List of postal codes

Last updated

This list shows an overview of postal code notation schemes for all countries that have postal or ZIP Code systems.

Contents

List

Legend
CountryIn use since / from ... to ISO Area formatStreet level formatNote
Afghanistan 21 March 2011 AF NNNNThe first two digits (ranging from 10 to 43) correspond to the province, while the last two digits correspond either to the city/delivery zone (range 01–50) or to the district/delivery zone (range 51–99).[ citation needed ]
Åland AX NNNNN, CC-NNNNNWith Finland, first two numbers are 22. CC-NNNNN used from abroad.
Albania 11 October 2006 AL NNNNIntroduced in 2006, gradually implemented throughout 2007.
Algeria DZ NNNNNFirst two as in ISO 3166-2:DZ
American Samoa 1 July 1963 AS NNNNN, NNNNN-NNNNU.S. ZIP codes (range 96799)
Andorra 31 July 2004 AD CCNNNEach parish now has its own post code.
Angola AO no codes
Anguilla 9 October 2007 AI AI-2640Single code used for all addresses.
Antigua and Barbuda AG no codes
Argentina 1974, modified 1999 AR NNNNNNNN, ANNNNAAA1974–1998 NNNN, and from 1999 ANNNNAAA. Codigo Postal Argentino (CPA), where the first A is the province code as in ISO 3166-2:AR, the four numbers are the old postal codes, the three last letters indicate a side of the block. Previously NNNN which is the minimum requirement as of 2006, but ANNNNAAA is not mandatory.
Armenia 1 April 2006 AM NNNNPreviously used NNNNNN system inherited from former Soviet Union.
Aruba AW no codes
Australia 1 July 1967 AU NNNNIn general, the first digit identifies the state or territory.
Austria 1 January 1966 AT NNNNThe first digit denotes regions, which are partly identical to one of the nine provinces—called Bundesländer; the last the nearest post office in the area.
Azerbaijan AZ CC NNNNPreviously used NNNNNN system inherited from former Soviet Union.
Bahamas BS – no codes -Bahamas used Post Office system instead of Postal Code [1]
Bahrain BH NNN, NNNNValid post code numbers are 101 to 1216 with gaps in the range. Known as block number (Arabic : رقم المجمع) formally. The first digit in NNN format and the first two digits in NNNN format refer to one of the 12 municipalities of the country. PO Box address does not need a block number or city name, just the PO Box number followed by the name of the country, Bahrain.
Bangladesh 16 December 1972 BD NNNN
Barbados BB CCNNNNN5 digit postal code preceded by BB [2]
Belarus BY NNNNNNRetained system inherited from former Soviet Union.
Belgium BE NNNNIn general, the first digit gives the province.
Belize BZ no codes
Benin BJ no codes
Bermuda BM no codesAA NN, AA AAAA NN for street addresses, AA AA for P.O. Box addresses. The second half of the postcode identifies the street delivery walk (e.g.: Hamilton HM 12) or the PO Box number range (e.g.: Hamilton HM BX). See Postal codes in Bermuda.
Bhutan 21 February 2010 BT NNNNNWritten Behind the village name. Digits: postal region (Dzongdey), district (Dzongkhag), sub district (Dungkhag), delivery area (two digits).
Bolivia BO no codes
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba BQ no codes
Bosnia and Herzegovina BA NNNNN
Botswana BW no codes
Brazil 31 May 1971 BR NNNNN, NNNNN-NNNNNNNN-NNNNNNNN only from 1971 to 1992. Código de Endereçamento Postal (CEP): -000 to -899 are used for streets, roads, avenues, boulevards; -900 to -959 are used for buildings with a high postal use; -960 to -969 are for promotional use; -970 to -989 are post offices and regular P.O. boxes; and -990 to -998 are used for community P.O. boxes. -999 is used for special services.
British Antarctic Territory AQ BIQQ 1ZZOne code for all addresses (AAAA NAA). UK territory, but not UK postcode.
British Indian Ocean Territory IO BBND 1ZZOne code for all addresses (AAAA NAA). UK territory, but not UK postcode.
British Virgin Islands VG CCNNNNSpecifically, VG1110 through VG1160 [3]
Brunei BN AANNNN
Bulgaria 1 August 1975 BG NNNN
Burkina Faso BF no codes
Burundi BI no codes
Cambodia Updated 2017 KH 120000Cambodia Post [EMS]
Cameroon CM no codes
Canada 1971–1975 CA ANA NANThe system was gradually introduced starting in April 1971 in Ottawa. The letters D, F, I, O, Q, and U are not used to avoid confusion with other letters or numbers.
Cape Verde CV NNNNThe first digit indicates the island.
Cayman Islands KY CCN-NNNN
Central African Republic CF no codes
Chad TD no codes
Chile CL NNNNNNN, NNN-NNNNMay only be required for bulk mail.
