ARRL DX Century Club (DXCC) Rules — 1966 Edition

(Effective January 1 1966; superseding 1963 Rules)

The ARRL Postwar Countries List is the official standard used in connection with the DX Century Club. From time to time, changes in the list are made. Space is provided at the bottom of each page to allow for new additions. Changes are announced under DXCC Notes in QST.

DX CENTURY CLUB RULES

We present the rules under which the DX Century Club Award will be issued to amateurs who have worked and confirmed contact with 100 countries. They are effective for contacts made since November 15, 1945.

(1) The Century Club Award Certificate for confirmed contacts with 100 or more countries is available to all amateurs everywhere in the world.

(2) Confirmations must be submitted direct to ARRL headquarters for all countries claimed. Claims for a total of 100 countries must be included with first application. Confirmation from foreign contest logs may be requested in the case of the ARRL International DX Competitions only, subject to the following conditions:

(a) Sufficient confirmations of other types must be submitted so that these, plus the DX Contest confirmations, will total 100. In every case, Contest confirmations must not be requested for any countries from which the applicant has regular confirmations. That is, Contest confirmations will be granted only in the case of countries from which applicants have no regular confirmations.

(b) Logs are available for the last five contests only.

(c) Look up the Contest results as published in QST to see if your man is listed in the foreign scores. If he isn’t, he did not send in a log and no confirmation is possible.

(d) Give year of Contest, date and time of QSO.

(e) In future DX Contests, do not request confirmations until after the final results have been published, usually in one of the early fall issues. Requests before this time must be ignored.

(3) The ARRL Countries List will be used in determining what constitutes a “country.”

(4) Confirmations must be accompanied by a list of claimed countries and stations to aid in checking and for future reference.

(5) Confirmations from additional countries may be submitted for credit each time 20 additional confirmations are available between the 100 and 300 level. From 300 upwards, additional confirmations may be submitted each time 10 additional confirmations are available. Endorsements for affixing to certificates and showing the new confirmed total (110, 120, 130, etc.) will be awarded as additional credits are granted. ARRL DX Competition logs from foreign stations may be utilized for these endorsements, subject to conditions stated under (2).

(6) All contacts must be made with amateur stations working in the authorized amateur bands or with other stations licensed to work amateurs.

(7) In cases of countries where amateurs are licensed in the normal manner, credit may be claimed only for stations using regular government-assigned call letters. No credit may be claimed for contacts with stations in any countries in which amateurs have been temporarily closed down by special government edict where amateur licenses were formerly issued in the normal manner.

(8) All stations contacted must be “land stations”… contacts with ships, anchored or otherwise, and aircraft, cannot be counted.

(9) All stations must be contacted from the same call area, where such areas exist, or from the same country in cases where there are no call areas. One exception is allowed to this rule: where a station is moved from one call area to another, or from one country to another, all contacts must be made from within a radius of 150 miles of the initial location.

(10) Contacts may be made over any period of years from November 15, 1945, provided only that all contacts are made under the provisions of Rule 9, and by the same station licensee; contacts may have been made under different call letters in the same area (or country), if the licensee for all was the same.

(11) Any altered or forged confirmations submitted for CC credit will result in disqualification of the applicant. The eligibility of any DXCC applicant who was over barred from DXCC to reapply, and the conditions for such application, shall be determined by the Awards Committee. Any holder of the Century Club Award submitting forged or altered confirmations must forfeit his right to be considered for further endorsements.

(12) Operating Ethics: Fair play and good sportsmanship in operating are required of all amateurs working toward the DX Century Club Award. In the event of specific objections relative to continued poor operating ethics an individual may be disqualified from the DXCC by action of the ARRL Awards Committee.

(13) Sufficient postage for the return of confirmations must be forwarded with the application. In order to insure the safe return of large batches of confirmations, it is suggested that enough postage be sent to make possible their return by first-class mail, registered.

(14) Decisions of the ARRL Awards Committee regarding interpretation of the rules as here printed or later amended shall be final.

(15) Address all applications and confirmations to the Communications Department, ARRL, 225 Main St., Newington, Conn. 06111.

Purpose

To encourage and recognize confirmed two-way amateur-radio communication with at least one hundred (100) distinct countries (DXCC entities) of the world, as defined and maintained by the ARRL Awards Committee.

The 1966 revision formally numbered all DXCC entity-qualification rules (1A–1C) and split Rule 1C into three sub-sections covering separation by distance, intervening territory, and island grouping.

I. Definition of a DXCC Country (Entity)

A DXCC country shall meet one or more of the following definitions.

Rule 1A – Political Entity

Any area of land under a separate government, recognized internationally as administering its own affairs independently of any other, shall be considered a separate country.

Examples (1966 List):
United States, United Kingdom, France, Japan, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and the newly independent states of the Caribbean and Africa (Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Zambia, etc.).

Rule 1B – Distinct Administrative Area

A possession, protectorate, dependency, colony, or trust territory having its own administration, postal authority, or communications regulation separate from that of its parent government shall be considered a separate country, provided such distinction is recognized by the responsible international telecommunications body (e.g., ITU).

