Address
An address is a collection of information, presented in a mostly fixed format, used to give the location of a building, apartment, or other structure or a plot of land, generally using political boundaries and street names as references, along with other identifiers such as house or apartment numbers and organization name. Some addresses also contain special codes, such as a postal code, to make identification easier and aid in the routing of mail.
Addresses provide a means of physically locating a building. They are used in identifying buildings as the end points of a postal system and as parameters in statistics collection, especially in census-taking and the insurance industry.
Address formats are different in different places, and unlike latitude and longitude coordinates, there is no simple mapping from an address to a location.
History
Until the 18th and 19th centuries, most houses and buildings were not numbered.Street naming and numbering began under the age of Enlightenment, also as part of campaigns for census and military conscription, such as in the dominions of Maria Theresa in the mid 18th century.
Numbering allowed everyone to efficiently receive mail, as the postal system evolved in the 18th and 19th century to reach widespread usage.
Comprehensive addressing of all buildings is still not complete, even in developed countries. For example, the Navajo Nation in the United States was still assigning rural addresses as of 2015 and the lack of addresses can be used for voter disenfranchisement in USA. In many cities in Asia, most minor streets were never named, and this is still the case today in much of Japan. A third of houses in Ireland lacked unique numbers until the introduction of Eircode in 2014.
Current addressing schemes
House numbering or naming
In most English-speaking countries, the usual method of house numbering is an alternating numbering scheme progressing in each direction along a street, with odd numbers on one side and even numbers on the other side, 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, 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 villages. In these cases, the street name will usually follow the house name. Such an address might read: "Smith Cottage, Frog Lane, Barchester, Barsetshire, BZ9 9BA" or "Dunroamin, Emo, Co. Laois, Ireland".
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
s may follow a variety of themes. In many North American cities, such as, San Francisco USA, and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Vancouver, British Columbia, 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 and elsewhere, street names may all follow the same theme, or start with the same letter. Streets in Continental Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America are often named after famous people or significant 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, service addresses and poste restante.Address format
In most of the world, addresses are written in order from most specific to general, i.e. finest to coarsest information, starting with the addressee and ending with the largest geographical unit. For example:| Format | Example |
| Name Company name Street City area/District City/Town/Village County Postal code Country | Mr A. Payne ARAMARK Ltd. 30 Commercial Road Fratton PORTSMOUTH Hampshire PO1 1AA UNITED KINGDOM |
In English-speaking countries, the postal code usually comes last. In much of Europe, the code precedes the town name, thus: "1010 Lausanne". Sometimes, the country code is placed in front of the postal code: "CH-1010 Lausanne".
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, France, 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 that the name of the addressee is put into the first line.
The Universal Postal Convention strongly recommends the following:
Format by country and area
Argentina
In Argentina, an address must be mailed this way:| Format | Example |
| Name Street name, number Complements, Neighbourhood Postal code, Municipality | Luis Escala Piedras 623 Piso 2, depto 4 C1070AAM, Capital Federal |
The postal code has been changed from a four digit format to an eight digit format, which is shown in the example. The new format adds a district or province letter code at the beginning, which allows it to be identified. As the system has been changed recently, the four digit format can still be used: in that case it is necessary to add the name of the province or district.
| Old Format | New Format |
| Luis Escala French 392 Banfield Lomas de Zamora, Pcia Buenos Aires | Luis Escala French 392 Banfield B1828HKH, Lomas de Zamora |
Australia
In common with the rest of 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 locality – 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, yet around 700 unique geographic postcodes. 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, and doing so may delay delivery.Australia Post recommends 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.
Apartment, flat and unit numbers, if necessary, are shown immediately prior to the street number, and, as noted above, are separated from the street number by a forward slash. These conventions can cause confusion. To clarify, 3/17 Adam Street would mean Apartment 3 at 17 Adam Street or Unit 3 at 17 Adam St. On the other hand, 3–17 Adam Street would specify a large building occupying the lots spanning street numbers 3 to 17 on one side of Adam St. These forms can be combined, so 3/5–9 Eve Street signifies Apartment 3 in a building which spans street numbers 5 to 9 on one side of Eve Street.
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.
In addition to PO Boxes, other delivery types may include:
| Delivery type | Abbreviation |
| Care of post office | CARE PO |
| Community mail bag | CMB |
| General Post Box | 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 |
"Property numbers are worked out based on the distance from the start of the road to the entrance of the property. That distance is divided by ten. Even numbers are on the right and odd numbers are on the left. For example: the entrance to a property 5,080 metres from the start of the road on the right hand side becomes number 508. The start of the road is determined as the fastest and safest road accessed from the nearest major road or town. Rural road maps are being drawn up to define the name, the start point and direction of every rural road."
Austria
In Austria, the address is generally formatted as follows:| Format | Example |
| Addressee More detailed description of addressee Street name + number Postal code + town Country | Firma ABC Kundendienst Hauptstr. 5 1234 Musterstadt |
The postal code always consists of four digits.
Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, the format used for rural and urban addresses is different.Urban Addresses
| Format | Example |
| Addressee More detailed description of addressee Flat Number, Building Name Street name + number Town + postal code Country | Sheikh Mujibur Rahman -- -- Dhanmondi. 32 Dhaka-1209 Bangladesh |
The postal code always consists of four digits.