China CN NNNNNNA postal code or yóu biān (邮编) in a subordinate division will have the same first two digits as its governing one (see Political divisions of China. The postal services in Macau or Hong Kong Special Administrative Regions remain separate from Mainland China, with no post code system currently used.
Christmas Island CX NNNNPart of the Australian postal code system.
Cocos (Keeling) Island CC NNNNPart of the Australian postal code system.
Colombia CO NNNNNNFirst NN = 32 departments
Comoros KM no codes
Congo (Brazzaville) CG no codes
Congo, Democratic Republic CD no codes
Cook Islands CK no codes
Costa Rica 31 March 2007 CR NNNNNNNNNN-NNNNWas NNNN until 2007. First codes the provinces, next two the canton, last two the district.
Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) CI no codes
Croatia HR NNNNN
Cuba CU NNNNNMay only be required for bulk mail. The letters CP are frequently used before the postal code. This is not a country code, but an abbreviation for "codigo postal" or postal code.
Curaçao CW no codes
Cyprus 1 October 1994 CY NNNNThe postal code system covers the whole island, but is not used on mail to Northern Cyprus. Northern Cyprus uses a 5-digit code commencing 99, introduced in 2013. For mail sent there from abroad, the line "Mersin 10" is written on the line above that containing the postal code, and the country name used is "Turkey".
Czech Republic 31 December 1973 CZ NNN NNWith Slovak Republic, Poštovní směrovací číslo (PSČ) – postal routing number. The first digit is from the range 1–7.
Denmark 20 September 1967 DK NNNNNumbering follows the dispatch of postal trains from Copenhagen. [4] Also used by Greenland, e.g.: DK-3900 Nuuk.
Djibouti DJ no codes
Dominica DM no codes
Dominican Republic DO NNNNN
East Timor TL no codesNo postal code system in use since Indonesian withdrawal in 1999.
Ecuador 31 December 2013 EC NNNNNN
El Salvador SV NNNN
Egypt EG NNNNNNN
Equatorial Guinea GQ no codes
Eritrea ER no codes
Estonia EE NNNNN
Eswatini SZ ANNNThe letter identifies one of the country's four districts, either H, M, S or L. The four district regions are Hhohho region (H), Manzini region (M), Shiselweni region (S), and Lumombo region (L). [5]
Ethiopia ET NNNNThe code is only used on a trial basis for Addis Ababa addresses.
Falkland Islands FK FIQQ 1ZZSingle code (AAAA NAA). UK territory, but not UK postcode
Faroe Islands FO CC-NNN3-digit postal code preceded by FO. Self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, but does not use Danish postal codes, and is addressed internationally as Faroe Islands, not Denmark. [6]
Fiji FJ no codes
Finland 31 December 1971 FI NNNNNA lower first digit indicates a place in south (for example 00100 Helsinki), a higher indicates a place further to north (99800 in Ivalo). The last digit is usually 0, except for postal codes for PO Box number ranges, in which case it is 1. Country code for Finland: "FI". In Åland, the postal code is prefixed with "AX", not "FI". Some postal codes for rural settlements may end with 5, and there are some unique postal codes for large companies and institutions, e.g. 00014 HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO (university), 00102 EDUSKUNTA (parliament), 00020 NORDEA (a major Scandinavian bank).
France 3 June 1972 FR NNNNNThe first two digits give the département number, while in Paris, Lyon and Marseille, the last two digits of the postal code indicate the arrondissement. Both of the 2 Corsican départements use "20" as the first two digits. Also used by French overseas departments and territories. Monaco is also part of the French postal code system, but the country code MC- is used for Monegasque addresses.
French Guiana GF 973NNOverseas Department of France. French codes used. Range 9730097390.
French Polynesia PF 987NNOverseas Collectivity of France. French codes used. Range 9870098790.
French Southern and Antarctic Territories TF – no codes -French codes in the 98400 range have been reserved.
Gabon GA no codes
Gambia GM no codes
Georgia GE NNNN
Germany 25 July 1941 – 1962 resp. 1965 DE NNPostleitzahl (PLZ)
Germany 1962 resp. 1965–1993 DE NNNNPostleitzahl (PLZ) – Two separate systems in Western Germany (Federal Republic) and East Germany (German Democratic Republic). Between German reunification in 1990 and 1993 the old separate 4-digit postal codes of former West- and East-Germany were distinguished by preceding "W-" ('West') or "O-" ('Ost' for East).
Germany 1 July 1993 DE NNNNNPostleitzahl (PLZ) – Totally new system introduced about 4 years after the German reunification.
Ghana 18 October 2017 GH A?NNN,

