Template talk:Infobox country

Prepending "US" to dollar amounts under GDP in infobox

Editors agree with the proposal to add language to the infobox parameters that ambiguous currency symbols (e.g. $, ¥, ₩ etc.) should be prepended with the appropriate ISO code as prescribed by MOS:CURRENCY.

Cunard (talk) 08:42, 26 February 2018 (UTC)

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

---

I haven't found any guidelines on this, so I apologize if this topic's been discussed and closed before.

Per MOS:CURRENCY: In country-specific articles, such as Economy of Australia, use the currency of the subject country. [...] In general, the first mention of a particular currency should use its full, unambiguous signifier (e.g. A$52), with subsequent references using just the appropriate symbol (e.g. $88), unless this would be unclear.

A quick browse of infoboxes for some existing countries shows no signifier for the type of dollar used to denote their GDP. However, the IMF seems to be universally cited for the numbers, which notes the amount is in US Dollars. That information is only viewable if the reader opens the reference link. This can be confusing for readers outside the US as the dollar sign is a currency symbol for multiple countries, including Mexico's peso, and en.Wikipedia is the most read of WMF's projects around the world.

I propose adding language to the infobox parameters that ambiguous currency symbols (e.g. $, ¥, ₩ etc.) should be prepended with the appropriate ISO code as prescribed by MOS:CURRENCY. The Examples and TemplateData section on this infobox's page should show currency code examples like US$10.5 billion or HK$10.5 billion, dependent of course on what currency the reference uses. Unambiguous symbols, like the Indian rupee (₹) should just be wikilinked without the ISO code. - GS ⋙ ☎ 07:32, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

From looking at a few examples, it does seem to be inconsistent. E.g. Australia specifies US$ for all GDP infobox values, but Canada and Hong Kong do not.

Additionally, the GDP (PPP) line in (for example) Hong Kong states "$58,322 (11th)" which in the citation states that value is being given in "Current international dollar" units. Skimming the archives, that aspect seems to have been briefly discussed in Template talk:Infobox country/Archive 7#GDP PPP is NOT in US Dollars (REQUEST WITHDRAWN) (without conclusion).

I tentatively agree with the proposal to add documentation to this template encouraging editors to specify the unit. That might need to go hand-in-hand with some additional citations/clarifications in the international dollar article, too?

I've left a pointer at Wikipedia:WikiProject Numismatics asking for relevant expertise in this area, in case they can help point out other relevant historical discussions, or aspects and options to consider. Also, ping @Pristino: per interest from last discussion.

(I'm just here via RfC feedback request service. Not watching the page.) HTH. Quiddity (talk) 18:20, 21 January 2018 (UTC)

@Quiddity: Thanks for the feedback, additional research and being an active RfC volunteer. - GS ⋙ ☎ 11:38, 22 January 2018 (UTC)

Also here from RfC. I would agree that the proposal makes sense, and should help clarify the use of the various currency symbols throughout Wikipedia. Sometimes it's difficult to tell if certain symbols (particularly the dollar sign) are simply being used because of negligence or inexperience, and in cases such as Australia or Hong Kong, whether provided values are in USD, the local dollars, or a mix. —Compassionate727 ^(T·C) 12:01, 29 January 2018 (UTC)

---

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

ISO 3166 alpha-3

Countries have two ISO 3166-codes, one alpha-2 and one alpha-3, but the row named "ISO 3166 code" only allows the alpha-2. Why not show both? --bdijkstra (talk) 11:33, 17 February 2018 (UTC)

I think we'd have to look at the situation where |iso3166code= is blank or absent, which is when the |common_name= parameter is used to extract information from Module:Country extract: {{#invoke:Country extract|main|France}} → . --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 12:51, 17 February 2018 (UTC)

Even when the parameter is not blank, it is wrapped by a link to the country-specific ISO 3166-2 page. --bdijkstra (talk) 13:59, 17 February 2018 (UTC)

Population density

I've noticed that some countries population density numbers have not been updated when the population was, making the number incorrect. I'm not very familiar with infobox-templates, but would it not be possible to automatically calculate the density by dividing population(census) by area (km2 and sq mi2)? Hjerta92 (talk) 17:31, 8 April 2018 (UTC)

Global Peace Index addition?

Shouldn't we add GPI as well in the infobox? It has score, rank and annual results. Though making it optional, as some countries GPI is too low, or undermined to be included, but its a well researched, funded and implemented measurement of nations' and regions' peacefulness. It is supported by government, countries, and its facts and figures are taken under consideration for such studies. Nauriya (talk) 17:31, 8 April 2018 (UTC)

Remove font size reduction(s)

The template currently reduces the font size for the |coordinates= parameter. Per MOS:FONTSIZE last paragraph and this supporting RfC, please remove the size reduction for that and any other parameters. Thank you! ―Mandruss ☎ 21:40, 30 April 2018 (UTC)

 Done the coordinates. If there are any others please sandbox the code first, thanks. — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 06:36, 1 May 2018 (UTC)

extra events

Illegitimate Barrister, It looks like you added support for event/date 14 & 15, which do display in the infobox (used at North Korea). But in preview mode it says they are unknown and North Korea is added to the Category:Pages using infobox country with unknown parameters. MB 16:47, 12 May 2018 (UTC)

Frietjes, perhaps you can make this fix. MB 03:13, 19 May 2018 (UTC)

Membership

Has no description, what information should be there?. Schengen2018 (talk) 11:28, 13 June 2018 (UTC)