Address (geography)

Address (geography)

An address is a collection of information, presented in a mostly fixed format, used for describing 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. Some addresses also contain special codes to aid routing of mail and packages, such as a ZIP code or post code.

Contents

Functions

Addresses have several functions:

  1. Providing a means of physically locating a building, especially in a city where there are many buildings and streets,
  2. Identifying buildings as the end points of a postal system,
  3. A social function: someone's address can have a profound effect on their social standing,
  4. As parameters in statistics collection, especially in census-taking or the insurance industry.

History

Until the advent of modern postal systems, most houses and buildings were not numbered. Streets may have been named for landmarks, such as a city gate or market, or for the professions of their inhabitants. In many cities in Asia, most minor streets were never named. This is still the case today in much of Japan. When postal systems were introduced, it became necessary to number buildings to aid in mail delivery.

Current addressing schemes

House numbering or naming

In most English-speaking countries, the standard is an alternating numbering scheme progressing in one direction along a street, with odd numbers on one side (usually west or south or the lefthand side leading away from a main road) and even numbers on the other (usually north or east or the righthand side leading away from a main road), although there is significant variation on this basic pattern. Many older towns and cities in the UK have "up and down" numbering where the numbers progress sequentially along one side of the road, and then sequentially back down the other side. Cities in North America, particularly those planned on a grid plan, often incorporate block numbers, quadrants (explained below), and cardinal directions into their street numbers, so that in many such cities, addresses roughly follow a Cartesian coordinate system. Some other cities around the world have their own schemes.

Although house numbering is the principal identification scheme in many parts of the world, it is also common for houses in the United Kingdom and Ireland to be identified by name, rather than number, especially in small towns. In these cases, the street name will usually follow the house name. Such an address might read: "Smith Cottage, Frog Lane, Barchester, Barsetshire, BA9 9BA" or "Dunroamin, Emo, Co. Laois, Ireland" (fictional examples).

Quadrants

In cities with Cartesian-coordinate-based addressing systems, the streets that form the north-south and east-west dividing lines constitute the x and y axes of a Cartesian coordinate plane and thus divide the city into quadrants. The quadrants are typically identified in the street names, although the manner of doing so varies from city to city. For example, in one city, all streets in the northeast quadrant may have "NE" prefixed or suffixed to their street names, while in another, the intersection of North Calvert Street and East 27th Street can be only in the northeast quadrant.

Street-naming conventions

Street names may follow a variety of themes. In many North American cities, such as, San Francisco USA, and Edmonton, Canada, streets are simply numbered sequentially across the street grid. Washington, D.C. has its numbered streets running north-south and lettered or alphabetically named streets running east-west, while diagonal avenues are typically named after states. In Salt Lake City, and many other Utah cities, streets are in a large grid and are numbered in increments of 100 based on their location relative to the center of the city in blocks. A similar system is in use in Detroit with the Mile Road System. In some housing developments in North America, streets may all follow the same theme (for example, bird species), or start with the same letter. Streets in Continental Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America are usually named after famous people or auspicious dates.

Postal codes

Postal codes are a relatively recent development in addressing, designed to speed the sorting and processing of mail by assigning unique numeric or alphanumeric codes to each geographical locality.

Postal alternatives to physical addresses

For privacy and other purposes, postal services have made it possible to receive mail without revealing one's physical address or even having a fixed physical address. Examples are post office boxes and poste restante (general delivery).

Address format

In most of the world, addresses are written in order from most specific to general information, starting with the addressee and ending with the largest geographical unit. For example[1]:

Example Format
Mr. I.M. A. Payne
ARAMARK Ltd.
30 Commercial Rd.
Fratton
PORTSMOUTH
Hampshire
PO1 1AA
Name
Company Name
Street
City Area/District
City/Town/Village
County
Postal Code

In English-speaking countries, the postal code usually comes last. In much of Europe, the code precedes the town name, thus: "1010 Lausanne". Often, the country code is still placed in front of the postal code: "CH-1010 Lausanne". However, this is no longer demanded by postal authorities.[2]

If a house number is provided, it is written on the same line as the street name; a house name is written on the previous line. When addresses are written inline, line breaks are replaced by commas. Conventions on the placing of house numbers differ: either before or after the street name. Similarly, there are differences in the placement of postal codes: in the UK, they are written on a separate line at the end of the address; in Australia, Canada and the United States, they usually appear immediately after the state or province, on the same line; in Austria, Belgium, Germany and The Netherlands they appear before the city, on the same line.

East Asian addressing systems, including Chinese, Japanese and Korean addressing systems, when written in their native scripts, use the opposite ordering, starting with the province/prefecture, ending with the addressee. However both have the same order as western countries when written in the Latin alphabet. The Hungarian system also goes from large to small units, except the name of the addressee is put into the first line.