A?NNNN, A?NNNNN

Ghana uses a digital address system. A digital address is made up of two main components: a postcode (e.g. EN-200) and a unique address (e.g. 1987). The first letter in the postcode represents a region (E for Eastern Region in this case), the second letter/digit (N) represents the district (N for New Juaben). The next batch of numbers (200) represent the area code. The regional, district and area codes come together to form the postcode. The last batch of numbers (1987) represent the unique address of the location. A combination of the postcode and the unique address make up the digital address. [7]
Gibraltar GI GX11 1AASingle code used for all addresses.
Greece 31 December 1983 GR NNN NN
Greenland GL NNNNPart of the Danish postal code system.
Grenada GD no codes
Guadeloupe GP 971NNOverseas Department of France. French codes used. Range 9710097190, which still includes the distinctive postal codes for Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy.
Guam 1 July 1963 GU NNNNN, NNNNN-NNNNU.S. ZIP codes. Range 9691096932.
Guatemala GT NNNNNThe first two numbers identify the department, the third number the route and the last two the office.
Guernsey 30 June 1993 GG AAN NAA, AANN NAAUK-format postcode (first two letters are always GY)
Guinea GN NNN
Guinea Bissau GW NNNN
Guyana GY no codes
Haiti HT NNNN
Heard and McDonald Islands HM no codes
Honduras HN AANNNN, NNNNNNNNNN is still being used [8]
Hong Kong HK no codesThe dummy postal code of Hong Kong is 999077.

However, if you provide this dummy code where your address label will be electronically created, the system may change the destination country to "Hong Kong S.A.R, CHINA". The addition of "CHINA" can significantly delay delivery. Use an alternate dummy instead (e.g. 00000). [9]

Hungary 31 December 1973 HU NNNNThe code defines an area, usually one code per settlement except the six largest towns. One code can identify more (usually) small settlements as well.
Iceland IS NNN
India 15 August 1972 IN NNNNNN,

NNN NNN

Postal Index Number (PIN) consists of six digits: first digit for region, second digit for subregion, third digit for revenue/sorting office and last three digits representing the post office of the area.
Indonesia ID NNNNN [10]
Iran IR NNNNN-NNNNN(Persian: کد پستی)
Iraq 31 December 2004 IQ NNNNN
Ireland 13 July 2015 IE ANN

(Routing key, which is never used on its own)

[D6W/ANN] [A/N][A/N][A/N][A/N]

(Single exception where its D6W ????) [11]

Note: A valid postcode never contains the letters: B, G, I, J, L, M, O, Q, S, U, Z. [12]

Ireland's postcode system (called Eircode) refers to individual properties – not to streets/areas. It is presented in the format A12 A1BC The first 3 characters are a routing key referring to a postal district, and the second 4 characters are a unique, pseudorandom identifier for individual properties. The codes are only used in full 7-character format. See: www.eircode.ie for more information. See also Republic of Ireland postal addresses.

Isle of Man 31 December 1993 IM CCN NAA, CCNN NAAUK-format postcode. The first two letters are always IM.
Israel 1 February 2013 IL NNNNNNNIn 2013, after the introduction of the 7 digit codes, 5 digit codes were still being used widely.
Italy 1 July 1967 IT NNNNNCodice di avviamento postale (CAP). Also used by San Marino (prefix SM) and Vatican City (prefix VA). First two digits identify province with some exceptions, because there are more than 100 provinces.
Jamaica 12 February 2007 JM NNBefore suspension: CCAAANN. Jamaica currently has no national postal code system, except for Kingston and Lower St. Andrew, which are divided into postal districts numbered 1-20 [13]

Before the 2007 suspension, the first two letters of a national post code were always 'JM' (for Jamaica) while the third was for one of the four zones (A-D) into which the island was divided. The last two letters were for the parish, while the two digits were for the local post office. [14]

