PHP intl country code 2 chars to country name

You can get a JSON mapping of ISO2 country code to name at http://country.io/names.json. Here's a simple PHP example that makes use of it:

$names = json_decode(file_get_contents("http://country.io/names.json"), true);
echo $names['US'];
// => United States
echo $names['NL'];
// => Netherlands

See http://country.io/data/ for more related data.

Here the function with array:

//Edited by rezker (http://www.rezker.com)
    function code_to_country( $code ){

    $code = strtoupper($code);

    $countryList = array(
        'AF' => 'Afghanistan',
        'AX' => 'Aland Islands',
        'AL' => 'Albania',
        'DZ' => 'Algeria',
        'AS' => 'American Samoa',
        'AD' => 'Andorra',
        'AO' => 'Angola',
        'AI' => 'Anguilla',
        'AQ' => 'Antarctica',
        'AG' => 'Antigua and Barbuda',
        'AR' => 'Argentina',
        'AM' => 'Armenia',
        'AW' => 'Aruba',
        'AU' => 'Australia',
        'AT' => 'Austria',
        'AZ' => 'Azerbaijan',
        'BS' => 'Bahamas the',
        'BH' => 'Bahrain',
        'BD' => 'Bangladesh',
        'BB' => 'Barbados',
        'BY' => 'Belarus',
        'BE' => 'Belgium',
        'BZ' => 'Belize',
        'BJ' => 'Benin',
        'BM' => 'Bermuda',
        'BT' => 'Bhutan',
        'BO' => 'Bolivia',
        'BA' => 'Bosnia and Herzegovina',
        'BW' => 'Botswana',
        'BV' => 'Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya)',
        'BR' => 'Brazil',
        'IO' => 'British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago)',
        'VG' => 'British Virgin Islands',
        'BN' => 'Brunei Darussalam',
        'BG' => 'Bulgaria',
        'BF' => 'Burkina Faso',
        'BI' => 'Burundi',
        'KH' => 'Cambodia',
        'CM' => 'Cameroon',
        'CA' => 'Canada',
        'CV' => 'Cape Verde',
        'KY' => 'Cayman Islands',
        'CF' => 'Central African Republic',
        'TD' => 'Chad',
        'CL' => 'Chile',
        'CN' => 'China',
        'CX' => 'Christmas Island',
        'CC' => 'Cocos (Keeling) Islands',
        'CO' => 'Colombia',
        'KM' => 'Comoros the',
        'CD' => 'Congo',
        'CG' => 'Congo the',
        'CK' => 'Cook Islands',
        'CR' => 'Costa Rica',
        'CI' => 'Cote d\'Ivoire',
        'HR' => 'Croatia',
        'CU' => 'Cuba',
        'CY' => 'Cyprus',
        'CZ' => 'Czech Republic',
        'DK' => 'Denmark',
        'DJ' => 'Djibouti',
        'DM' => 'Dominica',
        'DO' => 'Dominican Republic',
        'EC' => 'Ecuador',
        'EG' => 'Egypt',
        'SV' => 'El Salvador',
        'GQ' => 'Equatorial Guinea',
        'ER' => 'Eritrea',
        'EE' => 'Estonia',
        'ET' => 'Ethiopia',