The Universal Postal Convention strongly recommends the following:

"The addressee's address shall be worded in a precise and complete manner. It shall be written very legibly in roman letters and arabic numerals. If other letters and numerals are used in the country of destination, it shall be recommended that the address be given also in these letters and numerals. The name of the place of destination and the name of the country of destination shall be written in capital letters together with the correct postcode number or delivery zone number, if any. The name of the country of destination shall be written preferably in the language of the country of origin. To avoid any difficulty in the countries of transit, it is desirable for the name of the country of destination to be added in an internationally known language. Administrations may recommend that, on items addressed to countries where the recommended position of the postcode is in front of the name of the location of destination, the postcode should be preceded by the EN ISO 3166–1 Alpha 2 country code followed by a hyphen. This shall in no way detract from the requirement for the name of the destination country to be printed in full."[3]

Mailing address format by country

Argentina

In Argentina, an address must be mailed this way:

Format Example
Name
Streetname, number
Complements, Neighbourhood (if needed)
Postal code, Municipality
Luis Escala
Piedras 623
Piso 2, depto 4
C1070AAM, Capital Federal

The postal code has been changed from a 4 digits format to a 8 digits format, which is showed at the example. The new format adds a district or province letter code at the beginning that allows to identify it. As the system has been recently changed the 4 digits format still can be found or used, in that case is needed to add an explicit reference regarding the province or district intended to reach.

Old Format (4d) New Format (8d)
Luis Escala
French 392
Banfield (1828)
Lomas de Zamora, Pcia Buenos Aires
Luis Escala
French 392
Banfield
B1828HKH, Lomas de Zamora

Australia

In common with the English-speaking world, addresses in Australia put the street number—which may be a range—before the street name, and the placename before the postcode. Unlike addresses in most other comparable places, the city is not included in the address, but rather a much more fine-grained locality is used, usually referred to in Australia as a suburb or town is – although these words are understood in a different way than in other countries. Because the suburb or town serves to locate the street or delivery type, the postcode serves only as routing information rather than to distinguish previous other parts of an address. As an example, there are around 8000 localities in Victoria (cf. List of localities in Victoria (Australia) and List of Melbourne suburbs), yet around 700 unique geographic postcodes.[4] For certain large volume receivers or post offices, the "locality" may be an institution or street name. It is always considered incorrect to include the city or metropolis name in an address (unless this happens to be the name of the suburb), and doing so may delay delivery.

Australia Post recommends[5] that the last line of the address should be set in capital letters. In Australia, subunits are essential and should be separated from the street by two spaces; apartments, flats and units are typically separated with a forward slash instead. As in the US, the state/territory is crucial information as many placenames are reused in different states/territories; it is usually separated from the suburb with two spaces and abbreviated. In printed matter, the postcode follows after two spaces; in handwritten matter, the postcode should be written in the boxes provided.

Format Example
Street address
Recipient Name

Other recipient information
(etc.)
Street (Subunit  Number Name)
Locality  State  Postcode

Ms H Williams

Finance and Accounting
Australia Post
219-241 Cleveland St
STRAWBERRY HILLS  NSW  1427

Other delivery type
Recipient Name

Other recipient information (etc.)
Type Number
Locality  State  Postcode

Mr J. O'Donnell

Lighthouse Promotions
PO Box 215
SPRINGVALE  VIC  8006

In addition to PO Boxes, other delivery types (which are typically abbreviated) may include:

Delivery type Abbreviation
Care of post office CARE PO
Community mail bag CMB
General Post Box (in capital cities) GPO BOX
Mail service MS
Roadside delivery RSD
Roadside mail service RMS
Community mail agent CMA
Community postal agent CPA
Locked bag LOCKED BAG
Roadside mail box/bag RMB
Private bag PRIVATE BAG

Australian Post Addressing Guidelines

Austria

In Austria, the address is generally formatted as follows:

Example Format
Firma ABC
Kundendienst
Hauptstr. 5
1234 Musterstadt

Addressee (Natural person/Organization)
More detailed description of addressee (optional)
Streetname + number
Postal code + town
Country (if other than Austria)

The postal code always consists of four digits.

Belgium

In Belgium it is standard to use an alternating numbering scheme progressing in one direction along a street. The numbering starts at the side of the centre of the municipality. Always with odd numbers on the left side and even numbers on the right side when driving from the centre of the municipality outward. A cul-de-sac (/dead end street) is an exception. The numbering starts at the side where the street starts but without the alternating number scheme. The numbering starts, odd and even, at the left side and at the end of the streets turns back via the other side adding up back to the beginning of the street.