Japan 1 July 1968 JP NNN-NNNNSee also Japanese addressing system.
Jersey 31 December 1994 JE CCN NAA, CCNN NAAUK-format postcode. The first two letters are always JE.
Jordan JO NNNNNDeliveries to PO Boxes only.
Kazakhstan KZ NNNNNN [15]
Kenya KE NNNNNDeliveries to PO Boxes only. The postal code refers to the post office at which the receiver's P. O. Box is located.
Kiribati KI no codes
Korea, North KP no codes
Korea, South 1 August 2015 KR NNNNNPreviously NNN-NNN (1988~2015), NNN or NNN-NN (1970~1988)
Kosovo XK NNNNNA separate postal code for Kosovo was introduced by the UNMIK postal administration in 2004. Serbian postcodes are still widely used in the Serbian enclaves. No country code has been assigned.
Kuwait KW NNNNNThe first two digits represent the sector and the last three digits represents the post office.
Kyrgyzstan KG NNNNNN
Laos LA NNNNN
Latvia LV CC-NNNN
Lebanon LB NNNNN, NNNN NNNNThe first four digits represent the region or postal zone, the last four digits represent the building see also.[ citation needed ]
Lesotho LS NNN
Liberia LR NNNNTwo digit postal zone after city name.
Libya LY no codes
Liechtenstein 26 June 1964 LI NNNNWith Switzerland, ordered from west to east. Range 94859498.
Lithuania LT CC-NNNNNPreviously 9999 which was actually the old Soviet 999999 format code with the first 2 digits dropped. [16]
Luxembourg LU NNNN4Digit postal code, 1st digit represent the Region[ citation needed ]
Macau MO no codes999078 is the dummy code used in China to represent Macau, but it is not used.
Madagascar MG NNN
Malawi MW NNNNNN [17]
Malaysia MY NNNNN
Maldives MV NNNNN
Mali ML no codes
Malta MT AAA NNNNKodiċi Postali
Marshall Islands 1 July 1963 MH NNNNN, NNNNN-NNNNU.S. ZIP codes. Range 9696096970.
Mauritania MR no codes
Mauritius MU NNNNN
Martinique MQ 972NNOverseas Department of France. French codes used. Range 9720097290.
Mayotte YT 976NNOverseas Department of France. French codes used. Range 9760097690.
Mexico MX NNNNNThe first two digits identify the state (or a part thereof), except for Nos. 00 to 16, which indicate delegaciones (boroughs) of the Federal District (Mexico City).
Micronesia 1 July 1963 FM NNNNN, NNNNN-NNNNU.S. ZIP codes. Range 9694196944.
Moldova MD CCNNNN, CC-NNNN
Monaco 3 June 1972 MC 980NNUses the French Postal System, but with an "MC" Prefix for Monaco. Code range 98000-98099
Mongolia MN NNNNNFirst digit: region / zone, Second digit: province / district, Last three digits: locality / delivery block [18]
Montenegro ME NNNNN
Montserrat MS MSR NNNNRange 1110–1350
Morocco 1 January 1997 MA NNNNN
Mozambique MZ NNNN
Myanmar MM NNNNN
Namibia NA NNNNNFormerly used South African postal code ranges from 9000-9299. [19] Withdrawn from use after independence in 1990. [20] Namibia has introduced a 5-digit postal code in 2018. [21]
Nauru NR no codes
Nepal NP NNNNN
Netherlands 31 December 1977 NL no codesNNNN AAThe combination of the postal code and the house number gives a unique identifier of the address. The four numbers indicate an area, the two letters indicate a group of some 25 habitations, offices, factories, or post office boxes.
New Caledonia NC 988NNOverseas Collectivity of France. French codes used. Range 9880098890.
New Zealand 30 June 2008 NZ NNNNPostcodes were originally intended for bulk mailing and were not needed for addressing individual items. However, new post codes for general use were phased in from June 2006 and came into force by July 2008.
Nicaragua NI NNNNN
Niger NE NNNN
Nigeria NG NNNNNN
Niue NU no codes
Norfolk Island NF NNNNPart of the Australian postal code system.
North Macedonia MK NNNN
Northern Mariana Islands 1 July 1963 MP NNNNN, NNNNN-NNNNU.S. ZIP codes. Range 9695096952.
Norway 18 March 1968 NO NNNN,

