How to Use Google More Effectively

Country codes can be especially useful when you are searching for information about or from a specific country. For example, if you were to want information on early childhood education programs run by the Australian government you could do this search:

The above search would give you better results than if you were to simply type " 'early childhood education' statistics Australia" into the box. This is because of the "site:.gov.au" at the beginning of the string, it is telling Google that you specifically want to search government websites from Australia (gov.au).

Another thing to think about when searching different countries is your terminology. Just because something is commonly known as one name here in the United States does not mean that it is so worldwide. 

• Example: Iranian Hostage Crisis
  • In Iran, this event is known as the Conquest of the American Spy Den. Doing a site search using each phrase will return rather different results. 

• Tip: If you're unsure about a term or event try searching for it on Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a great place to get background information, it should NEVER be used as a final source. 

No one expects you to remember all of the country internet codes. Click on the tabs & links below to browse them here. If there is a specific country that you are looking for click on the correct tab below, then do a controlled search of this page (Ctrl+F on a PC; Cmd+F on a Mac) for that country.