The address can be written in Dutch or in French. When you receive a Belgian address in German, this is also correct as Belgium has 3 official languages. When unsure of the recipient's language, it can be better to write it in Dutch and in French. This is usual for this country.

Canada

Canada uses a similar system to the United States (below), but there are key differences.

  • Only Canada Post can deliver to a P.O. Box. For this reason, the recipient may choose to insert their physical (also known as street) address as line two, expanding the complete address to four lines. Providing both allows a sender to ship via the Canada Post or via a private carrier. Some locations have special drop-off points for couriers, like a convenience store (for items delivered from certain stores such as Sears or other departments) envelopes are delivered to a separate building; a post office (P.O.). This is common in small communities of roughly 300-1500 people that are not near a city.
  • Mail will be delivered to the line immediately above the city, province, postal code line.
  • The province and type of street, e.g. Lane, is often abbreviated as shown in the PO standardbad link.
  • Do not use periods or commas. Cardinal directions like North, North West, etc. can be abbreviated in either English or French, and appear after the street name. Ordinal numbered streets (e.g. 6th, 2nd) can be written in either English or French.
  • The postal code is used in the same way as the US Zip code. Postal codes come in a letter-number-letter-space-number-letter-number format, for example: A1A 1A1. There should be two spaces between the province abbreviation and the postal code.
  • If sending a parcel from outside Canada, the word "CANADA" must be placed at the very bottom.
  • See Canada Post's Addressing Guidelines for accurate, up-to-date information.

Chile

Chilean urban addresses require only the street name, house number, apartment number (if necessary) and municipality; however, more information is frequently included, such as neighbourhood, city, region, and postal code. All postal codes have eight digits, the first three indicating the municipality, the next five identifying a block or in large and scarcely populated areas a quadrant within the municipal territory.

The territories of most of the larger cities comprise several adjacent municipalities, so it is important to mention it.

Format Example
Recipient name
Street and number
Apartment (if needed)
Postal code (rarely used)
Municipality
City (not needed)
Sr. Rodrigo Domínguez
Av. Bellavista N° 185
Dep. 609
8420507
Recoleta
Santiago

Smaller cities often consist of only one municipality with several unofficial neighbourhoods that are usually mentioned even for official addressing purposes.

Format Example
Recipient name
Street and number, Apartment number
Neighbourhood
Municipality
Sra. Isidora Retamal
Nelson N° 10, Dep. 415
Cerro Barón
Valparaíso

Several large and mostly rural municipalities contain more than one small town, in such cases, the recipient address must mention either the town, the postal code or both.

Format Example
Recipient name
Street and number
Town or village
Postal code
Municipality
Inversiones Aldunate y Cía. S.A.
Los Aromos N° 12185
Maitencillo
25000311
Puchuncaví

People's Republic of China

The postal address in the People's Republic of China, when written in Chinese characters (preferably Simplified Chinese characters), has the order of the largest unit first, ending with the addressee, i.e. country, province, municipality, town, street or road, building name, floor/level, house/flat number, company name, addressee. This is the most common language used when posting within mainland China.

Chinese
Example
邮编 528-400
北京市东城区名都路恒大花园7栋702室

张小明先生收
P.R. China 528400
Beijing City, East District, Mingdu Road, Hengda Garden, 7th Building, Room 702
To: Mr Xiaoming Zhang
Chinese
Format
Country, Postal Code
Province, City, District, Street Name or Road Name, Building Name, Room Number
Recipient

The whole address is commonly written as a string of characters with no particular format regarding where a new line would start, similar to one long sentence, with any new lines appearing depending on the space available on the envelope. Generally, the district is omitted when posting within PRC.

Czech Republic

Common format in Czech Republic:

Format Company
Name or Department
Street name + number
Postal code + Town

Postal code is in format "### ##" (i.e. 158 00 = Prague 58) or "CZ-#####" (especially for international sendings).

Ex.: Josef Novák, Brněnská 56, 123 07 Jiltenice

Czech Post Recommended Addressing

Denmark

Format Example
Name
Streetname + number
Postal code + town
Stig Jensen
Solvej 5
5000 Odense C

Finland

Format Example
Company
Name or Department
Street name + number + *apartment number (optional)
Postal code + Town
Country
Eduskunta
Matti Mallikainen
Mannerheimintie 30 as 5
FI-00102 Eduskunta
Finland

If a person's name is written before the company name in the address field of a letter, then that person is considered the recipient. In this case, no other employee is allowed to open the letter but the indicated recipient. If the company name is before the person's name, then the company is the recipient and any employee is allowed to open the letter.