Rural Addresses
| Format | Example |
| Name More detailed description of addressee Village Name Post office Thana Name District Name Country | Sheikh Mujibur Rahman -- Village: Tungipara P.O.: Tungipara Thana: Tungipara District: Gopalganj Bangladesh |
Belarus
In Belarus, Some neighbourhoods 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 neighbourhoods, 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 vul. Lenina, d. 123 An address may also cover one or more subsidiary buildings behind the main building, addressed as vul. Lenina, d. 123, bud. 2 means a '. 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 neighbourhoods, with few, if any, buildings facing named streets, the name 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.
| Format | Cyrillic example | Latin example |
| Name of addressee Street name, number, apartment/room Village Postal code, post office or city/town Raion Region Country | Свістунову Івану Пятровічу вул. Цэнтральная, д. 20 в. Караліставічы 223016, п/а Новы Двор Мінскага р-на. Мінскай вобл. Беларусь | Svistunov Ivan Piatrovič vul. Centraĺnaja, d. 20 v. Karalistavičy 223016, p/a Novy Dvor Minskaha r-na Minskaj vobl. BELARUS |
Source:
Belgium
In Belgium, the address starts with the most specific information and ends with the most general informationSpatial information of a physical address may be useful for internal path of delivery, but is not allowed in the delivery point location line. If needed, this information will appear on a line above the delivery point location line.
The street number is placed after the thoroughfare name, separated by a space. Separators such as punctuation or 'n°’, or 'nr' are not allowed. Extension designation, if present, appears in the delivery point location line, preceded by the word for "box". Symbols such as b, Bt, #, -, / are not allowed as separators between the street number element and the box number element.
Examples of a correctly formatted postal address:
| Format | Example | Example |
| Addressee individual information Function / department Organization Spatial/dispatching information thoroughfare + street number + box number Postal code + town Country | Monsieur Alain Dupont Directeur Service Clients Acme SA Bloc A - étage 4 Rue du Vivier 7C bte 5 1000 Bruxelles BELGIUM | Dhr Paul Janssens Afdeling Kwaliteit Acme NV Gebouw A - Verdieping 3 Volklorenlaan 81 bus 15 2610 Wilrijk BELGIUM |
The Belgian addressing guidelines are registered with the Universal Postal Union. These guidelines indicate exactly how to combine the various address components in order to obtain a correctly formatted postal address.
The complete set of addressing guidelines can be found on the website of the Belgian postal operator. The correct representation of an address is not limited to the correct structure of address components but also relates to the content of addresses and their position on envelopes.
It is also possible to validate a Belgian postal address on bpost's website and to receive feedback on the content and the format of an address. More information can be found on bpost's website.
Brazil
In Brazil, an address must be written this way:| Format | Example |
| Name Street type, Street name, number, apartment/room Neighbourhood Municipality, State abbreviation Postal Code | Carlos Rossi Avenida João Jorge, 112, ap. 31 Vila Industrial Campinas - SP 13035-680 |
States can have their name written in full, abbreviated in some way, or totally abbreviated to two letters.
Only towns with 60,000 inhabitants and above have postal codes individualized for streets, roads, avenues, etc. One street can have several postal codes. These postcodes range from -000 to -899. Other towns have only a generic postcode with the suffix -000. Recipients of bulk mail 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 community postboxes with suffix -990.
Bulgaria
Similar to Belgium and most other European countries, in Bulgaria the address starts with the most specific information and ends with the most general informationSpatial information of a physical address may be useful for internal path of delivery, but is not allowed in the delivery point location line. If needed, this information will appear on a line above the delivery point location line.
The street number is placed after the thoroughfare name, separated by a space and the symbol 'No. '. Separators such as punctuation are allowed if needed. Extension designation, if present, appears in the delivery point location line, preceded by the word for "box". Symbols such as #, -, / are not strictly disallowed as separators between the street number element and the box number element. Note that there may sometimes be a confusion between П.К. and П.К..
| Format | Format | Example | Example |
| Name Function / department Company/Organization name Spatial/dispatching information : thoroughfare, Street/Boulevard/Sq. name and number, block and number, entrance and number, floor and number, apartment/room/flat and number Post-office box and number + Neighborhood Rayon Postal code + City/town/village Oblast COUNTRY | Име, презиме и фамилия Функция/Длъжност, Отдел Организация/фирма Адрес - ул./бул., номер, блок, вход, етаж, апартамент Пощенска кутия + номер и квартал Градски район Пощенски код и наименование на населеното място Община Област | Николай Георгиев Сармаков свещеник към църква "Св. Параскева" ул. "Патриарх Евтимий" No. 1011, бл. 1, вх. 2, ет. 1, ап. 1 П.К. 10117 Стария град 4000 Пловдив БЪЛГАРИЯ ' | or Receiver/Recipient/Addressee ) Nikolay Georgiev Sarmakov priest with the Sv. Paraskeva Church 1011 Patriarh Evtimiy Str., block 1, entrance 2, floor 1, flat 1 P.O. 101178 The Old Town 4000 Plovdiv BULGARIA ' |
The convention is that the addressee's information is written on the bottom right portion of the letter. The sender's information is written either on the top left portion of the letter or on the top reverse side of the letter.