        'FO' => 'Faroe Islands',
        'FK' => 'Falkland Islands (Malvinas)',
        'FJ' => 'Fiji the Fiji Islands',
        'FI' => 'Finland',
        'FR' => 'France, French Republic',
        'GF' => 'French Guiana',
        'PF' => 'French Polynesia',
        'TF' => 'French Southern Territories',
        'GA' => 'Gabon',
        'GM' => 'Gambia the',
        'GE' => 'Georgia',
        'DE' => 'Germany',
        'GH' => 'Ghana',
        'GI' => 'Gibraltar',
        'GR' => 'Greece',
        'GL' => 'Greenland',
        'GD' => 'Grenada',
        'GP' => 'Guadeloupe',
        'GU' => 'Guam',
        'GT' => 'Guatemala',
        'GG' => 'Guernsey',
        'GN' => 'Guinea',
        'GW' => 'Guinea-Bissau',
        'GY' => 'Guyana',
        'HT' => 'Haiti',
        'HM' => 'Heard Island and McDonald Islands',
        'VA' => 'Holy See (Vatican City State)',
        'HN' => 'Honduras',
        'HK' => 'Hong Kong',
        'HU' => 'Hungary',
        'IS' => 'Iceland',
        'IN' => 'India',
        'ID' => 'Indonesia',
        'IR' => 'Iran',
        'IQ' => 'Iraq',
        'IE' => 'Ireland',
        'IM' => 'Isle of Man',
        'IL' => 'Israel',
        'IT' => 'Italy',
        'JM' => 'Jamaica',
        'JP' => 'Japan',
        'JE' => 'Jersey',
        'JO' => 'Jordan',
        'KZ' => 'Kazakhstan',
        'KE' => 'Kenya',
        'KI' => 'Kiribati',
        'KP' => 'Korea',
        'KR' => 'Korea',
        'KW' => 'Kuwait',
        'KG' => 'Kyrgyz Republic',
        'LA' => 'Lao',
        'LV' => 'Latvia',
        'LB' => 'Lebanon',
        'LS' => 'Lesotho',
        'LR' => 'Liberia',
        'LY' => 'Libyan Arab Jamahiriya',
        'LI' => 'Liechtenstein',
        'LT' => 'Lithuania',
        'LU' => 'Luxembourg',
        'MO' => 'Macao',
        'MK' => 'Macedonia',
        'MG' => 'Madagascar',
        'MW' => 'Malawi',
        'MY' => 'Malaysia',
        'MV' => 'Maldives',
        'ML' => 'Mali',
        'MT' => 'Malta',
        'MH' => 'Marshall Islands',
        'MQ' => 'Martinique',
        'MR' => 'Mauritania',
        'MU' => 'Mauritius',
        'YT' => 'Mayotte',
        'MX' => 'Mexico',
        'FM' => 'Micronesia',
        'MD' => 'Moldova',
        'MC' => 'Monaco',
        'MN' => 'Mongolia',
        'ME' => 'Montenegro',
        'MS' => 'Montserrat',
        'MA' => 'Morocco',
        'MZ' => 'Mozambique',
        'MM' => 'Myanmar',
        'NA' => 'Namibia',
        'NR' => 'Nauru',
        'NP' => 'Nepal',
        'AN' => 'Netherlands Antilles',
        'NL' => 'Netherlands the',
        'NC' => 'New Caledonia',
        'NZ' => 'New Zealand',
        'NI' => 'Nicaragua',
        'NE' => 'Niger',
        'NG' => 'Nigeria',
        'NU' => 'Niue',
        'NF' => 'Norfolk Island',
