A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate, license plate, or licence plate, is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identification purposes. All countries require registration plates for road vehicles such as cars, trucks, and motorcycles. Whether they are required for other vehicles, such as bicycles, boats, or tractors, may vary by jurisdiction. The registration identifier is a numeric or alphanumeric ID that uniquely identifies the vehicle or vehicle owner within the issuing region's vehicle register. In some countries, the identifier is unique within the entire country, while in others it is unique within a state or province. Whether the identifier is associated with a vehicle or a person also varies by issuing agency. There are also electronic license plates.
Number plates in Belgium are driver specific, meaning that they are transferred to a new vehicle from the owner's previous one.
Vehicles registered in Slovakia are generally assigned to one of the districts (okres) and since 1997, the licence plate coding generally consists of seven characters and takes the form XX-NNNLL, where XX is a two letter code corresponding to the district, NNN is three digit number and LL are two letters.
All motorised road vehicles in India are tagged with a registration or licence number. The Vehicle registration plate number is issued by the district-level Regional Transport Office (RTO) of respective states — the main authority on road matters. The number plates are placed in the front and back of the vehicle. By law, all plates are required to be in modern Hindu-Arabic numerals with Latin letters. The international vehicle registration code for India is IND.
Vehicle registration plates of Poland indicate the region of registration of the vehicle given the number plate.
Finnish vehicle registration plates usually carry three letters and three numbers separated with a dash, though vanity plates may carry 2-3 letters and 1-3 numbers. Since 1989 the code has no connection with the geographic location, except that Åland has its own type of plate. Between 1972/1973 and 1989 the first letter indicated where the vehicle was first registered as the plate did not have to be changed even if the vehicle was moved to another area of Finland.
Vehicle registration plates are mandatory number plates used to display the registration mark of a vehicle registered in France. They have existed in the country since 1901. It is compulsory for most motor vehicles used on public roads to display them.
Present Montenegrin car plates have black characters on a rectangular white background, with blue strip on the left. The plates follow the 520 mm x 110 mm format, except for motorcycles. The present licence plates format was introduced on 6 June 2008, and replaced the old format gradually over the following year. The new format is on par with common European Union format.
Standard Bulgarian vehicle registration plates display black glyphs on a white background, together with – on the left-hand side of the plate – a blue vertical "EU strip" showing the flag of Europe and, below it, the country code for Bulgaria: BG.
Bosnia and Herzegovina vehicle registration plates have held their current form since 1998. Currently the Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) vehicle registration plate format consists of seven characters: five numbers and two letters arranged in the following order: X00-X-000. The plates are uniform across the country and do not denote the place where the vehicle is registered, as was the case prior to 1998. Likewise the plates do not contain any heraldic symbols. The plates use only letters which are represented equally in Latin and Cyrillic script.
In Albania, vehicle registration plates are issued by the regional directorates of transport.
Thailand's vehicle registration plates are issued by the Department of Land Transport (DLT) of the Ministry of Transport. They must be displayed on all motorized road vehicles, as required by the Motor Vehicle Act, B.E. 2522 and the Land Transport Act, B.E. 2522. The plates vary in design, colors and dimensions according to the type of vehicle, but usually display a registration number and the vehicle's province of registration. Specifications are given in Ministry of Transport regulations. Current style started in 1975 for most vehicle types, but with small changes in 1997, and 1997 for motorcycles.
Vehicle registration plates of Georgia are composed of an embossed serial of two letters, a hyphen, three numbers, a hyphen, and two letters, in black on a white background with a blue vertical strip on the left. The plates are issued in the Latin alphabet. Georgian registration plates are the same size as the most common European registration plate. All plates have the abbreviation "GE" in the lower left corner of the plate and the national flag in the upper left corner. This set of new style registration plates have been in use since 1 September 2014.
The vehicle registration plates of Cyprus are composed of three letters and three digits. A simple incremental numbering system is used; numbers run from 001 to 999 per letter sequence (alphabetic), so that, for example, the plate to be issued after MAA 999 would be MAB 001. However, registrants may be allowed to choose a number from available numbers in the extant letter sequence.
The current vehicle registration plate system of Cuba was introduced in May 2013. Current plates are European standard 520 mm × 110 mm, completely replacing the previous system introduced in 2002. The international vehicle registration code for Cuba is C.
Vehicle registration plates of Armenia have black characters on a rectangular white background. They are composed of two or three numbers, two letters in the middle, and two other numbers. At the left side is located the international code "AM" with an oval car plaque and, sometimes, the national flag. Starting from 6 August 2014 a new design of license plates was implemented. The license plates have a national flag on the left side, a security hologram and a machinery readable Data Matrix Code.
The current series of vehicle registration plates in Kenya are on a white plate with black lettering and look quite similar to UK suffix style registrations. The format is LLL NNNL, where ‘L’ denotes a letter and ‘N’ denotes a digit. The older series of number plates were black with white or silver lettering. Later in the older series the front plates were reflective white with black lettering and the rear plates were reflective yellow with black lettering. According to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics there are over 1,626,380 vehicles in Kenyan road as at 2011.
Kyrgyz registration plates were first issued in 1980, when the country was still a republic of the Soviet Union. Despite having gained its independence in 1991, it continued to use the old Soviet plates until the introduction of the current format in 1994.
The issuing of the current license plates of the DRC began in April 2009. The plates are based on the layout of the registration plates of the European Union, but are of a slightly different in size than the European standard size. At the left side is the national flag of the DRC which is displayed with the letters "CGO" below. The serial combination consists of five numbers followed. In addition, located on the front windshield of the vehicle, a so-called third mark in the form of an 84 × 53 mm large sticker. It repeats the serial combination on the plate and it also includes the chassis number of the vehicle.
Vehicle registration plates, commonly known as number plates, are the mandatory alphanumeric or numeric plates used to display the registration mark of a vehicle.
