Countries API - OpenCart

Overview

The Countries API provides access to country data including names, ISO codes, address formats, and postal code requirements. This information is essential for address validation and international shipping. Model Location: catalog/model/localisation/country.php

Get Country

Retrieve information about a specific country by ID.

Method

$this->load->model('localisation/country');
$country_info = $this->model_localisation_country->getCountry($country_id);

Parameters

country_id

integer

required

Country ID

Response

country_id

integer

Country identifier

name

string

Country name

iso_code_2

string

ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code (2 letters)

iso_code_3

string

ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code (3 letters)

address_format_id

integer

Address format identifier

address_format

string

Address format template

postcode_required

boolean

Whether postcode is required

status

boolean

Country enabled status

Example Response

{
  "country_id": 223,
  "name": "United States",
  "iso_code_2": "US",
  "iso_code_3": "USA",
  "address_format_id": 2,
  "address_format": "{firstname} {lastname}\n{company}\n{address_1}\n{address_2}\n{city}, {zone} {postcode}\n{country}",
  "postcode_required": true,
  "status": true
}

Get Country by ISO Code 2

Retrieve country information using 2-letter ISO code.

Method

$this->load->model('localisation/country');
$country_info = $this->model_localisation_country->getCountryByIsoCode2($iso_code_2);

Parameters

iso_code_2

string

required

2-letter ISO country code (e.g., “US”, “GB”, “CA”)

Example

$country_info = $this->model_localisation_country->getCountryByIsoCode2('US');

if ($country_info) {
    echo "Country ID: " . $country_info['country_id'];
    echo "Name: " . $country_info['name'];
}

Get Country by ISO Code 3

Retrieve country information using 3-letter ISO code.

Method

$this->load->model('localisation/country');
$country_info = $this->model_localisation_country->getCountryByIsoCode3($iso_code_3);

Parameters

iso_code_3

string

required

3-letter ISO country code (e.g., “USA”, “GBR”, “CAN”)

Example

$country_info = $this->model_localisation_country->getCountryByIsoCode3('USA');

Get Countries

Retrieve all active countries.

Method

$this->load->model('localisation/country');
$countries = $this->model_localisation_country->getCountries();

Response

Returns an array of country objects.

Example Response

[
  {
    "country_id": 223,
    "name": "United States",
    "iso_code_2": "US",
    "iso_code_3": "USA",
    "address_format_id": 2,
    "postcode_required": true,
    "status": true
  },
  {
    "country_id": 222,
    "name": "United Kingdom",
    "iso_code_2": "GB",
    "iso_code_3": "GBR",
    "address_format_id": 1,
    "postcode_required": true,
    "status": true
  },
  {
    "country_id": 38,
    "name": "Canada",
    "iso_code_2": "CA",
    "iso_code_3": "CAN",
    "address_format_id": 2,
    "postcode_required": true,
    "status": true
  }
]

Address Format

Countries have specific address formats for proper display.

Format Variables

{firstname} - First name
{lastname} - Last name
{company} - Company name
{address_1} - Address line 1
{address_2} - Address line 2
{city} - City
{postcode} - Postal/ZIP code
{zone} - State/Province/Zone
{zone_code} - Zone code
{country} - Country name

Example Formats

United States:

{firstname} {lastname}
{company}
{address_1}
{address_2}
{city}, {zone} {postcode}
{country}

United Kingdom:

{firstname} {lastname}
{company}
{address_1}
{address_2}
{city}
{postcode}
{country}

Japan:

{postcode}
{zone} {city}
{address_1}
{address_2}
{company}
{lastname} {firstname}
{country}

Format Address

Format an address using country-specific template.