        'MP' => 'Northern Mariana Islands',
        'NO' => 'Norway',
        'OM' => 'Oman',
        'PK' => 'Pakistan',
        'PW' => 'Palau',
        'PS' => 'Palestinian Territory',
        'PA' => 'Panama',
        'PG' => 'Papua New Guinea',
        'PY' => 'Paraguay',
        'PE' => 'Peru',
        'PH' => 'Philippines',
        'PN' => 'Pitcairn Islands',
        'PL' => 'Poland',
        'PT' => 'Portugal, Portuguese Republic',
        'PR' => 'Puerto Rico',
        'QA' => 'Qatar',
        'RE' => 'Reunion',
        'RO' => 'Romania',
        'RU' => 'Russian Federation',
        'RW' => 'Rwanda',
        'BL' => 'Saint Barthelemy',
        'SH' => 'Saint Helena',
        'KN' => 'Saint Kitts and Nevis',
        'LC' => 'Saint Lucia',
        'MF' => 'Saint Martin',
        'PM' => 'Saint Pierre and Miquelon',
        'VC' => 'Saint Vincent and the Grenadines',
        'WS' => 'Samoa',
        'SM' => 'San Marino',
        'ST' => 'Sao Tome and Principe',
        'SA' => 'Saudi Arabia',
        'SN' => 'Senegal',
        'RS' => 'Serbia',
        'SC' => 'Seychelles',
        'SL' => 'Sierra Leone',
        'SG' => 'Singapore',
        'SK' => 'Slovakia (Slovak Republic)',
        'SI' => 'Slovenia',
        'SB' => 'Solomon Islands',
        'SO' => 'Somalia, Somali Republic',
        'ZA' => 'South Africa',
        'GS' => 'South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands',
        'ES' => 'Spain',
        'LK' => 'Sri Lanka',
        'SD' => 'Sudan',
        'SR' => 'Suriname',
        'SJ' => 'Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands',
        'SZ' => 'Swaziland',
        'SE' => 'Sweden',
        'CH' => 'Switzerland, Swiss Confederation',
        'SY' => 'Syrian Arab Republic',
        'TW' => 'Taiwan',
        'TJ' => 'Tajikistan',
        'TZ' => 'Tanzania',
        'TH' => 'Thailand',
        'TL' => 'Timor-Leste',
        'TG' => 'Togo',
        'TK' => 'Tokelau',
        'TO' => 'Tonga',
        'TT' => 'Trinidad and Tobago',
        'TN' => 'Tunisia',
        'TR' => 'Turkey',
        'TM' => 'Turkmenistan',
        'TC' => 'Turks and Caicos Islands',
        'TV' => 'Tuvalu',
        'UG' => 'Uganda',
        'UA' => 'Ukraine',
        'AE' => 'United Arab Emirates',
        'GB' => 'United Kingdom',
        'US' => 'United States of America',
        'UM' => 'United States Minor Outlying Islands',
        'VI' => 'United States Virgin Islands',
        'UY' => 'Uruguay, Eastern Republic of',
        'UZ' => 'Uzbekistan',
        'VU' => 'Vanuatu',
        'VE' => 'Venezuela',
        'VN' => 'Vietnam',
        'WF' => 'Wallis and Futuna',
        'EH' => 'Western Sahara',
        'YE' => 'Yemen',
        'ZM' => 'Zambia',
        'ZW' => 'Zimbabwe'
    );

