ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 is a part of the ISO 3166 standard, which defines codes for the names of countries and their subdivisions. The alpha-2 codes consist of two letters and are widely used for various applications, including internet domain names and vehicle registration codes. For example, the code "US" represents the United States, while "FR" stands for France. These two-letter codes help simplify communication and data processing by providing a consistent way to refer to countries. They are maintained by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and are updated regularly to reflect changes in country names and statuses.