Example

function formatAddress($address_data) {
    $this->load->model('localisation/country');
    
    $country_info = $this->model_localisation_country->getCountry(
        $address_data['country_id']
    );
    
    if ($country_info) {
        $format = $country_info['address_format'];
        
        // Replace format variables
        $find = [
            '{firstname}',
            '{lastname}',
            '{company}',
            '{address_1}',
            '{address_2}',
            '{city}',
            '{postcode}',
            '{zone}',
            '{zone_code}',
            '{country}'
        ];
        
        $replace = [
            $address_data['firstname'],
            $address_data['lastname'],
            $address_data['company'],
            $address_data['address_1'],
            $address_data['address_2'],
            $address_data['city'],
            $address_data['postcode'],
            $address_data['zone'],
            $address_data['zone_code'],
            $country_info['name']
        ];
        
        $formatted = str_replace($find, $replace, $format);
        
        // Remove empty lines
        $formatted = preg_replace('/^\h*\v+/m', '', $formatted);
        
        return $formatted;
    }
    
    return '';
}

// Usage
$address = [
    'firstname' => 'John',
    'lastname' => 'Doe',
    'company' => 'Acme Corp',
    'address_1' => '123 Main Street',
    'address_2' => 'Suite 100',
    'city' => 'New York',
    'postcode' => '10001',
    'zone' => 'New York',
    'zone_code' => 'NY',
    'country_id' => 223
];

$formatted = formatAddress($address);

echo $formatted;
/* Output:
John Doe
Acme Corp
123 Main Street
Suite 100
New York, New York 10001
United States
*/

Validate Address

Validate address based on country requirements.

Example

function validateAddress($address_data) {
    $this->load->model('localisation/country');
    
    $errors = [];
    
    $country_info = $this->model_localisation_country->getCountry(
        $address_data['country_id']
    );
    
    if (!$country_info) {
        $errors['country'] = 'Please select a country!';
        return $errors;
    }
    
    // Validate postcode if required
    if ($country_info['postcode_required'] && 
        !oc_validate_length($address_data['postcode'], 2, 10)) {
        $errors['postcode'] = 'Postcode must be between 2 and 10 characters!';
    }
    
    // Validate zones exist for country
    $this->load->model('localisation/zone');
    $zone_total = $this->model_localisation_zone->getTotalZonesByCountryId(
        $address_data['country_id']
    );
    
    if ($zone_total && !$address_data['zone_id']) {
        $errors['zone'] = 'Please select a region / state!';
    }
    
    return $errors;
}

Build a country selection dropdown.

Example

function getCountryDropdown($selected_country_id = 0) {
    $this->load->model('localisation/country');
    
    $countries = $this->model_localisation_country->getCountries();
    $options = [];
    
    foreach ($countries as $country) {
        $options[] = [
            'value' => $country['country_id'],
            'text' => $country['name'],
            'iso_code_2' => $country['iso_code_2'],
            'selected' => $country['country_id'] == $selected_country_id
        ];
    }
    
    return $options;
}

$dropdown = getCountryDropdown(223);

Example Response

[
  {
    "value": 38,
    "text": "Canada",
    "iso_code_2": "CA",
    "selected": false
  },
  {
    "value": 222,
    "text": "United Kingdom",
    "iso_code_2": "GB",
    "selected": false
  },
  {
    "value": 223,
    "text": "United States",
    "iso_code_2": "US",
    "selected": true
  }
]

Get Zones for Country

Retrieve states/provinces for a country.

Example

$this->load->model('localisation/zone');

$country_id = 223;  // United States
$zones = $this->model_localisation_zone->getZonesByCountryId($country_id);

foreach ($zones as $zone) {
    echo $zone['name'] . ' (' . $zone['code'] . ')';
}

// Output:
// Alabama (AL)
// Alaska (AK)
// Arizona (AZ)
// ...