    if( !$countryList[$code] ) return $code;
    else return $countryList[$code];
    }

This is the function you want:

function countryCodeToCountry($code) {
    $code = strtoupper($code);
    if ($code == 'AF') return 'Afghanistan';
    if ($code == 'AX') return 'Aland Islands';
    if ($code == 'AL') return 'Albania';
    if ($code == 'DZ') return 'Algeria';
    if ($code == 'AS') return 'American Samoa';
    if ($code == 'AD') return 'Andorra';
    if ($code == 'AO') return 'Angola';
    if ($code == 'AI') return 'Anguilla';
    if ($code == 'AQ') return 'Antarctica';
    if ($code == 'AG') return 'Antigua and Barbuda';
    if ($code == 'AR') return 'Argentina';
    if ($code == 'AM') return 'Armenia';
    if ($code == 'AW') return 'Aruba';
    if ($code == 'AU') return 'Australia';
    if ($code == 'AT') return 'Austria';
    if ($code == 'AZ') return 'Azerbaijan';
    if ($code == 'BS') return 'Bahamas the';
    if ($code == 'BH') return 'Bahrain';
    if ($code == 'BD') return 'Bangladesh';
    if ($code == 'BB') return 'Barbados';
    if ($code == 'BY') return 'Belarus';
    if ($code == 'BE') return 'Belgium';
    if ($code == 'BZ') return 'Belize';
    if ($code == 'BJ') return 'Benin';
    if ($code == 'BM') return 'Bermuda';
    if ($code == 'BT') return 'Bhutan';
    if ($code == 'BO') return 'Bolivia';
    if ($code == 'BA') return 'Bosnia and Herzegovina';
    if ($code == 'BW') return 'Botswana';
    if ($code == 'BV') return 'Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya)';
    if ($code == 'BR') return 'Brazil';
    if ($code == 'IO') return 'British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago)';
    if ($code == 'VG') return 'British Virgin Islands';
    if ($code == 'BN') return 'Brunei Darussalam';
    if ($code == 'BG') return 'Bulgaria';
    if ($code == 'BF') return 'Burkina Faso';
    if ($code == 'BI') return 'Burundi';
    if ($code == 'KH') return 'Cambodia';
    if ($code == 'CM') return 'Cameroon';
    if ($code == 'CA') return 'Canada';
    if ($code == 'CV') return 'Cape Verde';
    if ($code == 'KY') return 'Cayman Islands';
    if ($code == 'CF') return 'Central African Republic';
    if ($code == 'TD') return 'Chad';
    if ($code == 'CL') return 'Chile';
    if ($code == 'CN') return 'China';
    if ($code == 'CX') return 'Christmas Island';
    if ($code == 'CC') return 'Cocos (Keeling) Islands';
    if ($code == 'CO') return 'Colombia';
    if ($code == 'KM') return 'Comoros the';
    if ($code == 'CD') return 'Congo';
    if ($code == 'CG') return 'Congo the';
    if ($code == 'CK') return 'Cook Islands';
    if ($code == 'CR') return 'Costa Rica';
    if ($code == 'CI') return 'Cote d\'Ivoire';
    if ($code == 'HR') return 'Croatia';
    if ($code == 'CU') return 'Cuba';
    if ($code == 'CY') return 'Cyprus';
    if ($code == 'CZ') return 'Czech Republic';
    if ($code == 'DK') return 'Denmark';
    if ($code == 'DJ') return 'Djibouti';
    if ($code == 'DM') return 'Dominica';
    if ($code == 'DO') return 'Dominican Republic';
    if ($code == 'EC') return 'Ecuador';
    if ($code == 'EG') return 'Egypt';
    if ($code == 'SV') return 'El Salvador';
    if ($code == 'GQ') return 'Equatorial Guinea';
    if ($code == 'ER') return 'Eritrea';
    if ($code == 'EE') return 'Estonia';
    if ($code == 'ET') return 'Ethiopia';
    if ($code == 'FO') return 'Faroe Islands';
    if ($code == 'FK') return 'Falkland Islands (Malvinas)';
    if ($code == 'FJ') return 'Fiji the Fiji Islands';
    if ($code == 'FI') return 'Finland';
    if ($code == 'FR') return 'France, French Republic';
    if ($code == 'GF') return 'French Guiana';
    if ($code == 'PF') return 'French Polynesia';
    if ($code == 'TF') return 'French Southern Territories';
    if ($code == 'GA') return 'Gabon';
    if ($code == 'GM') return 'Gambia the';
    if ($code == 'GE') return 'Georgia';