The internal post letters, parcels and postal money transfers are written in the Bulgarian Cyrillic while the international postal letters and parcels are written in the Latin script with Arabic numerals.
Apart delivering mail and parcel packages to individual addresses, the Bulgarian Posts also delivers to the local postal offices or to a subscription mailbox within a local postal office.
Examples of a correctly formatted postal address:
Format for mail exchange between private individuals :
Format for mail and parcel exchange between business partners :
Format for mail and parcel sending to an individual subscription mailbox within a local office of Bulgarian Posts :
The Bulgarian postal addressing guidelines are registered with the Universal Postal Union. These guidelines indicate exactly how to combine the various address components in order to obtain a correctly formatted postal address.
The complete set of addressing guidelines can be found on the website of the Bulgarian postal operator. The correct representation of an address is not limited to the correct structure of address components but also relates to the content of addresses and their position on envelopes ).
It is also possible to validate a Bulgarian postal address on Bulgaria Post's website and to receive feedback on the content and the format of an address. More information can be found at.
Canada
Addressing guidelines can differ between English- and French-speaking populations in Canada. Here are some formatting rules that are used in common:- Cardinal directions like North, North West, etc. can be abbreviated in either English or French, and appear after the street name. Ordinal numbered streets can be written in either English or French.
- If there is an apartment number it should be written before the house number and separated by a hyphen.
- Name of city or town followed by two letter provincial abbreviations
- 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.
English :
NICOLE MARTIN
123 SHERBROOKE ST
TORONTO ON L3R 9P6
French :
Monsieur Jean-Pierre Lamarre
101–3485, rue de la Montagne
Montréal H3G 2A6
- See Canada Post's for accurate, up-to-date information on the addressing guidelines most commonly used in Canada.
- See the Office québécois de la langue française's webpage for more information about how to write an address according to guidelines used in Quebec and other French-speaking areas.
Chile
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 Postal code Municipality City | 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 |
China
In China, the Postal area when written in 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 China.| Format | Chinese example | English example |
| Country, Postal Code Province, City, District, Street Name or Road Name with Street Number or Road Number, Building Name or Number, Room Number Recipient | 邮编 528400 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 |
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 China.
Colombia
In Colombia the address format uses a numeric format based on "calles" which increase the number from south to north and "carreras" which increase the number from east to west.| Format | Example |
| Calle number Number of the Carrera and the house City | Calle 34 #24 - 30 Bogotá |
Croatia
n Post recommends the following format:| Format | Example |
| Addressee Locality Floor and door Street name + house number Postal code + post office name Country | Hrvoje Horvat Soblinec 1. kat, stan 2 Soblinečka ulica 1 10360 SESVETE CROATIA |
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.
Czech Republic
Common format in Czech Republic:| Format | Example |
| Name Street name + number Postal code + Town | První informační Josef Novák Brněnská 2256/16 123 07 Jitrnice |
Postal codes are in the format "### ##" or "CZ-#####". At pre-printed Czech postcards and envelopes, the postal code is filled into frames at separate last row. If the envelope doesn't have pre-printed rows and frames, the postal code should be before the town name.
On private letters, the first line is usually constituted by a courtesy title For private mails addressed to the workplace, the order is, while in official mails it is.
The basic system of house numbering uses conscription house numbers. For a temporary or recreational house, an evidentional house number is used instead. In most larger cities and also in some towns and large villages with street names, there is a double system of house numbering. The first number is the conscription or evidentional number, and the second number is the orientational number which expresses the position in the street. Sometimes only one of the two numbers is used, or the numbers are used in reverse order, and it can be difficult to distinguish which number is which. Generally, orientation numbers are preferred for mail services.
Denmark
In Denmark, apartment buildings will usually have two or three apartments per floor. Thus, if the addressee lives in an apartment, the address should contain the floor they live on, and a side or an alphanumeric character.Also, for postal codes 2000 and up, there is a 1:1 relationship between postal code and town.
| Format | Example |
| Name Street name + number + apartment floor and t.h./mf./t.v. Postal code + town | Stig Jensen Solvej 5, 4. t.v. 5000 Odense C |
Estonia
In Estonia, use the following format.| Format | Example |
| Name Street + Building number + apartment number Postal code + town COUNTRY | Kati Kask Aia tn 1–23 10615 Tallinn ESTONIA |
Finland
| Format | Example |
| Company Name or Department Street name + number + *apartment number Postal code + Town Country | Eduskunta Matti Mallikainen Mannerheimintie 30 as. 1 00100 HELSINKI Finland |
In 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" or as "C 55"
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:| Format | Example |
| Addressee More detailed description of addressee Housenumber +, + Street name Postal code + uppercase location Country | Entreprise ABC M. Frank Bender 12, rue de la Montagne 01234 EXAMPLEVILLE |
The postal code always consists of five digits. The location is usually a town, but may be other territorial entities
Organisations, government agencies, and companies which receive large amounts of mail often have a special "CEDEX" address which goes after the last line.
Germany
In Germany, the address is generally formatted as follows:| Format | Example |
| Addressee More detailed description of addressee Street name + number Postal code + town Country | Firma ABC Kundendienst Hauptstr. 5 01234 Musterstadt |
- The postal code always consists of five digits.