CC-NNNN

From south to north

NO- prefix is used recommended, but not mandatory to be used for international mail to Norway [22]

Oman OM NNNDeliveries to P.O. Boxes only.
Pakistan 1 January 1988 PK NNNNN
Palau 1 July 1963 PW NNNNN, NNNNN-NNNNU.S. ZIP codes. All locations 96939 or 96940.
Palestine PS NNNnot yet implemented in practice. Codes 100-899 are in the Westbank, 900-999 in the Gaza Strip
Panama PA NNNN
Papua New Guinea PG NNN
Paraguay PY NNNN
Peru PE NNNNN, CC NNNN
Philippines PH NNNN
Pitcairn Islands PN PCRN 1ZZSingle code used(AAAA NAA). UK territory, but not UK postcode
Poland 1 January 1973 PL NN-NNN(PNA) Pocztowy Numer Adresowy
Portugal 31 December 1976 PT NNNN
Portugal 31 December 1994 PT NNNN-NNN
Puerto Rico 1 July 1963 PR NNNNNNNNNN, NNNNN-NNNNU.S. ZIP codes. ZIP codes 006XX for NW PR, 007XX for SE PR, in which XX designates the town or post office and 009XX for the San Juan Metropolitan Area, in which XX designates the area or borough of San Juan. The last four digits identify an area within the post office. For example, 00716-2604: 00716-for the east section of the city of Ponce and 2604 for Aceitillo St. in the neighborhood of Los Caobos. US Post office is changing the PR address format to the American one: 1234 No Name Avenue, San Juan, PR 00901.
Qatar QA no codes
Réunion RE 974NNOverseas Department of France. French codes used. Range 9740097490.
Romania 1 May 2003 RO NNNNNNPreviously 99999 in Bucharest and 9999 in rest of country.
Rwanda RW no codes
Russia 31 December 1971 RU NNNNNNPlaced on a line of its own.
Saint Barthélemy BL 97133Overseas Collectivity of France. French codes used, still within the same range used for Guadeloupe
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha SH AAAA 1ZZPart of UK system (AAAA NAA). Saint Helena uses one code STHL 1ZZ, Ascension uses one code ASCN 1ZZ, Tristan da Cunha uses one code TDCU 1ZZ.
Saint Kitts and Nevis KN CCNNNN
Saint Lucia 3 December 2015 LC CCNN NNNThe first two letters are always LC. There are two spaces between the second and third digits.
Saint Martin MF 97150Overseas Collectivity of France. French codes used, still within the same range used for Guadeloupe
Saint Pierre and Miquelon PM 97500Overseas Collectivity of France. French codes used.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 31 December 2010 VC CCNNNN
Samoa WS CCNNNN
San Marino SM 4789NWith Italy, uses a five-digit numeric CAP of Emilia Romagna. Range 47890 and 47899
São Tomé and Príncipe ST no codes
Saudi Arabia SA NNNNN-NNNN, NNNNNNNNNN for PO Boxes. NNNNN-NNNN for home delivery. A complete 13-digit code has 5-digit number representing region, sector, city, and zone; 4-digit X between 2000 and 5999; 4-digit Y between 6000 and 9999. [23] Digits of 5-digit code may represent postal region, sector, branch, section, and block respectively. [24]
Senegal SN NNNNNThe letters CP or C.P. are often written in front of the postcode. This is not a country code, but simply an abbreviation for "code postal".
Serbia 1 January 2005 RS NNNNNPoštanski adresni kod (PAK)
Seychelles SC no codes
Sierra Leone SL no codes
Sint Maarten SX no codes
Singapore 6 March 1950 SG NN
Singapore 1 July 1979 SG NNNN
Singapore 1 September 1995 SG NNNNNNEach building has its own unique postcode.
Slovakia 1 January 1973 SK NNN NNwith Czech Republic from west to east, Poštové smerovacie číslo (PSČ) – postal routing number. The first digit is from 8, 9, 0.
Slovenia SI NNNN, CC-NNNNbefore 1996 all postcodes were 6NNNN (part of the former Yugoslav system), in 1996 they removed the "6"
Solomon Islands SB no codes
Somalia SO AA NNNNNTwo letter postal codes for each of the nation's 18 administrative regions (e.g. AW for Awdal, BN for Banaadir, BR for Bari and SL for Sool). [25]
South Africa 8 October 1973 ZA NNNNPostal codes are allocated to individual Post Office branches, some have two codes to differentiate between P.O. Boxes and street delivery addresses. Included Namibia (ranges 9000–9299) until 1992, no longer used.