    if ($code == 'DE') return 'Germany';
    if ($code == 'GH') return 'Ghana';
    if ($code == 'GI') return 'Gibraltar';
    if ($code == 'GR') return 'Greece';
    if ($code == 'GL') return 'Greenland';
    if ($code == 'GD') return 'Grenada';
    if ($code == 'GP') return 'Guadeloupe';
    if ($code == 'GU') return 'Guam';
    if ($code == 'GT') return 'Guatemala';
    if ($code == 'GG') return 'Guernsey';
    if ($code == 'GN') return 'Guinea';
    if ($code == 'GW') return 'Guinea-Bissau';
    if ($code == 'GY') return 'Guyana';
    if ($code == 'HT') return 'Haiti';
    if ($code == 'HM') return 'Heard Island and McDonald Islands';
    if ($code == 'VA') return 'Holy See (Vatican City State)';
    if ($code == 'HN') return 'Honduras';
    if ($code == 'HK') return 'Hong Kong';
    if ($code == 'HU') return 'Hungary';
    if ($code == 'IS') return 'Iceland';
    if ($code == 'IN') return 'India';
    if ($code == 'ID') return 'Indonesia';
    if ($code == 'IR') return 'Iran';
    if ($code == 'IQ') return 'Iraq';
    if ($code == 'IE') return 'Ireland';
    if ($code == 'IM') return 'Isle of Man';
    if ($code == 'IL') return 'Israel';
    if ($code == 'IT') return 'Italy';
    if ($code == 'JM') return 'Jamaica';
    if ($code == 'JP') return 'Japan';
    if ($code == 'JE') return 'Jersey';
    if ($code == 'JO') return 'Jordan';
    if ($code == 'KZ') return 'Kazakhstan';
    if ($code == 'KE') return 'Kenya';
    if ($code == 'KI') return 'Kiribati';
    if ($code == 'KP') return 'Korea';
    if ($code == 'KR') return 'Korea';
    if ($code == 'KW') return 'Kuwait';
    if ($code == 'KG') return 'Kyrgyz Republic';
    if ($code == 'LA') return 'Lao';
    if ($code == 'LV') return 'Latvia';
    if ($code == 'LB') return 'Lebanon';
    if ($code == 'LS') return 'Lesotho';
    if ($code == 'LR') return 'Liberia';
    if ($code == 'LY') return 'Libyan Arab Jamahiriya';
    if ($code == 'LI') return 'Liechtenstein';
    if ($code == 'LT') return 'Lithuania';
    if ($code == 'LU') return 'Luxembourg';
    if ($code == 'MO') return 'Macao';
    if ($code == 'MK') return 'Macedonia';
    if ($code == 'MG') return 'Madagascar';
    if ($code == 'MW') return 'Malawi';
    if ($code == 'MY') return 'Malaysia';
    if ($code == 'MV') return 'Maldives';
    if ($code == 'ML') return 'Mali';
    if ($code == 'MT') return 'Malta';
    if ($code == 'MH') return 'Marshall Islands';
    if ($code == 'MQ') return 'Martinique';
    if ($code == 'MR') return 'Mauritania';
    if ($code == 'MU') return 'Mauritius';
    if ($code == 'YT') return 'Mayotte';
    if ($code == 'MX') return 'Mexico';
    if ($code == 'FM') return 'Micronesia';
    if ($code == 'MD') return 'Moldova';
    if ($code == 'MC') return 'Monaco';
    if ($code == 'MN') return 'Mongolia';
    if ($code == 'ME') return 'Montenegro';
    if ($code == 'MS') return 'Montserrat';
    if ($code == 'MA') return 'Morocco';
    if ($code == 'MZ') return 'Mozambique';
    if ($code == 'MM') return 'Myanmar';
    if ($code == 'NA') return 'Namibia';
    if ($code == 'NR') return 'Nauru';
    if ($code == 'NP') return 'Nepal';
    if ($code == 'AN') return 'Netherlands Antilles';
    if ($code == 'NL') return 'Netherlands the';
    if ($code == 'NC') return 'New Caledonia';
    if ($code == 'NZ') return 'New Zealand';
    if ($code == 'NI') return 'Nicaragua';
    if ($code == 'NE') return 'Niger';
    if ($code == 'NG') return 'Nigeria';
    if ($code == 'NU') return 'Niue';
    if ($code == 'NF') return 'Norfolk Island';
    if ($code == 'MP') return 'Northern Mariana Islands';
    if ($code == 'NO') return 'Norway';
    if ($code == 'OM') return 'Oman';
    if ($code == 'PK') return 'Pakistan';
    if ($code == 'PW') return 'Palau';
    if ($code == 'PS') return 'Palestinian Territory';
    if ($code == 'PA') return 'Panama';
    if ($code == 'PG') return 'Papua New Guinea';