- Organizations that receive large amounts of mail may be assigned a bulk customer postal code. These are different from regular postal codes in that they do not have a street name line. Some bulk customer postal codes are shared between several organizations.
- There are a few places that have house numbers but no street names as well as addresses that have a street name but no house number.
- Some private post companies are also able to deliver to Deutsche Post-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.
- Sub-building information, such as apartment numbers, is rarely used - a name on the post box is usually the only method of identification of an addressee within a building.
Greece
| Format | Example | Example |
| Recipient Street Address Postcode, TOWN | Π. Παύλου Δοϊράνης 25 653 02 ΚΑΒΑΛΑ | P. Pavlou Doiranis 25 653 02 KAVALA |
The most widespread format, shown above, gives on the last line the recipient's five-digit post code and the name of the town or village that is the base of a post office, in capital letters and separated from the postcode by two spaces. When sending mail abroad, or when sending mail from abroad to Greece, Hellenic Post recommends the following format:
| Format | Example | Example |
| Recipient Street Address COUNTRY CODE-Postcode, TOWN COUNTRY | Α. Αποστόλου Καρκησίας 6 GR-111 42 ΑΘΗΝΑ GRÈCE | A. Apostolou Karkisias 6 GR-111 42 ATHINA GRÈCE |
As with domestic mail, mail sent from abroad must contain the postcode in the same manner, but the postcode must be preceded by the international prefix of the country of delivery. Below the destination, the country of delivery must be written in capital letters, either in English or French.
Hong Kong
The official languages of Hong Kong are Chinese and English. For domestic mail within Hong Kong, the address may be written entirely in either Chinese or English. 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. However, for an overseas mail from Hong Kong to Mainland China, Macao, 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 postmen. 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.
| Format | Example |
| Name of addressee Flat number, Floor number, Name of building Street number and street name Name of district "Hong Kong", "Hong Kong Island" or "H. K." for Hong Kong Island/"Kowloon" or "Kln" for Kowloon/"New Territories" or "N. T." for New Territories | Mr. Jackie Chan Flat 25, 12/F, Acacia Building 150 Kennedy Road Wan Chai Hong Kong Island |
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.
| Format | Example |
| 香港島 灣仔 堅尼地道105號 雅佳大廈12樓25室 陳港生先生 |
For mail to Hong Kong from overseas, "Hong Kong" should be added at the end of an address written in English, and "香港" should be added at the beginning of an address written in Chinese.
Hungary
In Hungarian mail addresses, the city/town name precedes the street address. The post code then comes after the street address.| Format | Example |
| Addressee City or town Street name and number and floor/door, or P.O. Box number Postal code | Kis Zoltán Budapest Árpád fejedelem útja 82. fszt. 2 1036 |
Hungarian family names precede given names in Hungarian. In this example, Kis is the family name.
Sometimes a district number might appear after the name of the city/town.
Various abbreviations might appear in the precise street/building address: for instance, specifying the street type, or em. for 'emelet', or hrsz for 'helyrajzi szám', or fszt for 'földszint' and so on.
The postal code consists of four digits.
Iceland
In Iceland, the following format is used.| Format | Example | Explanation |
| Name Street name + Number Complements Postal code + Place | Agnes Gísladóttir Holtsflöt 4 íbúð 202 300 Akranes | first name, last name street address in the dative case flat number etc. place: municipality, town or rural area |
India
In India, multiple formats are used.General Address
| Format | Example |
| Name Son/Daughter Of Or Husband/Wife Of Door number: Street Number, Street Name VIA NAME Post Name Taluk Name Locality or Neighbourhood CITY - Postal Code District Name State Country | Ms Rajaram S/O Amirthalingam 32-B V.NAGAR, ROAD NO : 1 RASIPURAM RASIPURAM RASIPURAM Near SAMUNDI THEATRE NAMAKKAL 637408 NAMAKKAL TAMILNADU INDIA |
The format used for rural and urban addresses is different.
Rural Addresses
| Format | Example |
| Name Street Number, Street Name VILLAGE NAME District Name Postal Code State | Lorha Singh 5, Mahatma Gandhi Road BUDHAGAON District Sangli 471594 Maharashtra |
Urban Addresses
| Format | Example |
| Name Occupation Flat Number, Building Name Street Number, Street Name Locality or Neighbourhood CITY - Postal Code State | Dr. Ashok Padhye General Physician A-205, Natasha Apartments 2, Inner Ring Road Domlur BANGALORE - 560071 Karnataka |
The state is optional in both cases, but is typically used.
Indonesia
In Indonesia, the address format is like this:| Format | Example |
| Name Building name Street name number Village/Kelurahan, Subdistrict/Kecamatan City or Regency Postal Code Province State | Bapak Joko Widodo Gedung Balaikota DKI Jakarta Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan No. 8-9 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.