South Sudan SS no codes
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands GS SIQQ 1ZZOne code for all addresses.
Spain 3 March 1976 ES NNNNNFirst two indicate the province, range 01-52
Sri Lanka LK NNNNNIncorporates Colombo postal districts, e.g.: Colombo 1 is "00100". You can search for specific postal codes here "Department of Posts" . Retrieved 2024-03-03.
Sudan SD NNNNN
Suriname SR no codes
Sweden 12 May 1968 SE NNN NNThe lowest number is 100 12 and the highest number is 984 99.
Switzerland 26 June 1964 CH NNNNWith Liechtenstein, ordered from west to east. In Geneva and other big cities, like Basel, Bern, Zürich, there may be one or two digits after the name of the city when the generic City code (1211) is used instead of the area-specific code (1201, 1202...), e.g.: 1211 Geneva 13. The digit identifies the post office. This addressing is generally used for P.O. box deliveries. Büsingen am Hochrhein (Germany) also has a Swiss postal code. [26]
Svalbard and Jan Mayen SJ NNNNNorway postal codes
Syria SY no codesA 4-digit system has been announced. Status unknown.
Taiwan 20 March 1970 TW NNN, NNN-NN, NNN-NNNThe first three digits of the postal code are required; the last two or three digits are optional. Codes are known as yóu dì qū hào (郵遞區號), and are also assigned to Senkaku Islands (Diaoyutai), though Japanese-administered, Pratas Island and the Spratly Islands. NNN-NNN 3+3 digit codes were launched on March 3, 2020. See List of postal codes in Taiwan.
Tajikistan TJ NNNNNNRetained system from former Soviet Union. First two numbers: Republic and Province, Second two numbers: District, last two numbers: Post Office. [27] [28]
Tanzania TZ NNNNN
Thailand 25 February 1982 TH NNNNNThe first two specify the province, numbers as in ISO 3166-2:TH, the third and fourth digits specify a district (amphoe)
Togo TG no codes
Tokelau TK no codes
Tonga TO no codes
Trinidad and Tobago 31 December 2021 TT NNNNNNFirst two digits specify a postal district (one of 72), next two digits a carrier route, last two digits a building or zone along that route
Tunisia TN NNNN
Turkey TR NNNNNFirst two digits are the city numbers. [29]
Turkmenistan TM NNNNNNRetained system from former Soviet Union.
Turks and Caicos Islands TC TKCA 1ZZSingle code used for all addresses.
Tuvalu TV no codes
Uganda UG no codes
Ukraine UA NNNNN
United Arab Emirates AE no codesUAE does not use a postal code system; instead, they use a post office system to send and receive parcels.
United Kingdom Phased introduction, from 1966 to 1974. Still in use. GB A[A]N[A/N]A[A]N[A/N] NAAKnown as the postcode. The first letter(s) indicate the postal area, such as the town or part of London. Placed on a separate line below the city (or county, if used). The UK postcode is made up of two parts separated by a space. These are known as the outward postcode and the inward postcode. The outward postcode is always one of the following formats: AN, ANN, AAN, AANN, ANA, AANA, AAA. The inward postcode is always formatted as NAA. A valid inward postcode never contains the letters: C, I, K, M, O or V. The British Forces Post Office has a different system, but as of 2012 has also adopted UK-style postcodes that begin with "BF1" for electronic compatibility.
United States 1 July 1963 US NNNNNNNNNN, NNNNN-NNNNKnown as the ZIP Code with five digits 99999* or the ZIP+4 Code with nine digits 99999-9999* (while the minimum requirement is the first five digits, the U.S. Postal Service encourages everyone to use all nine). Also used by the former US Pacific Territories: Federated States of Micronesia; Palau; and the Marshall Islands, as well as in current US territories American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. An individual delivery point may be represented as an 11-digit number, but these are usually represented by Intelligent Mail barcode or formerly POSTNET bar code.