* apartment number can formulated as "as 5" (as = asunto, 'apartment' in English) or as "C 55" (the letter A, B, C ... indicates the correct staircase in apartment blocks with several entrances)

Finland uses a five-digit postal code. Note that some of the larger companies and organizations have their own postal codes.

France

In France, the address is generally formatted as follows:

Example Format
Entreprise ABC
M. Frank Bender
12 rue de la montagne
01234 EXAMPLEVILLE

Addressee (Natural person/Organization)
More detailed description of addressee (optional)
Housenumber + Streetname
Postal code + uppercase town
Country (if other than France)

The postal code always consists of five digits.

Germany

In Germany, the address is generally formatted as follows:

Example Format
Firma ABC
Kundendienst
Hauptstr. 5
01234 Musterstadt

Addressee (Natural person/Organization)
More detailed description of addressee (optional)
Streetname + number
Postal code + town
Country (if other than Germany)
  • The postal code always consists of five digits.
  • Organizations that receive large amounts of mail may be assigned a bulk customer ZIP code. These are different from regular ZIP codes in that they do not have a street name line. Some bulk customer ZIP codes are shared between several organizations.
  • There are a few places that have house numbers but no street names (e.g. Baltrum) as well as addresses that have a street name but no house number.
  • Some (but not all) private post companies are also able to deliever to DPAG-operated P.O. boxes.
  • Post codes follow the structure of DPAG's mail routing, not administrative boundaries.
  • Each post code is used exclusively for street addresses, P.O. boxes or bulk recipients.

Hong Kong

The official languages of Hong Kong are English and Cantonese Chinese. For domestic mail within Hong Kong, the address may be written entirely in either English or Chinese. For overseas mail going out from Hong Kong, the address may be written in the language of the destination country, provided that the city name and the country name are in English.[6] However, for an overseas mail from Hong Kong to China, Macau, Taiwan or Singapore, the address may be written entirely in Chinese. While traditional Chinese characters are commonly used in Hong Kong, simplified Chinese characters are also understood by Hong Kong's post officers. Note that Hong Kong does not use any postal codes, though many rural properties have a property identification code, e.g. HKT-12345.

An address written in English should begin with the smallest unit and end with the largest unit, as in the following example for a domestic mail within Hong Kong.

Example Format
Mr. Jackie CHAN
Flat 25, 12/F, Acacia Building
150 Kennedy Road
WAN CHAI
HONG KONG (ISLAND)
Name of addressee (with surname in CAPITAL LETTERS[citation needed])
Apartment number, Floor number, Name of building
Street number and street name
Name of village, town or district (in CAPITAL LETTERS[citation needed])
"HONG KONG" or "HONG KONG ISLAND" for Hong Kong Island / "KOWLOON" for Kowloon / "NEW TERRITORIES" or "N.T." for the New Territories

Note that this format is very different from what is used in the United States. First, the term "flat" is used instead of "apartment", as in the United Kingdom, Ireland and most Commonwealth countries. Second, the flat number and floor number is written before the name of the building.

An address written in Chinese should begin with the largest unit and end with the smallest unit, as in the following example for a piece of domestic mail within Hong Kong. Traditional Chinese characters are used in this example.

Example Format
香港(島)
灣仔堅尼地道 105 號
雅佳大廈 12 樓 25 室
陳港生先生
"香港島" or "香港" for Hong Kong Island / "九龍" for Kowloon / "新界" for the New Territories
[Name of village, town or district] [Street name and street number]
[Name of building] [Floor number] [Flat number]
[Name of addressee]

For mail to Hong Kong from overseas, "Hong Kong" should be added at the end of an address in English, and "香港" should be added at the beginning of an address in Chinese.

Hungary

In Hungarian mail addresses, the town name precedes the street address.

Format[7] Example
Addressee (name or company name)
City or town
Street name and number or P.O.Box number
Postal code
Kis János
Budapest
Fiktív utca 82.
2806

The postal code consists of four digits.

Iceland

Format Example
Name
Streetname + number
Postal code + town
Jón Jónsson
Bárðagata 5
860 Hvolsvöllur

Ireland

Format Addressee's Name
Number + Street Name
POST TOWN + POSTCODE
Example with postcode
only Cork and Dublin
The Avalon Hotel
223 BURLINGTON ROAD
IE DUBLIN 4
Example with postcode without town
only Cork and Dublin
The Avalon Hotel
223 BURLINGTON ROAD 4
Example without postcode
all towns except Cork and Dublin
The Avalon Hotel
21 NEW STREET
IE LONGFORD

Ireland 2010

Israel

Basic format

Format Example
Name
Streetname + number
Postal code + town
Yisrael Yisraeli
HaDoar Street 1
12345 Jerusalem