Iran
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. According to the below table, Iran has 4 types of standard address:| Address Type | Format |
| Urban | Urban Locality Street Premise Province Postcode |
| Rural | Rural Locality Street Premise Province Postcode |
| PO Box | Locality Province PO Box |
| Post Restante | Restante Locality Province Post Office |
Iraq
In Iraq, the following format is used.| Format | Example |
| Name of Addressee Name of the District Mahla + Number Zuqaq + Number Building number Name of Province Postal code Country | Ali Hassan Al-Mansour Mahla 609 Zuqaq 8 House no. 12 Baghdad 10013 Iraq |
Ireland
In July 2015, Ireland introduced , a seven digit alphanumeric code, consisting of a 3 character routing key and a 4 character unique identifier for the property. Example A65 F4E2. Up until the introduction of Eircodes Dublin was the only county with a form of postal district identifier, these have been incorporated into the Eircode scheme; example Dublin 2 is routing code D02.| Format | Example Dublin | Example outside Dublin |
| Addressee's Name Number or name of house and street name/townland POST TOWN + Postal district number County name Eircode | The Shelbourne Hotel 27 St Stephen's Green Dublin 2 D02 H529 | Lissadell House Lissadell Ballinfull Co. Sligo F91 ED70 |
Rural addresses are specified by the county, nearest post town, and the townland. Urban addresses are specified by county, city or town name, street name, house number, and apartment or flat number where relevant. A house name may be used instead of a number. The Eircode is appended to the bottom of the address.
Israel
In Israel, the Universal Postal Union recommend the following:| Format | Example |
| Name Number + Street name Postal code + town | Yisrael Yisraeli 16 Jaffa Street 9414219 Jerusalem |
In apartment buildings the building number should appear first and than the apartment number separated by a "/". In the below example, "16" is the building number while "20" is the apartment number:
| Format | Example |
| Name Number + Street name Postal code + town | Yisrael Yisraeli 16/20 Jaffa Street 9414219 Jerusalem |
Example of common address with building entrance and apartment number
| Format | Example |
| Name number incl. entrance + Street name, + apartment Postal code + town | Yisrael Yisraeli 1 B HaDoar, Apt. 20 9414219 Jerusalem |
Or
| Format | Example |
| Name number incl. entrance/apartment + Street name Postal code + town | Yisrael Yisraeli 1B/20 HaDoar 9414219 Jerusalem, ISRAEL |
A seven digit postal code for all addresses was introduced in 2013 which can cover an entire locality for a small town or village. In bigger cities postal areas are divided along streets and neighbourhoods.
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:Line ordering may not be changed.
Japan
A Japanese postal address, when written in Japanese phonetic and Chinese characters, starts with the largest geographical division, continues with progressively smallers subdivisions before ending with the addressee, i.e. country, prefecture, town, chōme, banchi, building number, building name, floor number, company name, addressee. This is the most common addressing format used when mailing within Japan. It is common practice to add the appropriate honorific to the addressee's name, e.g. 様 for a private individual or 御中 for a company or institution.When written in the Latin alphabet, the address begins with the smallest geographical area and ends with the largest one as in the following example. Macrons may be omitted.
Japanese-style envelopes are vertically aligned and the address is written from top to bottom, then right to left. Western-style envelopes are horizontally aligned and the address is written from left to right, top to bottom.
South Korea
| Example in Korean | Romanized, in Korean order | Format |
서울특별시 종로구 사직로9길 23, 102동 304호 홍길동 귀하 03174 | Seoul-teukbyeolsi, Jongno-gu, Sajik-ro-9-gil 23, 102-dong 304-ho Hong Gildong gwiha 30174 | Country name Address line Recipient Postal code |
| English, in Western order | English, alternative | |
Mr. Gildong Hong Apt. 102–304 Sajik-ro-9-gil 23 Jongno-gu, Seoul 30174 | Mr. Gildong Hong Bldg. 102 Unit 304 Sajik-ro-9-gil 23 Jongno-gu, Seoul 30174 | Recipient Address line Address line City, province names and postal code Country name |
South Korea uses a system similar to Western addressing, but previously used a system similar to Japanese addressing. South Korean addresses start with the largest unit, like those other East Asian countries.
Latvia
In Latvia, the address in generally formatted as follows:| Address Type | Format | Example |
| Rural Area | Addressee’s Name Street Name, House Number, Flat Number or House Name Village Parish Amalgamated Municipality Postal Code | Andris Lapa Liepu iela 1 Ērberģe Mazzalves pag. Neretas nov. LV-5133 |
| Urban Area | Addressee’s Name Street Name, House Number, Flat Number City or Town Amalgamated Municipality Postal Code | Andris Lapa Jelgavas iela 1–12 Aizpute Aizputes nov. LV-3456 |
Notes:
- Every address element should be written on a separate line, starting with the more detailed element.
- Including addressee's name is not mandatory and address can be considered completed without it.
- In Latvian, addressee's name should be provided in dative, i.g., "Andrim Liepam". There are two generally accepted official salutation forms you can use in front of the addressee's name: "A.god." or "Ļ.cien.".
- Indicate a full street name, house and flat number. Separate house and flat number with a hyphen.
- It is allowed to use abbreviation of parish and amalgamated municipality.
- The postal code consists of two capital letters and four digits separated with a hyphen.
- For cross-border mail after the postal code you need to indicate the country of destination in block letters.