The first digit is assigned regionally (for example, ZIP codes beginning with 9 are found in the western coastal states, Alaska, Hawaii, and islands in the Pacific), and ZIP codes with the same first three digits are served by the same USPS sorting facility (which sometimes serve multiple such groupings), so will be geographically clustered (for example, all ZIP codes in 919XX, 920XX, and 921XX are found in San Diego County, California).

United States Minor Outlying Islands UM 96898Mostly uninhabited. There is only one postal code in use, 96898 Wake Island.
Uruguay UY NNNNN
U.S. Virgin Islands 1 July 1963 VI NNNNN, NNNNN-NNNNU.S. ZIP codes. Range 0080100851.
Uzbekistan 13 May 2005 UZ NNNNNN [30]
Vanuatu VU no codes
Vatican VA 00120Single code used for all addresses. Part of the Italian postal code system.
Venezuela VE NNNN, NNNN-A
Vietnam VN NNNNNFirst two indicate a province.
Wallis and Futuna WF 986NNOverseas Collectivity of France. French codes used. Range 9860098690.
Yemen YE no codesSystem for Sana'a Governorate using geocoding "عنواني" based on the OpenPostcode algorithm is inaugurated in 2014. [31]
Zambia ZM NNNNN
Zimbabwe ZW no codesSystem is being planned.

On the use of country codes

The use of the country codes in conjunction with postal codes started as a recommendation from CEPT (European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations) in the 1960s. In the original CEPT recommendation the distinguishing signs of motor vehicles in international traffic ("car codes") were placed before the postal code, and separated from it by a "-" (dash). Codes were only used on international mail and were hardly ever used internally in each country.

Since the late 1980s, however, a number of postal administrations have changed the recommended codes to the two-letter country codes of ISO 3166. This would allow a universal, standardized code set to be used, and bring it in line with country codes used elsewhere in the UPU (Universal Postal Union). Attempts were also made (without success) to make this part of the official address guidelines of the UPU. Recently introduced postal code systems where the UPU has been involved have included the ISO 3166 country code as an integral part of the postal code.

At present there are no universal guidelines as to which code set to use, and recommendations vary from country to country. In some cases, the applied country code will differ according to recommendations of the sender's postal administration. UPU recommends that the country name always be included as the last line of the address.

In the list above, the following principles have been applied:

See also

Related Research Articles

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A postal code is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal address for the purpose of sorting mail.

ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 codes are three-letter country codes defined in ISO 3166-1, part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), to represent countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest. They allow a better visual association between the codes and the country names than the two-letter alpha-2 codes. They were first included as part of the ISO 3166 standard in its first edition in 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ISO 3166-1 alpha-2</span> Two-letter country codes defined in ISO 3166-1

ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes are two-letter country codes defined in ISO 3166-1, part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), to represent countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest. They are the most widely used of the country codes published by ISO, and are used most prominently for the Internet's country code top-level domains. They are also used as country identifiers extending the postal code when appropriate within the international postal system for paper mail, and have replaced the previous one consisting one-letter codes. They were first included as part of the ISO 3166 standard in its first edition in 1974.

UN/LOCODE, the United Nations Code for Trade and Transport Locations, is a geographic coding scheme developed and maintained by United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). UN/LOCODE assigns codes to locations used in trade and transport with functions such as seaports, rail and road terminals, airports, Postal Exchange Office and border crossing points. The first issue in 1981 contained codes for 8,000 locations. The version from 2011 contained codes for about 82,000 locations.

A geocode is a code that represents a geographic entity. It is a unique identifier of the entity, to distinguish it from others in a finite set of geographic entities. In general the geocode is a human-readable and short identifier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Address</span> Collection of information that describes the location of a building, apartment, or other structure

An address is a collection of information, presented in a mostly fixed format, used to give the location of a building, apartment, or other structure or a plot of land, generally using political boundaries and street names as references, along with other identifiers such as house or apartment numbers and organization name. Some addresses also contain special codes, such as a postal code, to make identification easier and aid in the routing of mail.

A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country, sovereign state, or dependent territory identified with a country code. All ASCII ccTLD identifiers are two letters long, and all two-letter top-level domains are ccTLDs.

Canadian provincial and territorial postal abbreviations are used by Canada Post in a code system consisting of two capital letters, to represent the 13 provinces and territories on addressed mail. These abbreviations allow automated sorting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Postal addresses in the Republic of Ireland</span>

A postal address in Ireland is a place of delivery defined by Irish Standard (IS) EN 14142-1:2011 and serviced by the universal service provider, An Post. Its addressing guides comply with the guidelines of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), the United Nations-affiliated body responsible for promoting standards in the postal industry, across the world.