Example of common address with apartment number

Format Example
Name
Streetname + number/apartment
Postal code + town
Yisrael Yisraeli
HaDoar Street 1/20
12345 Jerusalem

Example of common address with building entrance and apartment number

Format Example
Name
Streetname + number incl. entrance + apartment
Postal code + town
Yisrael Yisraeli
HaDoar Street 1 B, Apt. 20
12345 Jerusalem

India

In India, the address format is a little different for Village addresses and big city addresses:

Village Addresses

Format Example
Name
Street number name
Village name
District name
Postal Code (Always 6 digit)
State
Ashok Padhye
5 Mahatma Gandhi Road
Budhgaon
Dist. Sangli
471594
Maharashtra

City Addresses

Format Example
Name
Apartment Number, Apartment complex name (This line is optional)
Street Number, name
Locality
City
Postal Code (Always 6 digit)
State
Ashok Padhye
A-205 Natasha Golf View
2 Inner Ring Road
Domlur
Bangalore
560071
Karnataka

In both cases, the State is optional for intrastate mail.

Indonesia

In Indonesia, the address format is like this:

Format Example
Name


Building name (if needed)
Street name number
Village/Kelurahan, Subdistrict/Kecamatan
City or Regency Postal Code
Province (sometimes not needed)
State

Bapak Fauzi Bowo


Gedung Balaikota DKI Jakarta
Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan No. xx
Kelurahan Gambir, Kecamatan Gambir
Jakarta Selatan 10110
Jakarta
Indonesia

Generally "Jalan" or "Jl." means 'street' and should go before the street name, e.g. Jalan Cemara. More info about Indonesia administrative divisions see Administrative divisions of Indonesia.


Iraq

Format Example
Name of Addressee
Name of the District
Mahla (Area) + Number
Zuqaq (Alley) + Number
Building number
Name of Province
Postal code
Country
Ali Hassan
Al-Mansour
Mahla 609
Zuqaq 8
House no. 12
Baghdad
10013
Iraq

Iran

Format
country+ name of province+ +name of city+Street Name + alley number+building number, name of addressee

Postal Code

example: Iran, Tehran,vali'asr street, farshid alley, number 14, Parno group

Italy

An internal address, in Italy, must be composed of three to five rows. Up to six rows can be used if the mail is sent abroad:

Format Addressee's name and surname or company name
Optional - Additional information about the addressee
Optional - Additional information about the building (building number, floor, apartment number)
Street name and number (via/viale/corso/piazza...) or CASELLA POSTALE (P.O.Box number)
Postcode Town Province_abbreviation
Foreign State name

Line ordering may not be changed.

Japan

Republic of Korea

Malaysia

Pos Malaysia recommends the following formats:

Address Type Format Example
Residential Salutation, Name of recipient
Unit number, Street name
Residential area
Postcode, Post office/Mail centre
State (optional)
Country
Mr. Zack Ahmad
No. 11, Jalan Budi 1
Taman Budiman
42700 BANTING
SELANGOR
MALAYSIA
Business Salutation, Name of recipient
Name of Position & Department (if applicable)
Company name
Unit/Lot number, Building name/Commercial area
Lot number (for building), Street name
Postcode, Post office/Mail centre
State (optional)
Country
Dato' S.M. Nasrudin
Managing Director
Capital Shipping Bhd.
Lot 323, 1st Floor, Bintang Commercial Centre
No 29,Jalan Sekilau
81300 JOHOR BAHRU
JOHOR
MALAYSIA
Business + Post Office Box /
Locked Bag /
Counter Deposit Ticket
Salutation, Name of recipient
Name of Position & Department (if applicable)
Company name
Unit/Lot number, Building name/Commercial area
Lot number (for building), Street name
Postcode, Post office/Mail centre
P.O. Box number
Postcode of P.O. Box, Post office/Mail centre of P.O. Box
Country
Ms. Jenny Chan
COO
Target Insurance Brokers
Level 2, Principal Towers
No. 11, Jalan Sultan Ismail
50250 KUALA LUMPUR
P.O. BOX 10073
50704 KUALA LUMPUR
MALAYSIA

Notes:

  • The Country line MALAYSIA is always omitted when mailing from within Malaysia.
  • The State line is strictly optional, the mailing system will not be affected if the State line is omitted.
  • The Post office/Mail centre field is the name of the town/city which post office/mail centre jurisdiction covers the mailing address, and in several cases, may not be the actual town/city which the address is geographically located.
  • It is recommended to have the Post office/Mail centre written in block letters, e.g. KUALA LUMPUR.
  • The postcode is always in the 5-digit format and must correspond to the respective post office / mail centre.
  • Pos Malaysia allows usage of P.O. Box for both residential and business addresses. Whenever a P.O. Box address is used, its respective postcode and post office/mail centre must be written on the last line of an address. If both postcodes are present (original and P.O. Box), mail will be sent to the P.O. Box on its first attempt.

