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{{short description|Series of letters and digits for sorting mail}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}▼
{{redirect|Post code|computer POST codes|Power-on self-test}}
{{more citations needed|date=July 2015}}
[[File:Farrer post code.jpg|thumb|300px|Post office sign in [[Farrer, Australian Capital Territory]], showing [[Postcodes in Australia|postcode]] 2607]]
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The development of postal codes happened first in large cities. Postal codes began with postal district numbers (or postal zone numbers) within large cities. [[London]] was first subdivided into 10 districts in 1857 (EC (East Central), WC (West Central), N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, and NW), four were created to cover [[Liverpool]] in 1864; and [[Manchester]]/[[Salford]] was split into eight numbered districts in 1867/68. By [[World War I]], such postal district or zone numbers also existed in various large European cities. They existed in the United States at least as late as the 1920s, possibly implemented at the local post office level only (for example, instances of "Boston 9, Mass" in 1920 are attested<ref name="1920_advert_Lynd_Farquhar_Co">{{Cite journal |author=Lynd-Farquhar Co |title=Advertisement for machine tools, 1920 |journal=American Machinist |page=388 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ezRMAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA388|year=1920}}</ref><ref name="1920_advert_Hill_Clarke_Co">{{Cite journal |author1=Hill, Clarke |author2=Co, Inc |name-list-style=amp |title=Advertisement for a drill press, 1920 |journal=American Machinist |page=389 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ezRMAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA389|year=1920}}</ref>) although they were evidently not used throughout all major US cities (implemented [[United States Post Office Department|USPOD]]-wide) until [[World War II]].
By 1930 or earlier, the idea of extending the postal district or zone numbering plans beyond large cities to cover even small towns and rural locales had started. These developed into postal codes as they are defined today. The name of US postal codes, "ZIP codes", reflects this evolutionary growth from a zone plan to a zone improvement plan, "ZIP". Modern postal codes were first introduced in the [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic]] in December 1932,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.upns.org/article/85-first-postal-zip-code |title=The First Postal (ZIP) Code in the World |publisher=Ukrainian Philatelic and Numismatic Society |date=20 April 2009 |access-date=4 March 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100423155849/http://www.upns.org/article/85-first-postal-zip-code |archive-date=23 April 2010 }}</ref> but the system was abandoned in 1939. The next country to introduce postal codes was Germany in 1941,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.deutschepost.de/dpag?tab=1&skin=hi&check=no&lang=de_EN&xmlFile=link1017517_1004711 |
== Presentation ==
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In Ireland, the [[eircode]] system uses the following letters only: A, C, D, E, F, H, K, N, P, R, T, V, W, X, Y. This serves to avoid confusion in OCR, and to avoid accidental double-entendres by avoiding the creation of word lookalikes, as Eircode's last four characters are random.
==== Alphanumeric postal codes ====
Most of the postal code systems are numeric; only a few are alphanumeric (i.e., use both letters and digits). Alphanumeric systems can, given the same number of characters, encode many more locations. For example, while a two digit numeric code can represent 100 locations, a two character alphanumeric code using ten numbers and twenty letters can represent 900 locations.
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* [[Eswatini]]
* [[Ireland]] ([[Postal addresses in the Republic of Ireland|see table]])
* [[Jamaica]] ([[Postal codes in Jamaica|see table]]) (suspended in 2007<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jamaicapost.gov.jm/corporate_news/pressrelease_07.htm |title=Post Code Project Suspended Indefinitely |work=Press Release 07 published in Daily Gleaner |
* [[Kazakhstan]] (since 2015)
* [[Malta]] ([[Postal codes in Malta|see table]])
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=== Postal zone numbers ===
Before postal codes as described here were used, large cities were often divided into postal zones or postal districts, usually numbered from 1 upwards within each city. The newer postal code systems often incorporate the old zone numbers, as with [[London postal district]] numbers, for example. Ireland still uses [[List of Dublin postal districts|postal district numbers]] in [[Dublin]]. In New Zealand, [[Auckland]], [[Wellington]] and [[Christchurch]] were divided into postal zones, but these fell into disuse, and have now become redundant as a result of a new postcode system being introduced.
=== Codes defined along administrative borders ===
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=== Codes defined independently from administrative areas ===
The first two digits of the [[postal codes in Germany]] define areas independently of administrative regions. The coding space of the first digit is fully used (
[[Royal Mail]] designed the [[postal codes in the United Kingdom]] mostly for efficient distribution. Nevertheless, people associated codes with certain areas, leading to some people wanting or not wanting to have a certain code. See also [[postcode lottery]].
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[[file:QuadraExemplo-CEP-pnt.png|thumb|220px|In the [[Spatialization|code spatialization]] it '''is an error''' to associate the postal code to an individual ''land lot'' area: a lot may have 0, 1, 2 or more delivery points, with different codes.]]
The postal code assignment can be assigned to individual [[land lot]]s in some special cases
=== Precision ===
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:HM Revenue and Customs – VAT Controller
:VAT Central Unit
:BX5 5AT<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/vat-insolvency|title=VAT: insolvency|website=
A fictional address is also used by Royal Mail for letters to Santa Claus, more commonly known as Santa or Father Christmas:
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Previously, the postcode SAN TA1 was used.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2565041.stm Santa: 'I'm not a Superman, but I do exist'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080112001840/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2565041.stm |date=12 January 2008 }}, [[BBC News Online]], 11 December 2002</ref>
In Finland, the special postal code 99999 is for [[Korvatunturi]], the place where Santa Claus ({{Lang|fi|Joulupukki}} in [[Finnish language|Finnish]]) is said to live, although mail is delivered to the [[Santa Claus Village]] in [[Rovaniemi]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Planet |first=Lonely |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W7cDCgAAQBAJ&dq=99999+korvatunturi&pg=PA84 |title=Not For Parents Travel Book |date=2012-11-01 |publisher=Lonely Planet Publications |isbn=978-1-74220-855-8 |pages=84
In Canada, the amount of mail sent to Santa Claus increased every [[Christmas]], up to the point that Canada Post decided to start an official Santa Claus letter-response program in 1983. Approximately one million letters come in to Santa Claus each Christmas, including from outside of Canada, and all of them are answered in the same languages in which they are written.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/aboutus/news/pr/2005/2005_jan_news_santa.jsf |title=Over one million children write letters to Santa |author=Canada Post |date=27 January 2007 |access-date=27 April 2009 |author-link=Canada Post |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100409020858/http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/aboutus/news/pr/2005/2005_jan_news_santa.jsf |archive-date=9 April 2010 }}</ref> Canada Post introduced a special address for mail to Santa Claus, complete with its [[H0H 0H0|own postal code]]:
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{{Expand section|date=December 2009}}
While postal codes were introduced to expedite the delivery of mail, they can be used for:
* Finding the nearest branch of an organisation to a given address. A computer program uses the postal codes of the target address and the branches to list the closest branches in order of distance. This can be used by companies to inform potential customers where to go, by [[job centre]]s to find jobs for job-seekers, to alert people of [[town planning]] applications in their area, and for other applications.<ref name=planning>{{cite news |author=Charles Arthur |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2009/oct/07/newly-asked-question-royal-mail-postzon |title=Guardian newspaper article on postcodes |work=
* Fine-grained postal codes can be used with [[satellite navigation]] systems to navigate to an address by street number and postcode.
* Geographical sales territories for representatives in the pharmaceutical industry are allocated based on a workload index that is based upon postcode.
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