Common Countries

Country	ID	ISO 2	ISO 3	Postcode Required
United States	223	US	USA	Yes
United Kingdom	222	GB	GBR	Yes
Canada	38	CA	CAN	Yes
Australia	13	AU	AUS	Yes
Germany	81	DE	DEU	Yes
France	74	FR	FRA	Yes
India	99	IN	IND	Yes
China	44	CN	CHN	No
Japan	109	JP	JPN	Yes
Mexico	138	MX	MEX	Yes

API Usage Example

class CountryAPI {
    public function getCountries() {
        $this->load->model('localisation/country');
        
        $countries = $this->model_localisation_country->getCountries();
        $data = [];
        
        foreach ($countries as $country) {
            $data[] = [
                'id' => $country['country_id'],
                'name' => $country['name'],
                'iso_2' => $country['iso_code_2'],
                'iso_3' => $country['iso_code_3'],
                'postcode_required' => (bool)$country['postcode_required']
            ];
        }
        
        return ['countries' => $data];
    }
    
    public function getCountryInfo($country_id) {
        $this->load->model('localisation/country');
        $this->load->model('localisation/zone');
        
        $country = $this->model_localisation_country->getCountry($country_id);
        
        if (!$country) {
            return ['error' => 'Country not found'];
        }
        
        $zones = $this->model_localisation_zone->getZonesByCountryId($country_id);
        
        return [
            'country' => [
                'id' => $country['country_id'],
                'name' => $country['name'],
                'iso_2' => $country['iso_code_2'],
                'iso_3' => $country['iso_code_3'],
                'postcode_required' => (bool)$country['postcode_required'],
                'address_format' => $country['address_format']
            ],
            'zones' => array_map(function($zone) {
                return [
                    'id' => $zone['zone_id'],
                    'name' => $zone['name'],
                    'code' => $zone['code']
                ];
            }, $zones)
        ];
    }
}

$api = new CountryAPI();

// Get all countries
$countries = $api->getCountries();

// Get country details with zones
$us_info = $api->getCountryInfo(223);

Use in Address Validation

// From payment_address.php:52-63
$this->load->model('localisation/country');

$country_info = $this->model_localisation_country->getCountry(
    $post_info['payment_country_id']
);

if ($country_info && $country_info['postcode_required'] && 
    !oc_validate_length($post_info['payment_postcode'], 2, 10)) {
    $output['error']['payment_postcode'] = 'Postcode must be between 2 and 10 characters!';
}

if (!$country_info) {
    $output['error']['payment_country'] = 'Please select a country!';
}

Only countries with status = 1 (enabled) are returned by the API. Disabled countries are not accessible for customer selection.

Shipping Restrictions

Countries can be restricted for specific shipping methods:

// Check if shipping available to country
function isShippingAvailable($country_id) {
    $this->load->model('localisation/country');
    
    $country_info = $this->model_localisation_country->getCountry($country_id);
    
    if (!$country_info || !$country_info['status']) {
        return false;
    }
    
    // Additional shipping method availability checks
    // ...
    
    return true;
}

Next Steps

Zones API

Access state/province data

Addresses API

Manage customer addresses

Orders API

Create orders with addresses

Currencies API

Access currency information

Overview

Catalog API

Sales API

Account API

Localization API

​Overview

​Get Country

​Method

​Parameters

​Response

​Example Response

​Get Country by ISO Code 2

​Method

​Parameters

​Example

​Get Country by ISO Code 3

​Method

​Parameters

​Example

​Get Countries

​Method

​Response

​Example Response

​Address Format

​Format Variables

​Example Formats

​Format Address

​Example

​Validate Address

​Example

​Country Dropdown

​Example

​Example Response

​Get Zones for Country

​Example

​Common Countries

​API Usage Example

​Use in Address Validation

​Shipping Restrictions

​Next Steps

Zones API

Addresses API

Orders API

Currencies API

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Get Country

Method

Parameters

Response

Example Response

Get Country by ISO Code 2

Method

Parameters

Example

Get Country by ISO Code 3

Method

Parameters

Example

Get Countries

Method

Response

Example Response

Address Format

Format Variables

Example Formats

Format Address

Example

Validate Address

Example

Country Dropdown

Example

Example Response

Get Zones for Country

Example

Common Countries

API Usage Example

Use in Address Validation

Shipping Restrictions

Next Steps