Netherlands

In the Netherlands, the address is generally formatted as follows:

Example Format
Thomas van der Landen

Boschdijk 1092
5631 AV Eindhoven
Nederland
Name
(Businesspark name etc.)

Streetname + number
Postal code + town
&Country - Optional

The postal code is unique, and always consists of four numbers followed by a space and then 2 capital letters. TNT Post, the descendant of the Dutch state-run PTT, recommends putting two spaces between postal code and town.

Because the Dutch postal code is unique, a shortened format may also be used. This method only needs the postal code and the number. The ideal format for this method is the number after the postal code, meaning that this: '5631 AV 1092' will still get the letter delivered to the correct location.

It is also possible to replace the street name line with a PO box (e.g. "Postbus 1200") or freepost number (e.g. "Antwoordnummer 150"), which have their own postal code.

New Zealand

New Zealand Post recommends the following format:

Format Example
Recipient name
Flat number/House number Street address or PO Box number
Suburb or RD Number or PO Box lobby name (if not the same as the town/city)
Town/City Postcode
COUNTRY (if other than New Zealand)
Mr David Bain
65 Every Street
Andersons Bay
Dunedin 9013
 

Note that no space or full stops exists between P and O in PO Box or R and D in RD. One should put only one space between the town/city and the postcode.

Note for Auckland and Wellington metropolitan areas, users should use the city name (i.e. Auckland, North Shore, Waitakere, Manukau, Wellington, Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt, Porirua), not the metropolitan area name. For example:

Incorrect Correct
Great North Road
Henderson
Auckland 0610
Great North Road
Henderson
Waitakere 0610

One anomaly about this system is the Wellington Mail Centre, which is addressed as Wellington Mail Centre, Lower Hutt 5045 - not Wellington.

Norway

In Norway, the address is generally formatted as follows:

Format Name
(Businesspark name, etc.)
Streetname + number

Postal code + town

The postal code is unique, and is a four-digit number. It is also possible to replace the street name line with a PO box (e.g. Postboks 250).

Example:

Nancy Vanderon
Passion 21
6415 Bergen

Peru

In Peru, addresses in the Metropolitan Area of Lima and Callao are generally formatted as follows:

Format Example
Name
Street name, number
Apartment (if needed)
District
Postal code
Roberto Prada
Juan de Aliaga 230
Dpto 12
Magdalena del Mar
Lima 17

Addresses elsewhere in the country are formatted as follows:

Format Example
Name
Street name, number
Apartment (if needed)
District
City (province)
Camilo Rada
Av. del Ejército 450
Dpto 5
Yanahuara
Arequipa

Philippines

Poland

In Poland, the address is generally formatted as follows:

Format Example
First name & surname of addressee
and/or company name & department
ul. Streetname + house (building) number / flat number
or al. Avenuename + house (building) number / flat number
or pl. Squarename + house (building) number / flat number
or Smalltown/Village name + house number
Postal code + City or town
Country name (optional)
Jan Kowalski

ul. Wiejska 4/6



00-902 Warszawa
POLAND (POLSKA)

ul. = Str (Street)
al. = Ave (Avenue)
pl. = Sq (Square, or Circus)

The abbreviation "m." (meaning "mieszkania" = "flat") can be used instead of "/" before the flat number.

The postal code always consists of five digits separated with a hyphen (in the "XX-XXX" format), i.e. 00-486 (00=Warsaw); 20-486 (20=Lublin), etc. The first digit signifies the postal district, the second: the code zone, the third: the code sector, the fourth and fifth signify the post office and its area of operation. Usually the code is unique on the street level for cities and the town level for smaller towns and villages.

Romania

In Romania, the address is generally formatted as follows:

Format Examples
First name & surname of addressee and/or company name & department

str. (abbreviation for street) + Streetname + nr. (abbreviation for street number) + Number

(for apartment buildings) bl. (abbreviation for building) + Building number + sc. (abbreviation for enterance) + Enterance number/letter

et. (abbreviation for floor number) + Floor number + ap. (abbreviation for apartment number) + Number

City/Village + jud. (abbreviation for county) / sector (city district - for residents of Bucharest) + County name / Sector number (in the case of Bucharest) + Postal code