    if ($code == 'PY') return 'Paraguay';
    if ($code == 'PE') return 'Peru';
    if ($code == 'PH') return 'Philippines';
    if ($code == 'PN') return 'Pitcairn Islands';
    if ($code == 'PL') return 'Poland';
    if ($code == 'PT') return 'Portugal, Portuguese Republic';
    if ($code == 'PR') return 'Puerto Rico';
    if ($code == 'QA') return 'Qatar';
    if ($code == 'RE') return 'Reunion';
    if ($code == 'RO') return 'Romania';
    if ($code == 'RU') return 'Russian Federation';
    if ($code == 'RW') return 'Rwanda';
    if ($code == 'BL') return 'Saint Barthelemy';
    if ($code == 'SH') return 'Saint Helena';
    if ($code == 'KN') return 'Saint Kitts and Nevis';
    if ($code == 'LC') return 'Saint Lucia';
    if ($code == 'MF') return 'Saint Martin';
    if ($code == 'PM') return 'Saint Pierre and Miquelon';
    if ($code == 'VC') return 'Saint Vincent and the Grenadines';
    if ($code == 'WS') return 'Samoa';
    if ($code == 'SM') return 'San Marino';
    if ($code == 'ST') return 'Sao Tome and Principe';
    if ($code == 'SA') return 'Saudi Arabia';
    if ($code == 'SN') return 'Senegal';
    if ($code == 'RS') return 'Serbia';
    if ($code == 'SC') return 'Seychelles';
    if ($code == 'SL') return 'Sierra Leone';
    if ($code == 'SG') return 'Singapore';
    if ($code == 'SK') return 'Slovakia (Slovak Republic)';
    if ($code == 'SI') return 'Slovenia';
    if ($code == 'SB') return 'Solomon Islands';
    if ($code == 'SO') return 'Somalia, Somali Republic';
    if ($code == 'ZA') return 'South Africa';
    if ($code == 'GS') return 'South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands';
    if ($code == 'ES') return 'Spain';
    if ($code == 'LK') return 'Sri Lanka';
    if ($code == 'SD') return 'Sudan';
    if ($code == 'SR') return 'Suriname';
    if ($code == 'SJ') return 'Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands';
    if ($code == 'SZ') return 'Swaziland';
    if ($code == 'SE') return 'Sweden';
    if ($code == 'CH') return 'Switzerland, Swiss Confederation';
    if ($code == 'SY') return 'Syrian Arab Republic';
    if ($code == 'TW') return 'Taiwan';
    if ($code == 'TJ') return 'Tajikistan';
    if ($code == 'TZ') return 'Tanzania';
    if ($code == 'TH') return 'Thailand';
    if ($code == 'TL') return 'Timor-Leste';
    if ($code == 'TG') return 'Togo';
    if ($code == 'TK') return 'Tokelau';
    if ($code == 'TO') return 'Tonga';
    if ($code == 'TT') return 'Trinidad and Tobago';
    if ($code == 'TN') return 'Tunisia';
    if ($code == 'TR') return 'Turkey';
    if ($code == 'TM') return 'Turkmenistan';
    if ($code == 'TC') return 'Turks and Caicos Islands';
    if ($code == 'TV') return 'Tuvalu';
    if ($code == 'UG') return 'Uganda';
    if ($code == 'UA') return 'Ukraine';
    if ($code == 'AE') return 'United Arab Emirates';
    if ($code == 'GB') return 'United Kingdom';
    if ($code == 'US') return 'United States of America';
    if ($code == 'UM') return 'United States Minor Outlying Islands';
    if ($code == 'VI') return 'United States Virgin Islands';
    if ($code == 'UY') return 'Uruguay, Eastern Republic of';
    if ($code == 'UZ') return 'Uzbekistan';
    if ($code == 'VU') return 'Vanuatu';
    if ($code == 'VE') return 'Venezuela';
    if ($code == 'VN') return 'Vietnam';
    if ($code == 'WF') return 'Wallis and Futuna';
    if ($code == 'EH') return 'Western Sahara';
    if ($code == 'YE') return 'Yemen';
    if ($code == 'XK') return 'Kosovo';
    if ($code == 'ZM') return 'Zambia';
    if ($code == 'ZW') return 'Zimbabwe';
    return '';
}    

You don't have to have a fully-formed locale for the first parameter. This makes the function useful for getting the country name from any locale:

<?php
var_dump(Locale::getDisplayRegion('-US', 'fr'));

//Returns
string 'États-Unis' (length=11)

http://php.net/manual/en/locale.getdisplayregion.php#115523