international postal codes

do other countries have zip codes? besides Canada?

[mylungsarempty]

Hi, I'm an American, trying to build a site that people from around the globe could potentially use. What i'm curious of, is, are there many nations who use postal codes in their mailing addresses? also, does anyone know of a FREE database of zip codes for the united states? i'd like to try one out and see how feasible it is for my purposes before spending the money on a commercial product. Thanks.

[Chndru]

http*//www.embassyworld.com/data/Zip_Codes.html << would this be useful?

[edited by: DaveAtIFG at 5:40 pm (utc) on Oct. 1, 2003]
[edit reason] Delinked [/edit]

[Timotheos]

I've found that a number of other countries do use postal codes.

Not knowing what you're exact needs are I'd recommend checking out the free web tools that USPS offers. I use it to simply validate the mailing address. It wonderfully corrects the zip based on the mailing address and adds the +4 code.

[Macro]

As a webuser based in the UK one of the most annoying things online are websites that are targeted at world + dog but require you to provide a "ZIP Code" prior to accepting your order or submitting your form.

Yes, most countries in the world have a postal number system. In India it's a six digit number, in the UK it's an alpha-numeric mixture of anywhere between 6-8 characters, other countries have a variety of other systems. Very few of those postal systems will have a code that validates to a US zip code check.

It's wise that you are researching this prior to building your site :-)

[shelleycat]

You also need to take into account usage of those post codes. For example, I know we have them here in New Zealand but I don't know anyone who uses them. I have no idea what mine is :D

[Paul in South Africa]

In South Africa we also use postal codes, a 4 digit number. Someone published a survey a while ago comparing the delivery time of articles addressed with a postal code and those sent without one. The correctly addressed articles were delivered days, if not a week sooner.

I must endorse Macro's comments about sites that require a zip code. South African 4 digit codes are often thrown out even though they are correct (for South Africa).

[WebJoe]

Here in Switzerland we use a four digit postal code, and your mail probably won't get delivered if you don't use it. To the postal service, it's more important than the city in an address.

[abbeyvet]

We have no post/zip codes in Ireland. I have been on sites that allow you to choose Ireland from a country list, then require a 'valid' zip code, seemingly using a US format to validate against.

I have lost count of the number of times this sort of thing has made it impossible for me to buy/register for stuff online. Most forms will accept 'na' or 'xx' or 'none' or some variation of that but not all. It drives me crazy.

I also, as a result, often get mail with the word 'none' peculiarly appended to my address.

[mylungsarempty]

This has all been very enlightening. Based on all this, i've decided against depending so much on a zip code for users to sign up. I want my site to be internationally applicable. Thanks for the info guys~`-

[shelleycat]

Hmm, reading your two posts mylungsarempty it looks like you aren't going to use postcodes for actual posting. In that case I'd say definitely don't require post codes, because there are just so many differences around the place. From an international users point of view being forced to give postcode just to sign up will often cause me to feel unwelcome and leave. I know this sounds silly but first impressions are important, particularly if I'm going to go through the effort of signing up for something.

For postage, however, it's probably still worth making the field compulsory (although preferably not with the five digit formatting), because in so many places post code really is important. You want to be sure whatever you're sending gets there and this is worth a little inconvenience on my part.

[robho]

For postal purposes you also need to take into account where in the address the postal code should be.

In some countries it comes at the very end of the address. In the UK the postcode, like a 9 digit ZIP, identifies a street segment: 1 High St, London WC1A 1AA.

In most of mainland Europe, the postal code is for a whole town or part of city (like a US 5 digit ZIP), and is BEFORE the town: 1 rue Martin, 75001 Paris, France.

So any database that prints city followed by postal code prints garbled addresses in many countries.