Country name (optional)
Mihail Ionescu

str. Pacienţei, nr. 9

bl. U13A, sc. M

et. 7, ap. 96

Victoria, jud. Braşov, 505722

România
Gheorghe Codreanu

str. Virtuţii, nr. 44








Bucureşti, sector 6, 313988

România

Russian Federation

Some neighborhoods may be planned in such a way that some, or most, apartment buildings face no named street. In this case, a number of expedients can be used. In older neighbourhoods, such as the historical center of Moscow, a "main" building may have the same number as one or more "subsidiary" buildings accessible via driveways behind the main building. They will be addressed as, for example, ul. Lenina, d. 123 (that is, 123 Lenin St). An address may also cover one or more subsidiary buildings behind the main building, addressed as ul. Lenina, d. 123, str. 2 (123 Lenin St, Unit 2, where str. (abbreviation for строение, stroenie) means a '(subsidiary) building'. In newer[when?] areas with more regular street plans, apartment buildings that face no named street may be designated with Cyrillic letters appended to the building number, such as 123-а, 123-б, etc., in alphabetic order.
In some microraion neighborhoods, with few, if any, buildings facing named streets, the name (or more likely number of the microraion (planned housing development)) would be used instead of the street name; thus someone may live at 4-th microrayon, d. 123, kv. 56, that is, 123 - 4th Microraion, apt. 56.
Example (postal code not accurate):
123456 Россия
Приморский край
Владивосток
ул. К Маркса
д. 57 к. 1 кв. 5
Афанасий Леонтьев

Singapore

SingPost recommends the following format for addresses:[8][9]

Example Format
Ms. Tan Bee Soo
16 Sandilands Road
SINGAPORE 546080
SINGAPORE
Name of addressee
Street number and name
Name of town + Postcode
 
Mr. M. Rajendran
Blk 35 Mandalay Road
# 13–37 Mandalay Towers
SINGAPORE 308215
SINGAPORE
Name of addressee
Block number and street name
Floor – Apartment number + Building name
Name of town + Postcode
 

Generally, the last line SINGAPORE is omitted when posting within the country. Addresses are usually written in the English language.

Slovakia

Common format in Slovakia:

Format Addressee (Name or Company)
Company or Department or Landlord (if applicable)
Street name + number
Postal code + Town
COUNTRY (if sent abroad)

Postal code is in format "### ##" (i.e. 851 01 = Bratislava 5) or "SK-### ##".

Street number can be written as orientation number (related to street) or descriptive number (unique within town) or their combination separated by slash (descriptive/orientation). Descriptive numbers are also used within small villages that don't have named streets.

If the delivery is intended exclusively for specific person at company site, the address should begin with Name and Company name should follow. The standard format of address (in above table) enables anyone at Company to receive the delivery.

Slovenia

Format Company
Name or Department
Street name + number
Postal code + Town

Slovenia uses a four-digit postal number.

Spain

Format Example
Recipient name
Street type, name, number, storey and door
Postal code and city
Province
Sr. Francisco Ansó
Paseo de la Castellana, 185, 5ºB
29001 Madrid
Madrid

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Post recommends the following format:

Format Name of addressee
Street number and name
Name of town
Postcode
 

Sri Lanka uses a five-digit postal code. Generally, the last line SRI LANKA is omitted when posting within the country. Addresses are usually written in the English and Sinhala.

Sweden

In Sweden, the address is generally formatted as follows:

Format Name
(Businesspark name, c/o-address etc.)
Street name + number
Postal code + TOWN

The postal code is unique, and is always a five-digit number divided into groups of three and two (e.g. 414 73). Town (or village) name should be written in CAPITAL letters. It is also possible to replace the street name line with a PO box (e.g. Box 51).

Taiwan(Republic of China)

In Taiwan, the addresses are regulated by the department of household registration, but the mails are sent by the Chunghwa POST. As the result, people should fill out different formats of addresses in different situations.

Address Type Format Example
Chinese
Domestic
mail
Vertical
Sender
[10]
    County or City
    Township, town, city or distinct
    Road or Street name
    Building number
Sender Floor
Zip codes
  台
  北
  市
  市
  府
  路
王 2
小 號
明 2
緘 樓
11060
Chinese
Domestic
mail
Vertical
Receiver
Zip codes
Receiver County or City
     Township, town, city or distinct
     Road or Street name
     Building number
     Floor
11060
王 台
小 北
明 市
收 市
  府
  路
  2
  號
  2
  樓
Chinese Domestic mail Horizontal Zip codes
Address'
Name or Company
11060
台北市信義區市府路2號2樓
王小明收
English International Mail[11] Name or Company
Number, Alley, Lane, Road/Street Name
Township and District, County and City, Zip codes
Country
Mr. Wang
2F., No.2, Shifu Rd.
Xinyi Dist., Taipei City 11060
Taiwan (R.O.C.)
Complete Address
in Department of Household Registration,
Ministry of Interior[12]
Number, Alley, Lane, Road/Street Name, Neighborhood, Village, Township and District, County and City 2F., No.2, Shifu Rd., Neighborhood 8, Xicun Vil., Xinyi Dist., Taipei City, Taiwan (R.O.C.)

