These codes were similar to or comparable with, but not the same as, ISO 3166, or the NUTS standard of the European Union.
[7] This database included 5-digit numeric place codes for cities, towns, and villages, or other centers of population in the United States.
NIST replaced these codes with the more permanent GNIS Feature ID, maintained by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.
The GNIS database is the official geographic names repository database for the United States, and is designated the only source of geographic names and locative attributes for use by the agencies of the Federal Government.
[11] FIPS 8-6 "Metropolitan Areas" and 9-1 "Congressional Districts of the U.S." were also withdrawn in 2008, to be replaced with INCITS standards 454 and 455, respectively.