Macau
The official languages of Macau are Portuguese and Cantonese. For domestic mail within Macau, the address may be written entirely in either Portuguese or Chinese. For overseas mail going out from Macau, the address may be written in the language of the destination country, provided that the city name and the country name are in English. However, for an overseas mail from Macau to China, Hong Kong, Taiwan or Singapore, the address may be written entirely in Chinese. While traditional Chinese characters are commonly used in Macau, simplified Chinese characters are also understood by Macau's postmen. Note that Macau does not use any postal codes.An address written in Portuguese should begin with the street name and end with the area in Macau, as in the following example for a domestic mail within Macau.
| Format | Example |
| Name of addressee Street name, Street number, Name of building, Floor number, Flat number, "Península de Macau" for Macau Peninsula/"Taipa" for Taipa/"Coloane" for Coloane/"Cotai" for Cotai | Sr. João Kuok Rua de Macau, n.o 1, Edifício ABC, 2 andar, moradia C, Península de Macau |
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 Macau. Traditional Chinese characters are used in this example.
| Format | Example |
| 澳門半島 澳門街1號 ABC大廈2樓C室 郭若昂先生 |
For mail to Macau from overseas, "Macau" should be added at the end of an address written in Portuguese, and "Macao" at the end of an address written in English; "澳門" should be added at the beginning of an address written in Chinese.
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 Country | Mr. Zack Ahmad 11 Jalan Budi 1 Taman Budiman 42700 BANTING SELANGOR MALAYSIA |
| Business | Salutation, Name of recipient Name of Position & Department Company name Unit/Lot number, Building name/Commercial area Lot number, Street name Postcode Post office/Mail centre State Country | Dato' S.M. Nasrudin Managing Director Capital Shipping Bhd. Lot 323, 1st Floor, Bintang Commercial Centre 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 Company name Unit/Lot number, Building name/Commercial area Lot number, 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 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, mail will be sent to the P.O. Box on its first attempt.
Mexico
| Address Type | Format | Example |
| Personal | Recipient's Name Street Type and Name + Number Settlement Type and Name Postal Code + Locality, Municipality, Federal Entity | Alejandro Ramírez C. Francisco I. Madero No. 115 Col. Nuevo Casas Grandes Centro 31700 Nuevo Casas Grandes, Chih. |
| Business | Recipient's Name Company Department or Position within Company Company Name Street Type and Name + Number Settlement Type and Name Postal Code + Locality, Municipality, Federal Entity | Ing. Juan Rodríguez Altamirano Farmacéutica Altamirano Av. Durango No. 264 Int. 1 Col. Primer Cuadro 81200 Los Mochis, Ahome, Sin. |
| Apartado Postal, Lista de Correos or Poste Restante | Recipient's Name Company Department or Position within Company Company Name Delivery Method + Number Postal Administration Post Office's Postal Code + Locality, Municipality, Federal Entity | Daniel González Oritz Apartado Postal A44 Administración Postal Calvillo 20801 Calvillo, Ags. Esteban Martínez Hernández Lista de Correos Administración Postal Esperanza 85211 Cajeme, Son. Esperanza Rodríguez Domínguez Poste Restante Administración Postal Bermejillo 35231 Mapimí, Dgo. |
Netherlands
In the Netherlands, the address is generally formatted as follows:| Format | Example |
| Name Street + number or Postbus Postal code + town Country - Optional | Thomas van der Landen Boschdijk 1092 5631 AV EINDHOVEN NETHERLANDS |
The postal code is a unique street identifier, and always consists of four numbers followed by a space and then two capital letters. PostNL, which is appointed by the Dutch government to carry out the UPD, recommends putting two spaces between postal code and town. Also, the name of the town should be written in capitals.
Because the Dutch postal code uniquely identifies a street, 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 or freepost number, which have their own postal code.
New Zealand
In 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 Town/City Postcode | Mr John Smith 43 Vogel Street Roslyn Palmerston North 4414 |
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 Wellington metropolitan area, users should use the city name, not the metropolitan area name. For example:
| Incorrect | Correct | Correct |
| 1 Molesworth Street Taitā Wellington 5011 | 1 Molesworth Street Taitā Lower Hutt 5011 | 1 Molesworth Street Thorndon Wellington 6011 |
The city in this case is important, as if Wellington is used instead of Lower Hutt and the postcode is unclear, someone's private mail could accidentally be sent to the New Zealand Parliament Buildings instead.
One anomaly about this system is the Wellington Mail Centre, which is addressed as Wellington Mail Centre, Lower Hutt 5045, due to its location in the Lower Hutt suburb of Petone.
Norway
Postal addresses in Norway are formatted as follows:| Format | Example |
| Recipient Street Name + Number Postal Code + Postal Town Country | Kari Normann Storgata 81A 6415 Molde Norway |
The first line, Recipient , is the legal recipient of the item being sent. The Recipient's name must be marked on the mail box in order for the item to be delivered.
Flat or floor number is not part of Norwegian postal addresses.
The postal code is mandatory. If a PO box is used, it replaces Street name + Number. PO box addresses have postal codes which differ from those used for street addresses. Some areas do not have street names. For these areas, Street name + Number is replaced by a local designation determined by the Norwegian postal service.
Oman
In the Sultanate of Oman, the address is formatted as follows:| Format | Example |
| Name Street number + house number Block number Area City | Way 2259, 2919 Block 222 Murtafaat Al Qurm Muscat |
Physical addresses only exist in major urban centers like those of Greater Muscat, Sohar, Salalah, Sur and Nizwa.