Turkey

Turkish addressing system is as follows:[13]

Format Name
Neighbourhood name
Street name + number
Building name + flat number (if applicable)
Postal code + town + district name (if applicable) + province

However, in rural areas with decidedly little population and with no street addresses, address format is much simpler:

Format Name
Village name
Postal code + district name + province

Ukraine, Belarus

Some neighborhoods may be planned in such a way that some, or most, apartment buildings don't face a named street. In this case, a number of expedients can be used. In older neighborhoods, a "main" building may have the same number as one or more "subsidiary" buildings accessible via driveways behind the main building. They will be addressed as e.g. ul. Lenina, d. 123, i.e. 123 Lenin St) An address may also cover one or more subsidiary buildings behind the main building, addressed as ul. Lenina, d. 123, str. 2 (123 Lenin St, unit 2, where str. (abbreviation for строение, stroenie) means a '(subsidiary) building'). In newer areas with more regular street plans, apartment buildings that don't face a named street may be designated with Cyrillic letters appended to the building number, e.g. 123-а, 123-б, etc., in alphabetic order.

In some microraion neighborhoods, with few, if any, buildings facing named streets, the name (or more likely number of the microraion (planned housing development)) would be used instead of the street name; thus someone may live at 4-th microrayon, d. 123, kv. 56, i.e. 123 - 4th Microraion, apt. 56.

United Kingdom

Minimum format Addressee's Name
Number + Street Name
(Locality)
POST TOWN
POSTCODE
Rural areas Addressee's Name
Property Name
(Street Name)
Locality
POST TOWN
POSTCODE

This is the format preferred by Royal Mail. The locality is required only where its absence would be ambiguous. Post towns rarely correspond to political boundaries and often group places that for all other purposes are quite separate. The Royal Mail asks that postal towns be written in block capitals, but in practice they rarely are. Sometimes the postal county is included after the post town, often because of software which requires a county to be included as part of a postal address, even where a county was never required by Royal Mail (so called special post towns).

Additionally, many people in the UK either prefer to use an older format of their address, include unnecessary information, or simply don't know what the correct format is. An address such as 1, Linclare Place, ST NEOTS, PE19 7AG might typically be written as 1, Linclare Place, Eaton Ford (locality), St Neots, Huntingdon (district), Cambs. (County) PE19 7AG.

Because each UK postcode covers only around 15 addresses, one could actually address a letter to "1, SW1A 0AA" and it should arrive, although with some delay.

The postcode should be on its own line and should be the last line unless the country is also included.

United States

Example Format
Jeremy Martinson
455 Larkspur Dr.
California Springs, CA 92926
Name of address
Street number and name
Name of town, State abbreviation + ZIP code
(typical handwritten format)
JEREMY MARTINSON
455 LARKSPUR DR
CALIFORNIA SPRINGS CA 92926‑4601
Name of address
Street number and name
Name of town + State abbreviation + ZIP (+ 4) code
(USPS-recommended format)

Notes:

  • Only the United States Postal Service (USPS) can deliver to a P.O. Box. For this reason the recipient may choose to insert their physical (aka street) address as line two, expanding the complete address to four lines. Providing both allows a sender to ship via the USPS or via a private carrier.
  • Mail will be delivered to the line immediately above the city, state, zip code line.
  • The state and type of street, e.g. Lane, is often abbreviated as shown in the PO standard.
  • The USPS discourages the use of periods and commas.
  • Sometimes the name of town required by United States Postal Service do not necessarily mean that address is within that city. See also ZIP codes and previous zoning lines.
  • Some institutes require addresses including county or township. This information is normally found on U.S. Census Bureau maps.

See also

References

  1. ^ Addressing your mail: Guidelines, Royal Mail
  2. ^ Formatting an international address: International Addressing, Universal Posting Union
  3. ^ Universal Postal Convention, Article 12, RL123. In: Universal Postal Union – Letter Post Manual, page D.5
  4. ^ Australia Post. (29 September 2009). Full postcode datafile. Retrieved 1 October 2009
  5. ^ Australia Post. (nd). Address presentation standards. Retrieved 1 October 2009
  6. ^ Post Office Guide (Section 6) of Hongkong Post
  7. ^ Mail address schemes. Hungarian Post Office
  8. ^ SingPost Webpage
  9. ^ Universal Postal Union: Singapore Guide
  10. ^ Domestic mail
  11. ^ International Mail
  12. ^ 村里街路門牌查詢
  13. ^ PTT webpage. Retrieved 14 April 2010 (Turkish)

External links


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