 5 and 9986) 9956Cameroon 9957Jordan 9958Bosnia and Herzegovina (see also 86) 9959Libya 9960Saudi Arabia 9961Algeria (see also 9947) 9962Panama 9963Cyprus 9964Ghana (see also 9988) 9965Kazakhstan (see also 5) 9966Kenya 9967Kyrgyzstan (see also 5) 9968Costa Rica (see also 9977) Uganda 9971Singapore (see also 981) 9972Peru 9973Tunisia 9974Uruguay 9975Moldova (see also 5) 9976Tanzania (see also 9987) 9977Costa Rica (see also 9968) 9978Ecuador 9979Iceland 9980Papua New Guinea 9981Morocco (see also 9954) 9982Zambia 9983Gambia 9984Latvia (see also 5) 9985Estonia (see also 5 and 9949) 9986Lithuania (see also 5 and 9955) 9987Tanzania (see also 9976) 9988Ghana (see also 9964) 9989Macedonia (see also 86) Bahrain 99902Gabon (reserved) 99903Mauritius 99904Netherlands Antilles 99905Bolivia 99906Kuwait Malawi 99909Malta (see also 99932) 99910Sierra Leone 99911Lesotho 99912Botswana 99913Andorra (see also 99920) 99914Suriname 99915Maldives 99916Namibia (see also 99945) 99917Brunei Darussalam 99918Faroe Islands 99919Benin 99920Andorra (see also 99913) 99921Qatar 99922Guatemala (see also 99939) 99923El Salvador 99924Nicaragua 99925Paraguay 99926Honduras 99927Albania (see also 99943) 99928Georgia (see also 5 and 99940) 99929Mongolia 99930Armenia (see also 5 and 99941) 99931Seychelles 99932Malta (see also 99909) 99933Nepal (see also 99946) 99934Dominican Republic (see also 9945) 99935Haiti 99936Bhutan 99937Macau 99938Srpska (see also 86) 99939Guatemala (see also 99922) 99940Georgia (see also 5 and 99928) 99941Armenia (see also 5 and 99930) 99942Sudan 99943Albania (see also 99927) 99944Ethiopia 99945Namibia (see also 99916) 99946Nepal (see also 99933) 99947Tajikistan 99948Eritrea 957Taiwan (see also 986) 958Colombia 959Cuba 960Greece 961Slovenia (see also 86) 962Hong Kong (see also 988) 963Hungary 964Iran 965Israel 966Ukraine (see also 5) 967Malaysia (see also 983) 968Mexico (see also 970) 969Pakistan 970Mexico (see also 968) 971Philippines 972Portugal (see also 989) 973Romania 974Thailand 975Turkey 976 Carribean: AG,BS,BB,BZ,DM,GD,GY,JM,MS,KN,LC,VC,TT 977Egypt 978Nigeria 979Indonesia 980Venezuela 981Singapore (see also 9971) 982 South Pacific: CK,FJ,KI,NR,NU,SB,TK,TO,TV,VU,WS 983Malaysia (see also 967) 984Bangladesh 985Belarus (see also 5) 986Taiwan (see also 957)

986Taiwan (see also 957) 987Argentina (see also 950) 988Hong Kong (see also 962) 989Portugal (see also 972) 9945Dominican Republic (see also 99934) 9946North Korea 9947Algeria (see also 9961) 9948United Arab Emirates 9949Estonia (see also 5 and 9985) 9950Palestine 9951Kosova 9952Azerbaijan 9953Lebanon 9954Morocco (see also 9981) 9955Lithuania (see also 5 and 9986) 9956Cameroon 9957Jordan 9958Bosnia and Herzegovina (see also 86) 9959Libya 9960Saudi Arabia 9961Algeria (see also 9947) 9962Panama 9963Cyprus 9964Ghana (see also 9988) 9965Kazakhstan (see also 5) 9966Kenya 9967Kyrgyzstan (see also 5) 9968Costa Rica (see also 9977) 9970Uganda 9971Singapore (see also 981) 9972Peru 9973Tunisia 9974Uruguay 9975Moldova (see also 5) 9976Tanzania (see also 9987) 9977Costa Rica (see also 9968) 9978Ecuador 9979Iceland 9980Papua New Guinea 9981Morocco (see also 9954) 9982Zambia 9983Gambia 9984Latvia (see also 5) 9985Estonia (see also 5 and 9949) 9986Lithuania (see also 5 and 9955) 9987Tanzania (see also 9976) 9988Ghana (see also 9964) 9989Macedonia (see also 86) Bahrain 99902Gabon (reserved) 99903Mauritius 99904Netherlands Antilles 99905Bolivia 99906Kuwait Malawi 99909Malta (see also 99932) 99910Sierra Leone 99911Lesotho 99912Botswana 99913Andorra (see also 99920) 99914Suriname 99915Maldives 99916Namibia (see also 99945) 99917Brunei Darussalam 99918Faroe Islands 99919Benin 99920Andorra (see also 99913) 99921Qatar 99922Guatemala (see also 99939) 99923El Salvador 99924Nicaragua 99925Paraguay 99926Honduras 99927Albania (see also 99943) 99928Georgia (see also 5 and 99940) 99929Mongolia 99930Armenia (see also 5 and 99941) 99931Seychelles 99932Malta (see also 99909) 99933Nepal (see also 99946) 99934Dominican Republic (see also 9945) 99935Haiti 99936Bhutan 99937Macau 99938Srpska (see also 86) 99939Guatemala (see also 99922) 99940Georgia (see also 5 and 99928) 99941Armenia (see also 5 and 99930) 99942Sudan 99943Albania (see also 99927) 99944Ethiopia 99945Namibia (see also 99916) 99946Nepal (see also 99933) 99947Tajikistan 99948Eritrea

Pattern Item number 0- group identifier1- group identifier Total FromToNumberFromTo Numbe r 6 digits0-00-xxxxxx-x0-19-xxxxxx-x xxxxxx-x1-09-xxxxxx-x digits0-200-xxxxx-x0-699-xxxxx-x xxxxx-x1-399-xxxxx-x digits xxxx-x xxxx-x xxxx-x xxxx-x digits xxx-x xxx-x xxx-x xxx-x digits xx-x xx-x xx-x xx-x digit x-x x-x x-x x-x English-language publisher codes follow a systematic pattern, which allows their length to be easily determined, as follows:

The registrant and the publisher element The second part of the ISBN identifies a particular publisher within a group. The publisher identifier usually indicates the exact identification of the publishing house and its address. If publishers exhaust their initial contingent of title numbers, they may be allocated an additional publisher identifier. The publisher identifier may comprise up to seven digits Example: ISBN

The publication element or Title identifier The third part of the ISBN identifies a specific edition of a publication of a specific publisher. A title identifier may consist of up to six digits. As an ISBN must always have ten digits, blank digits are represented by leading zeros. 04Example: ISBN

Check digit character Calculated using For example: ISBN

Examples Calculus ISBN Book published from Egypt ISBN