Pakistan
The format used in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.Official Addresses
| Format | Example |
| Name Street Number, Street Name Union Council, Town CITY NAME District Name Postal Code Province | Muhammad Abdullah Umar 15, M. A. Jinnah Road Kharadar, Saddar Karachi Karachi District 457700 Sindh |
Peru
In Peru, addresses in the Metropolitan Area of Lima and Callao are generally formatted as follows:| Format | Example |
| Name Street name, number Apartment 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 District City | Camilo Rada Av. del Ejército 450 Dpto 5 Yanahuara Arequipa |
Philippines
The Philippines follows Western conventions on addressing. Addresses in the Philippines either uses these formats.Poland
In Poland, the address is generally formatted as follows:| Format | Example |
| First name & surname of addressee and/or company name & department ul. Street name + house number / flat number or al. Avenuename + house number / flat number or pl. Squarename + house number / flat number or Smalltown/Village name + house number Postal code + City or town Country name | Jan Kowalski ul. Wiejska 4/6 00-902 Warszawa POLAND |
ul. = Str
al. = Ave
pl. = Sq
The abbreviation "m." can be used instead of "/" before the flat number.
The postal code always consists of five digits separated with a hyphen, i.e. 00-486 ; 20-486, 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.
Portugal
postal addresses is similar to continental European addresses:| Format | Example | Example | Example |
| Addressee Street name + Street number + door Postal code + Town Country | José Saramago Rua da Liberdade, 34, 2º Esq. 4000-000 Porto Portugal | José Saramago Rua da Liberdade 34 2 Esq 4000-000 Porto Portugal | José Saramago Apartado 1234 4000-000 Porto Portugal |
Postal codes have the
NNNN-NNN format. Street name and the number is traditionally separated by a comma, but nowadays CTT recommends just a blank space, or two blank spaces for extra clarity; this is to avoid OCR mistakes. The º after the number is the ordinal for floor number. Usually followed by "Esq." or "Dir.", or an apartment letter. PO Boxes are called Apartado, followed by a number.Qatar
In Qatar, Q-Post recommends the following format:| Format | Example |
| Name of addressee P.O. Box number Name of town Country | Mr. Ali Al-Matwi P.O. Box 1714 Doha Qatar |
Not all of Qatar's roads and buildings are numbered, Q-Post doesn't deliver to any street addresses, and no postal codes are used in Qatar.
Romania
In Romania, the address is generally formatted as follows:- According to NACREP - National agency for cadastral and real estate publicity in Romania there are 29 street types such as:
| No. | Street Type | Abbreviation | Example |
| 1 | Alee | Al. | Aleea Lungulețu |
| 2 | Bulevard | Bd. | Bulevardul Unirii |
| 3 | Cale | - | - |
| 4 | Canal | - | - |
| 5 | Cartier | - | - |
| 6 | Colonie | - | - |
| 7 | Curte | - | - |
| 8 | Drum | - | - |
| 9 | Fundac | - | - |
| 10 | Fundatură | - | - |
| 11 | Hotar | - | - |
| 12 | Intrare | Intr. | Intrarea Albinelor |
| 13 | Parc | - | - |
| 14 | Pasaj | - | - |
| 15 | Piață | - | - |
| 16 | Pietonal | - | - |
| 17 | Platou | - | - |
| 18 | Potecă | - | - |
| 19 | Prelungire | Prel. | Prelungirea Ferentari |
| 20 | Rampă | - | - |
| 21 | Scuar | - | - |
| 22 | Șir | - | - |
| 23 | Șosea | Șos. | Șoseaua Olteniței |
| 24 | Splai | Spl. | - |
| 25 | Stradă | Str. | Strada Lungă |
| 26 | Stradelă | - | - |
| 27 | Suiș | - | - |
| 28 | Trecere | - | - |
| 29 | Variantă | Var. | - |
Russia
In Russia, the address must be written in Cyrillic or Latin alphabet, in usual format.Example:
| Format | Cyrillic example | Latin example |
| Name of addressee Street name, number, apartment/room City/town/village Raion Oblast Postal code Country | Гусев Иван Сергеевич ул. Победы, д. 20, кв. 29 пос. Октябрьский Борский р-н Нижегородская обл. 606480 Russia, Россия | Gusev Ivan ul. Pobedy, d. 20, kv. 29 pos. Oktyabrskiy Borskiy r-n Nizhegorodskaya obl. 606480 RUSSIA |
Note: sub-region and region/oblast names are void if the city is Moscow or Saint Petersburg or if it is sub-region administrative center.
Some neighbourhoods 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. An address may also cover one or more subsidiary buildings behind the main building, addressed as ul. Lenina, d. 123, str. 2 means a ' 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 neighbourhoods, with few, if any, buildings facing named streets, the name 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.
Saudi Arabia
In Saudi Arabia, the address could be written in Arabic or English in the following format:| Format | Example |
| Addressee Building Number + Street Name + Neighbourhood City + Postal code + Additional Numbers Kingdom of Saudi Arabia | Mohammed Ali Al-Ahmed 8228 Imam Ali Road – Alsalam Neighbourhood Riyadh 12345-6789 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia |
Serbia
n postal addresses conform to rules similar to continental European rules:| Format | Example |
| Addressee Street name + Number Postal code + Town Country | Petar Petrović Krunska 5 11000 Beograd |
In addition to 5-digit postal code, another line can be added containing PAK, a six-digit number which encodes the town, street and house number section.
