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.
Addresses have several functions:
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.
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).
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 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 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.
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).
In most of the world, addresses are written in order from most specific to general, e.g. finest to coarsest information, i.e. 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:
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 |
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 |
Ms H Williams
Finance and Accounting |
| Other delivery type | |
| Recipient Name
Other recipient information (etc.) |
Mr J. O'Donnell
Lighthouse Promotions |
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
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.
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.
In Brazil, an address must be mailed this way:
| Format | Example |
|---|---|
| Name Streetname, number, apartment/room (if needed) Neighbourhood (optional) Municipality, State Postal Code |
Carlos Rossi Avenida João Jorge, 112, ap. 31 Vila Industrial Campinas - SP 13035-680 |
States can have their name written entirely, abbreviated in some way, or totally abbreviated to two letters (SP = São Paulo, RJ = Rio de Janeiro, etc.).
Only towns with 60,000 inhabitants and above have postal codes individualized for streets, roads, avenues, etc. One way can have several postal codes (by odd/even numbers side or by segment). These postcodes range from -000 to -899. Other towns have only a generic postcode with the suffix -000. Recipients of bulk mail (large companies, condos, etc.) have specific postcodes, with a suffix ranging from -900 to -959. P.O. boxes are mailed to Correios offices, with suffixes ranging from -970 to -979. Some rural settlements have communitarian postboxes with suffix -990.
Canada uses a similar system to the United States (below), but there are key differences.
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 |
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 with Stree Number or Road Number, Building Name or Number, 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.
| Format | Example |
|---|---|
| Name Street name + number HR- Postal code + town |
Hrvoje Horvat Ulica Maršala Tita 174 HR-51410 Opatija |
Croatia uses five-digit postal code numbers. The Croatian postal service recommends using 2-letter ISO country codes as prefixes before international and domestic postal codes, though the practice is not mandatory.
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 Jitrnice
Czech Post Recommended Addressing
| Format | Example |
|---|---|
| Name Streetname + number Postal code + town |
Stig Jensen Solvej 5 5000 Odense C |
| 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.
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.
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 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 ) Apartment number, Floor number, Name of building Street number and street name Name of village, town or district (in CAPITAL LETTERS ) "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.
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.
| Format | Example |
|---|---|
| Name Streetname + number Postal code + town |
Jón Jónsson Bárðagata 5 860 Hvolsvöllur |
| 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 |
|---|
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 |
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.
In Indonesia, the address format is like this:
| Format | Example |
|---|---|
| Name
Building name (if needed) |
Bapak Fauzi Bowo
Gedung Balaikota DKI Jakarta |
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.
| 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 |
Postal addresses in Iran has a standard which should be used by mail or parcel senders. This standard is registered and qualified in Universal Postal Union (UPU). According to the below table, Iran has 4 types of standard address:
| Address Type | Urban | Rural | PO Box | Post Restante |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Format | Urban Locality Street Premise Province Postcode |
Rural Locality Street Premise Province Postcode |
Locality Province PO Box |
Restante Locality Province Post Office |
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.
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:
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 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.
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:
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 |
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.
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 |
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 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
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.
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.
| Format | Company Name or Department Street name + number Postal code + Town |
|---|
Slovenia uses a four-digit postal number.
| 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 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.
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).
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 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 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.) |
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 |
|---|
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 Cyrillic alphabetical 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.
| 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.
| 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: