DXCC - DX Century Club

The DXCC List is based upon the principle espoused by Clinton B. DeSoto, W1CBD, in his landmark 1935 article, "How to Count Countries Worked, A New DX Scoring System". In DeSoto's words, "The basic rule is simple and direct: Each discrete geographical or political entity is considered to be a country". This rule has stood the test of time -- from the original list published in 1937 to the ARRL DXCC List of today. For more than 60 years, the DXCC List has been the standard for DXers around the world. DeSoto never intended that all DXCC "countries" would be countries in the traditional, or dictionary, meaning of the word. Rather, they are the distinct geographic and political entities which DXers seek to contact. Individual achievement is measured by working and confirming the various entities comprising the DXCC List. This is the essence of the DXCC program. DXCC activity was interrupted by World War II. In 1947, the program started anew. Contacts are valid from November 15, 1945, the date US amateurs were authorized by the FCC to return to the air.

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DXCC Criteria

Political Entities are those areas which are separated by reason of government or political division. They generally contain an indigenous population which is not predominantly composed of military or scientific personnel. An Entity will be added to the DXCC List as a Political Entity if it meets one or more of the following criteria: The entity is a UN Member State; The entity has been assigned a callsign prefix bloc by the ITU; The entity contains a permanent population, is administered by a local government, and is located at least 800 km from its parent.
A Geographic Separation Entity may result when a single Political Entity is physically separated into two or more parts. The part of such a Political Entity that contains the capital city is considered the Parent for tests under these criteria. One or more of the remaining parts resulting from the separation may then qualify for separate status as a DXCC Entity if they satisfy one of the Geographic Separation Criteria: Land Areas: A new Entity results when part of a DXCC Entity is separated from its Parent by 100 kilometers or more of land of another DXCC Entity. Island Areas: An Island is a naturally formed area of land surrounded by water, the surface of which is above water at high tide. It must consist of connected land, of which at least two surface points must be separated from each other by not less than 100 meters measured in a straight line from point to point. All of the connected land must be above the high tide mark. (Separation by Water): The island is separated from its Parent, and any other islands that make up the DXCC entity that contains the Parent, by 350 kilometers or more or it is separated from any other island attached to that Parent in the same or a different island group by 800 kilometers or more; or the island is separated from its Parent by intervening land or islands that are part of another DXCC entity.
Special Areas are The International Telecommunications Union in Geneva (4U1ITU) , because of its significance to world telecommunications; The Antarctic Treaty Zone; The Spratly Islands, due to the nature of conflicting claims; Control of Western Sahara (S0) until the sovereignty issue is settled.
Ineligible Areas are any extraterritorial legal Entity of any nature; any area with limited sovereignty or ceremonial status, such as monuments, indigenous areas, reservations, and homelands; any area which is unclaimed or not owned by any recognized government.
Removal criteria: An Entity may be removed from the List if it no longer satisfies the criteria under which it was added.