Want the country, zones, local time and beam heading for a particular call? Type any callsign from anywhere into the Callsign Lookup.
What DXCC Counts
DXCC is the ARRL’s award for contacting 100 or more different “entities” — and an entity is not the same thing as a country. Remote islands, overseas territories and a few political oddities each count separately, which is why Alaska and Hawaii count apart from the rest of the United States, and why some entities have a population in single figures.
A prefix is a strong hint, not a guarantee. Operators traveling abroad sign with the local prefix, and special event stations use callsigns that follow no ordinary pattern. When it matters, look it up.
Common Prefixes
| Prefix | Where |
|---|---|
| K, W, N, AA–AL | United States |
| VE, VA, VO, VY | Canada |
| XE, XF | Mexico |
| G, M, 2 | England |
| GM, MM | Scotland |
| GW, MW | Wales |
| GI, MI | Northern Ireland |
| EI | Ireland |
| DL, DA–DR | Germany |
| F | France |
| I | Italy |
| EA | Spain |
| CT | Portugal |
| PA | Netherlands |
| ON | Belgium |
| HB9 | Switzerland |
| OE | Austria |
| SM | Sweden |
| LA | Norway |
| OH | Finland |
| OZ | Denmark |
| SP | Poland |
| OK, OL | Czech Republic |
| HA | Hungary |
| YO | Romania |
| SV | Greece |
| TA | Turkey |
| UA, R | Russia |
| UR | Ukraine |
| 4X, 4Z | Israel |
| JA, JH, 7K | Japan |
| HL | South Korea |
| BY, BG | China |
| VU | India |
| 9M | Malaysia |
| HS | Thailand |
| YB | Indonesia |
| VK | Australia |
| ZL | New Zealand |
| ZS | South Africa |
| PY | Brazil |
| LU | Argentina |
| CE | Chile |
This is a working shortlist, not the full allocation table — there are several hundred DXCC entities. For the complete picture, use the ARRL list above.