Countries

Last Updated   July 25, 2025

Reference

What is a Country?

A Country in Hardcover represents the country of publication for books and editions. This information helps users discover literature from specific regions, understand publishing markets, and explore global literary traditions. Countries use standardized codes for consistency and integration.

Fields

Field	Type	Description
id	bigint	Unique identifier for the country
name	string	Full name of the country
code2	string	Two-letter ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code
code3	string	Three-letter ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code
iso_3166	string	ISO 3166 standard code
phone_code	string	International dialing code
region	string	Geographic region (e.g., Europe, Asia)
region_code	string	Numeric code for the region
sub_region	string	Geographic sub-region (e.g., Western Europe)
sub_region_code	string	Numeric code for the sub-region
intermediate_region	string	Intermediate geographic classification
intermediate_region_code	string	Code for intermediate region
created_at	timestamp	When the country was added to the system
updated_at	timestamp	When the country record was last updated
editions	Edition[]	Book editions published in this country

Country Code Standards

Standard	Example	Description
ISO 3166-1 alpha-2	US, GB, FR	Two-letter country codes
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	USA, GBR, FRA	Three-letter country codes

Caution

Known Issue: The code2 and code3 fields are currently returned in lowercase format, but according to ISO 3166-1 standards, these codes should be uppercase. This is a known bug that will be addressed in a future update.

Major Publishing Countries

Country	Code2	Code3	Publishing Notes
United States	US	USA	Major English-language publishing market
United Kingdom	GB	GBR	Historical publishing center, English literature
Germany	DE	DEU	Large European publishing market
France	FR	FRA	French literature and philosophy
Japan	JP	JPN	Manga, light novels, Japanese literature

Related Schemas

• Editions - Book editions with country of publication
• Publishers - Publishers based in different countries
• Authors - Authors from various countries

Example Queries

Get All Countries

Retrieve all available countries:

Query

All Countries Query

query AllCountries {
  countries(
      order_by: {name: asc}
  ) {
      id
      name
      code2
      code3
  }
}

Try it yourself

Find Country by Code

Look up a country using its ISO code:

Query

Country by Code Query

query CountryByCode {
  countries(
      where: {code2: {_eq: "US"}}
  ) {
      id
      name
      code2
      code3
      created_at
  }
}

Try it yourself

Search Countries by Name

Find countries by partial name match:

Query

Search Countries Query

query SearchCountries {
  countries(
      where: {name: {_eq: "United States"}}
  ) {
      id
      name
      code2
      code3
  }
}

Try it yourself

Get European Countries

Find European countries:

Query

European Countries Query

query EuropeanCountries {
  countries(
      where: {
          code2: {_in: ["GB", "FR", "DE", "IT", "ES", "NL", "SE", "NO", "DK", "CH"]}
      }
      order_by: {name: asc}
  ) {
      id
      name
      code2
      code3
      region
      sub_region
  }
}

Try it yourself

Get Countries with Editions

Find countries that have published editions:

Query

Countries with Editions Query

query CountriesWithEditions {
  countries(
      order_by: {name: asc}
      limit: 20
  ) {
      id
      name
      code2
      code3
      editions(limit: 3) {
          id
          title
          release_year
      }
  }
}

Try it yourself

Get Publishing Countries

Find countries that have published editions:

Query

Publishing Countries Query

query PublishingCountries {
  countries(
      order_by: {name: asc}
      limit: 10
  ) {
      id
      name
      code2
      code3
      editions(limit: 5) {
          id
          title
          release_year
      }
  }
}

Try it yourself

Get Recent Country Additions

Find recently added countries:

Query

Recent Countries Query

query RecentCountries {
  countries(
      order_by: {created_at: desc}
      limit: 10
  ) {
      id
      name
      code2
      code3
      created_at
      updated_at
  }
}

Try it yourself

Note

Country codes follow international standards (ISO 3166-1) to ensure consistency across different systems and applications. This enables integration with other services and databases.

Best Practices for Working with Countries

1. Use Standard Codes: Prefer ISO codes over country names for programmatic use
2. Consider Historical Changes: Some countries may have changed names or codes over time
3. Regional Variations: Be aware of regional publishing differences within countries
4. Fallback Handling: Always have fallback logic for unknown country codes
5. Publishing Context: Remember this represents publication country, not author nationality