The BT postcode area, also known as the Belfast postcode area, covers all of Northern Ireland and was the last part of the United Kingdom to be coded, between 1970 and 1974. This area is a group of 82 postcode districts in Northern Ireland, within 44 post towns and around 47,227 live postcodes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Postage stamps and postal history of the Palestinian National Authority</span>

The Palestinian National Authority began in 1994 to issue stamps and operate postal services as authorized by the Oslo Accords.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Postal codes in Belgium</span>

Postal codes in Belgium are numeric and consist of 4 numbers. The first digit indicates the province. The more zeros there are, the higher the number of inhabitants of that city in the province. For example: Bruges (Brugge) is the capital and largest urban centre of the coastal province of West Flanders so it gets the 8000 code, the second city is Kortrijk and gets 8500. When writing the address, the postal code is put in front of the town name.

Postal codes in Sri Lanka are five digit numbers used by Sri Lanka Postal Service, that identifies each postal jurisdiction to sort mail more efficiently. They were first introduced in 1997.

There are currently 304 postal codes in Jamaica, with one and two-digit sector codes only being used in Kingston, the country's capital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhutan Postal Corporation</span> Operation of postal system in Bhutan

Bhutan Postal Corporation Ltd., often shortened to simply Bhutan Post, is the company in Bhutan responsible for the operation of the country's postal system.

References

Footnotes

  1. "Bahamas Postal Code" . Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  2. "Barbados" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-07-21. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
  3. "What are the postcodes for addresses in the British Virgin Islands? – Government of the Virgin Islands". www.bvi.gov.vg.
  4. "postnummer – Gyldendal – Den Store Danske". denstoredanske.dk. March 2016.
  5. "SwaziPost – a division of Swaziland Post and Telecommunications Corporation (SPTC)". www.sptc.co.sz.
  6. "Faroe Islands" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-07-21. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
  7. "Get Help | GhanaPostGps" . Retrieved 2023-02-21.
  8. Graham Rhind. "Global Sourcebook for International Data Management". Grcdi.nl. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  9. "Hongkong, China" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-01-20. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  10. "Indonesian Post Office website" . Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  11. "Eircode". Citizens Information. Citizens Information Board, Ireland.
  12. "Eircode address file product guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-11-16. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  13. "Postal Corporation of Jamaica Press Releases 2007 - POST CODE PROJECT SUSPENDED INDEFINITELY (12 February 2007)". Archived from the original on February 26, 2010.
  14. "Postal Corporation of Jamaica Press Release: 18 July 2005". Archived from the original on February 6, 2010.
  15. "Online shop of stamps". eshop.kazpost.kz. Archived from the original on July 6, 2007.
  16. "Post code and address search" . Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  17. "Malawi Posts codes" . Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  18. "Mongolia – Postal Code – Post Code – Postcode – ZIP Code". en.youbianku.com. 19 October 2012.
  19. South African Panorama – Volume 22, South African Information Service, 1977, page 9
  20. The comprehensive handbook of the postmarks of German South West Africa, South West Africa, Namibia, Ralph F. Putzel, R.F. Putzel, 1991, page 173
  21. "Postal Codes - Postal Services".
  22. "Universal Postal Union – Norway". 2012-07-15. Archived from the original on 2012-07-15. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
  23. "Saudi Arabia Implements New Postal Code System Based on GIS Analysis | ArcNews Winter | 2010/2011 Issue". Esri.com. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  24. "Data" (PDF). youbianku.com.
  25. "Weekly Statement: Progress of the Somali Government". Diplomat News Network. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  26. "Switzerland" (PDF).
  27. "Tajikistan" (PDF).
  28. "Overview over some numbers in Dushanbe". Archived from the original on 2020-01-15.
  29. "Posta Kodu Öğrenme Ekranı". postakodu.ptt.gov.tr.
  30. "Почтовые индексы (Postal codes)" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2010-11-02.
  31. "ﻣﺠﻠﺲ ﺍﻟﻮﺯﺭﺍﺀ ﻳﻨﺎﻗﺶ ﺗﺪﺍﻋﻴﺎﺕ ﺣﺎﺩﺙ ﺍﻟﻀﺎﻟﻊ ﻭﺍﻟﻮﺿﻊ ﺍﻷﻣﻨﻲ في ﺍﻟﺒﻼﺩ (The Council of Ministers discusses the repercussions of the Al-Dhalea incident and the security situation in the country)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-01-02. Retrieved 2014-01-02.

Notations