DXCC Changes 2016-2022

Changes from 2016 to 2022 Entities January 2016: Active 340, Deleted: 61, Withdrawn 9 Kingman Reef Deleted In 2016, Kingman Reef became a deleted Entity. The control over the reef did change and got in the power of the same authrity who had control over the nearby Palmyra & Jarvis Islands. In DXCC words, Kingman Reef became part of the Palmyra Group of Islands. The ARRL Awards Committee has voted to delete Kingman Reef (KH5) from the DXCC List, effective March 29, 2016. Kingman Reef will be added to the Deleted Entities List on March 29, 2016. The total number of entities on the List will drop from 340 to 339. The deletion process is described in DXCC Rules Section II DXCC List Criteria, Part 5(a) Deletion Criteria. QSOs with Kingman Reef (KH5K) count until March 28, 2016 Entities January 2017: Active 339, Deleted: 62, Withdrawn 9 The Midway - Kure Dissaster of 2017 In 2017 ARRL made another announcement, dated March 31, 2017. This annoncement was the end of Midway sland (KH4) and Kure Atol (KH7) as a DXCC Entity. Both Entities were removed from the DXCC list and added to the Deleted list. This was the message in QST. Midway and Kure Islands have been placed on the list of DXCC deleted entities, effective August 26, 2016. This came about as an unintended consequence of action last summer by then-President Barack Obama that expanded the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument to include the northwestern Hawaiian Islands west of Ni’ihau Island, making it the largest contiguous protected conservation area under the US flag Because this message was published in QST of April, 2017, a lot of hams were thinking this was a good April one joke. But it was NOT a joke. But ARRL made a wrong conclusion. Bill Kennamer, K5FUV argued against this deletions. The key point of Bill's argument was that Midway never was part of Hawaii administratively, but was always separate. First as a US Navy base under their administration, and later as part of US F&WS -- in short, a possession of the US Government but not part of the State of Hawaii. And bacause Midway could NOT be deleted by the action of President Obaba, then Kure Island could also not be deleted. After further review it has been found that the deletion of these two entities is not supported by the changes that were made to the relevant administrations. Therefore, the deletions from the DXCC list should not have occurred and the two entities, Midway Island KH4 and Kure Island KH7K, will return to the DXCC list as separate entities. QSOs with Midway (KH4) and Kure Island (KH7) stil count from November 1945 for DXCC. Deleting an Entity and bringing it back to the DXCC List because a more stringent review showed the error is not new. It was done also with the Cayman Islands deletion in 1960. (DX is.. !!) Entities January 2018: Active 339, Deleted: 62, Withdrawn 9 The last Balcan Entity added in 2018 On February 17, 2008 Kosovo declared its independence form Serbia. This fact was not enough to add Kosovo on the DXCC list, because there was no so-called Event Date reached. The Event Date is either the date on which Kosovo becomes a UN member, or receives an official prefix from the ITU. Bill Moore, NC1L of the ARRL made following statement in September 2012; Congratulations to the team which helped to reintroduce Amateur Radio to Kosovo, and welcome back to the airwaves to the returning Hams. As of this time Z60K, and/or any other Z6 station, will not count for any entity for DXCC awards purposes as they do NOT qualify under the DXCC rules. Any future change in Kosovo's DXCC status will be announced by ARRL. In 2013, there were 103 UN members who did recognise Kosovo as a new state. However, Russia, Serbia and some other countries, did not support full independence for Kosovo. And Russia has the power of veto, so adding of Kosovo as a new Entity was not possible. The ARRL Board of Directors added on January 19-20, 2018 this new Subsection (d): to the DXCC rules; The entity has a separate IARU member society and is included on the US State Department Independent States in the World. The discussion during the Board meeting and the rule change did not address any specific Entity. But it was clear that this Subsection of the DXCC-Rules would allow some additions to the current DXCC List of entities. This new Subsection made it possible to add the Republic of Kosovo (Z6) to the DXCC List. This change created a new kind of Event Date, starting January 21, 2018, at 0000 UTC. QSOs with Kosovo (Z6) count from January 21, 2018 for DXCC Most western nations have recognised Kosovo’s independence. The US, Germany, France and the UK, did so immediately. Serbia and its allies Russia and China (and their allies in turn) refuse to do so. There are also five European Union countries who do not recognise Kosovo: Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Spain. Why? None are Serb (or Russian or Chinese) allies, and Romania even allowed NATO to use its airspace during the 1999 bombing campaign (even though Romania was not at the time a NATO member). For all five, the question of Kosovo’s independence is not about Kosovo per se: it is a question of local politics. The adding of Kosovo to the Active DXCC Entity list made it very clear. DXCC is not just a piece of paper. It is not the plaque on the wall or the trophy in the room. DXCC is not only prove of contacts with a spot on the globe. DXCC is what it is. !! Entities January 2019: Active 340, Deleted: 62, Withdrawn 9 Today After splitting a country into several parts, such as Germany in the sixties, and Chechoslovakia in the nineties the old country was added to the Deleted list, and the parts became a new DXCC Entity. So what to think about Yugoslavia. The country felt apart in many parts. So why is Yugoslavia not added to the Deleted List, only the name changed to Serbia in the DXCC Countries List. Which changes can we expect in the future? Of course, nobody knows. It’s a hard time for the DXCC Searchers. The pandemic of 2019-2022 made traveling around the globe almost impossible. Which change of the DXCC-Rules could stir up the DXCC fire? Stay tuned until the next DXCC change. DXCC changes 2016-2022 Entities until today: Active 340, Deleted: 62, Withdrawn 9 DX is.. !!, vy 73, PA0ABM

Have you ever wondered what effort it takes for the ARRL to process up to ten thousand DXCC applications per year, not to mention the all of the other contests and awards that once required QSL cards from each side of a contact to confirm it? Bill Kennamer, K5FUV, who used to be the guy responsible for DXCC and other ARRL awards will tell you about it in this Podcast.