How to make an html drop-down list with countries using javascript

Recently, I was developing a registration form and found myself needing an html drop-down list of countries. Having to write all the <option> tags for about 204 countries is unacceptable, so I scraped them and decided to wrap it all up in a javascript function and share it with the rest of you, who might need it. My countries source was Wikipedia, so if I missed something feel free to add to the list!

Code:

/*
Object of countries based on 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_IOC_country_codes
*/
function countriesDropdown(container){
	var countries = {
		AFG: "Afghanistan",
		ALB: "Albania",
		ALG: "Algeria",
		AND: "Andorra",
		ANG: "Angola",
		ANT: "Antigua and Barbuda",
		ARG: "Argentina",
		ARM: "Armenia",
		ARU: "Aruba",
		ASA: "American Samoa",
		AUS: "Australia",
		AUT: "Austria",
		AZE: "Azerbaijan",
		BAH: "Bahamas",
		BAN: "Bangladesh",
		BAR: "Barbados",
		BDI: "Burundi",
		BEL: "Belgium",
		BEN: "Benin",
		BER: "Bermuda",
		BHU: "Bhutan",
		BIH: "Bosnia and Herzegovina",
		BIZ: "Belize",
		BLR: "Belarus",
		BOL: "Bolivia",
		BOT: "Botswana",
		BRA: "Brazil",
		BRN: "Bahrain",
		BRU: "Brunei",
		BUL: "Bulgaria",
		BUR: "Burkina Faso",
		CAF: "Central African Republic",
		CAM: "Cambodia",
		CAN: "Canada",
		CAY: "Cayman Islands",
		CGO: "Congo",
		CHA: "Chad",
		CHI: "Chile",
		CHN: "China",
		CIV: "Cote d'Ivoire",
		CMR: "Cameroon",
		COD: "DR Congo",
		COK: "Cook Islands",
		COL: "Colombia",
		COM: "Comoros",
		CPV: "Cape Verde",
		CRC: "Costa Rica",
		CRO: "Croatia",
		CUB: "Cuba",
		CYP: "Cyprus",
		CZE: "Czech Republic",
		DEN: "Denmark",
		DJI: "Djibouti",
		DMA: "Dominica",
		DOM: "Dominican Republic",
		ECU: "Ecuador",
		EGY: "Egypt",
		ERI: "Eritrea",
		ESA: "El Salvador",
		ESP: "Spain",
		EST: "Estonia",
		ETH: "Ethiopia",
		FIJ: "Fiji",
		FIN: "Finland",
		FRA: "France",
		FSM: "Micronesia",
		GAB: "Gabon",
		GAM: "Gambia",
		GBR: "Great Britain",
		GBS: "Guinea-Bissau",
		GEO: "Georgia",
		GEQ: "Equatorial Guinea",
		GER: "Germany",
		GHA: "Ghana",
		GRE: "Greece",
		GRN: "Grenada",
		GUA: "Guatemala",
		GUI: "Guinea",
		GUM: "Guam",
		GUY: "Guyana",
		HAI: "Haiti",
		HKG: "Hong Kong",
		HON: "Honduras",
		HUN: "Hungary",
		INA: "Indonesia",
		IND: "India",
		IRI: "Iran",
		IRL: "Ireland",
		IRQ: "Iraq",
		ISL: "Iceland",
		ISR: "Israel",
		ISV: "Virgin Islands",
		ITA: "Italy",
		IVB: "British Virgin Islands",
		JAM: "Jamaica",
		JOR: "Jordan",
		JPN: "Japan",
		KAZ: "Kazakhstan",
		KEN: "Kenya",
		KGZ: "Kyrgyzstan",
		KIR: "Kiribati",
		KOR: "South Korea",
		KSA: "Saudi Arabia",
		KUW: "Kuwait",
		LAO: "Laos",
		LAT: "Latvia",
		LBA: "Libya",
		LBR: "Liberia",
		LCA: "Saint Lucia",
		LES: "Lesotho",
		LIB: "Lebanon",
		LIE: "Liechtenstein",
		LTU: "Lithuania",
		LUX: "Luxembourg",
		MAD: "Madagascar",
		MAR: "Morocco",
		MAS: "Malaysia",
		MAW: "Malawi",
		MDA: "Moldova",
		MDV: "Maldives",
		MEX: "Mexico",
		MGL: "Mongolia",
		MHL: "Marshall Islands",
		MKD: "Macedonia",
		MLI: "Mali",
		MLT: "Malta",
		MNE: "Montenegro",
		MON: "Monaco",
		MOZ: "Mozambique",
		MRI: "Mauritius",
		MTN: "Mauritania",
		MYA: "Myanmar",
		NAM: "Namibia",
		NCA: "Nicaragua",
		NED: "Netherlands",
		NEP: "Nepal",
		NGR: "Nigeria",
		NIG: "Niger",
		NOR: "Norway",
		NRU: "Nauru",
		NZL: "New Zealand",
		OMA: "Oman",
		PAK: "Pakistan",
		PAN: "Panama",
		PAR: "Paraguay",
		PER: "Peru",
		PHI: "Philippines",
		PLE: "Palestine",
		PLW: "Palau",
		PNG: "Papua New Guinea",
		POL: "Poland",
		POR: "Portugal",
		PRK: "North Korea",
		PUR: "Puerto Rico",
		QAT: "Qatar",
		ROU: "Romania",
		RSA: "South Africa",
		RUS: "Russia",
		RWA: "Rwanda",
		SAM: "Samoa",
		SEN: "Senegal",
		SEY: "Seychelles",
		SIN: "Singapore",
		SKN: "Saint Kitts and Nevis",
		SLE: "Sierra Leone",
		SLO: "Slovenia",
		SMR: "San Marino",
		SOL: "Solomon Islands",
		SOM: "Somalia",
		SRB: "Serbia",
		SRI: "Sri Lanka",
		STP: "Sao Tome and Principe",
		SUD: "Sudan",
		SUI: "Switzerland",
		SUR: "Suriname",
		SVK: "Slovakia",
		SWE: "Sweden",
		SWZ: "Swaziland",
		SYR: "Syria",
		TAN: "Tanzania",
		TGA: "Tonga",
		THA: "Thailand",
		TJA: "Tajikistan",
		TKM: "Turkmenistan",
		TLS: "Timor-Leste",
		TOG: "Togo",
		TPE: "Chinese Taipei",
		TRI: "Trinidad and Tobago",
		TUN: "Tunisia",
		TUR: "Turkey",
		TUV: "Tuvalu",
		UAE: "United Arab Emirates",
		UGA: "Uganda",
		UKR: "Ukraine",
		URU: "Uruguay",
		USA: "United States",
		UZB: "Uzbekistan",
		VAN: "Vanuatu",
		VEN: "Venezuela",
		VIE: "Vietnam",
		VIN: "Saint Vincent and the Grenadines",
		YEM: "Yemen",
		ZAM: "Zambia",
		ZIM: "Zimbabwe"
		}
	var out = "<select><option value=''></option>";
	for (var key in countries) {
		out += "<option value='" + key + "'>" + countries[key] + "</option>";
	}
	out += "</select>";
	document.getElementById(container).innerHTML = out;
}

Usage:

The usage is simple. The function is bound by the id of the element where you want the countries dropdown to be injected in. Example:

<div id="countries"></div>
<script type="text/javascript" src="countries_dropdown.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">countriesDropdown("countries");</script>