Examples:
Puerto Rico, Guam, Hong Kong, Reunion, French Polynesia, Martinique, Guadeloupe, and the Azores.

Rule 1C – Offshore Island Group Rule

(Sub-divided into 1C(a), 1C(b), 1C(c))

1C(a) – Separation by Distance

An island or island group separated from its parent country by at least 350 kilometers (≈ 220 miles) of open sea shall be considered a separate DXCC country, provided it is not part of another recognized DXCC entity.

1C(b) – Intervening DXCC Territory

If any line drawn along a great-circle path from any point of the island to its parent crosses territory belonging to another DXCC entity, the island shall be considered separate even if the distance is less than 350 km.

1C(c) – Island Grouping Rule

Islands lying within 50 kilometers (≈ 30 miles) of one another shall normally be treated as a single DXCC group.
Islands separated by more than 50 km may qualify as distinct groups if individually satisfying 1C(a) or 1C(b).
The presence of intervening land belonging to the parent country nullifies separation under 1C(a).

Examples (1966 DXCC List):

Hawaii (KH6)
Azores (CU) & Madeira (CT3)
Reunion (FR) & Mauritius (3B8)
Rodriguez (3B9)
Lord Howe (VK9L), Norfolk (VK9N), Cocos-Keeling (VK9C), Willis (VK9W)
Chatham (ZL7), Kermadec (ZL8), NZ Sub-Antarctic (ZL9)
Crozet (FT/W), Kerguelen (FT/X), Amsterdam & St Paul (FT/Z)

II. Eligibility Requirements

Open to all duly licensed amateur operators worldwide.
All contacts must be lawful, two-way amateur QSOs.
Contacts made after November 15 1945 remain valid.
Any authorized amateur band or mode may be used.
All QSOs for a given application must originate from one DXCC entity.

III. Confirmations

Each claimed country must be confirmed by a QSL card showing callsigns, date, time (GMT), band, mode, and location.
Cards must be verified by ARRL Headquarters or an authorized DXCC Field Representative.
Duplicate QSOs with the same entity do not increase totals.

IV. Qualification for Award

Confirmation of 100 countries qualifies for the DX Century Club Certificate.
Endorsements are issued for higher totals (125, 150, 200, 250, 300, etc.).
Single-Band and All-Band DXCCs are recognized.
Recipients are listed in QST and the annual ARRL DXCC List.

V. Maintenance of the DXCC List

“The Awards Committee shall revise the DXCC List whenever political or geographic changes occur or when new information becomes available.
Additions or deletions become effective upon publication in QST.”

1966 updates included numerous African and Caribbean independence additions (e.g., Barbados, Botswana, Guyana) and clarified group assignments for Indian Ocean and South Pacific island chains.

VI. Determination of Borderline Cases

“All questions as to the qualification of an area as a DXCC country shall be determined by the ARRL Awards Committee, whose decisions shall be final.”

VII. Publication and Recognition

Award recipients published in QST and the ARRL DXCC List.
Certificates issued free to ARRL members; non-members may apply with a nominal fee.

VIII. General Provisions

All submissions subject to verification.
ARRL may revoke credits obtained improperly.
Maritime mobile and aeronautical mobile QSOs count only if the station was within the territorial limits of a DXCC entity.
The decisions of the ARRL Awards Committee are final.

IX. Appendix A – Summary of 1966 Revisions

Topic	1966 Clarification
Rule 1C Structure	Sub-rules (a)–(c) formally defined.
Distance Standard	350 km retained and metricized.
Intervening Entity Clause	Reaffirmed and placed in 1C(b).
Island Grouping Distance	50 km explicitly restated as normal group radius.
Parent-Land Intervention	“No intervening land of parent entity” clause made explicit.
Political Additions	Added newly independent nations (Africa & Caribbean).
Publication Policy	DXCC List integrated into annual QST supplement.

Historical Significance

The 1966 DXCC Rules represent the fully developed mid-century standard still recognizable today.
They codified the “Offshore Island Group Rule” in its final form, introduced 1C subsections, and established uniform thresholds used for all later ARRL revisions (1971, 1976, 1981, etc.).

The 1961 DXCC Rules established a structured approach using a mix of political/administrative recognition and geographic separation tests with specific distance thresholds to define distinct DXCC entities. The focus was on providing workable guidance for islands, dependencies, and territories separated by water or other countries.

By 1966, the rules had been refined and expanded to address practical complexities that emerged from applying the 1961 criteria. The 1966 version retained the same basic frameworks but clarified ambiguous language, adjusted key distance thresholds, and provided more explicit guidance for handling complicated geographic situations, such as multi-island groups and close-in offshore features. It also placed greater emphasis on ensuring consistent application of the criteria and reducing subjective interpretation in borderline cases.

In summary: the evolution from the 1961 to the 1966 rules was largely about clarification, refinement, and improved consistency rather than wholesale changes. The 1966 rules made the entity determination tests more precise and easier to apply predictably across a wider range of geographic configurations.