Singapore
In Singapore, SingPost recommends the following format for addresses:| Format | Example |
| Name of addressee Street number and name Name of town + Postcode | Ms. Tan Bee Soo 16 Sandilands Road SINGAPORE 546080 SINGAPORE |
| Name of addressee Block number and street name Floor – Apartment number + Building name Name of town + Postcode | Mr. M. Rajendran Blk 35 Mandalay Road
SINGAPORE |
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 | Example |
| Addressee Company or Department or Landlord Street name + number Postal code + Town COUNTRY | Jozef Vymyslený Firma s.r.o. Nezábudková 3084/25 84545 Bratislava Slovensko |
Postal codes are in the format "### ##".
Street numbers can be written as orientation numbers or descriptive numbers or as a combination separated by a slash. Descriptive numbers are also used within small villages that do not have named streets.
If the delivery is intended exclusively for a specific person at a company site, the address should begin with the individual's name and the company name should follow. The standard format of addresses enables anyone at the company to receive the delivery.
http://www.posta.sk/potrebujem/spravne-napisat-adresu
Slovenia
uses a four-digit postal number. The first digit indicates the area:- 1xxx for Ljubljana
- 2xxx for Maribor
- 3xxx for Celje
- 4xxx for Kranj
- 5xxx for Nova Gorica
- 6xxx for Koper
- 7xxx not used
- 8xxx for Novo Mesto
- 9xxx for Murska Sobota
Some cities have more than one post office, thus having multiple postcodes. For example, Ljubljana which has a "general" postcode 1000, also has additional ones, ranging from 1101 to 1133, Kamnik has 1240 and 1241, etc. Albeit they exist, it is not necessary to use them - usually the "general" postcodes are used.
The abbreviations are: g. for gospod, ga. for gospa, and gdč. for gospodična - all always capitalized if in the beginning of the line.
Numbers can have a suffix like A, B, C, etc.
Common abbreviations are: c. for cesta, and ul. for ulica - both always capitalised if in the beginning of the line.
Bigger towns have special postcodes for PO Boxes in the xxx1 format, e.g. 1001 Ljubljana, 4001 Kranj.
Big companies which receive large amounts of mail are designated their special postcodes in the x5xx format.
Spain
In Spain, the addresses are generally formatted as follows:| Format | Example |
| Recipient name Street type, name, number, storey and door Postal code and city Province | Sr. Francisco Ansó García Paseo de la Castellana, 185, 5ºB 29001 Madrid Madrid |
5ºB means 5th floor, door B. Also, there may be door number, printed as 1ª. Suffixes "o" and "a" derives from Spanish words piso which is masculine and puerta which is feminine.
| Format | Example |
| Recipient name Street type, name, number, storey and door Postal code and city Province | Dña. Antonia Fernandez Garcia Av. de las Delicias, 14, 1º Dcha. 29001 Madrid Madrid |
Some doors may be indicated with the abbreviations Izq. or Dcha., to indicate either left or right. Streets and avenues can be indicated with the abbreviations C. and Av..
Sri Lanka
recommends the following format:| Format | Example |
| Name of addressee Street number and name Name of town Postcode Country | Mr. A. L. Perera 201 Silkhouse Street KANDY 20000 SRI LANKA |
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 English and Sinhala.
Sweden
In Sweden, the address is generally formatted as follows:| Format | Example |
| Name Street name + number Postal code + Post town Country | Anna Björklund Storgatan 1 112 01 Stockholm SWEDEN |
The postal code is always a five-digit number divided into groups of three and two with the prefix SE used only if sent from abroad. It is also possible to replace the street name line with a PO box.
Switzerland
In Switzerland, the address is generally formatted as follows:| Format | Example | Example | Example | Example |
| Salutation Recipient name Street name and number Postal code, city and canton Country | Herrn Rudolf Weber Marktplatz 1 4051 Basel Switzerland | Frau Claudia Weber Solothurnerstrasse 28 2544 Bettlach SO Switzerland | Monsieur Pierre Dupont Rue Pépinet 10 1003 Lausanne Switzerland | Madame Sophie Dupont Rue du Marché 8 1556 Cerniaz VD Switzerland |
The canton abbreviation is needed only for cities/town that have the same name but in another canton for example: Renens and Renan which were both, in the past, called Renens, the difference stays today and Renens is often mentioned as Renens VD.
Taiwan
In Taiwan, addresses are regulated by the Department of Household Registration, while mails are handled by the Chunghwa Post. As a result, senders are required to write addresses in different formats in different situations.| Address Type | Format | Example |
| Chinese-language domestic mail, vertical sender | County or City Township, town, city or distinct Road or Street name Building number Sender Floor Postal codes | 台 北 市 市 府 路 王 ２ 小 號 明 ２ 緘 樓 １１０６０ |
| Chinese-language domestic mail, vertical receiver | Postal 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-language domestic mail, horizontal | Postal codes Address Name or Company | 11060 台北市信義區市府路2號2樓 王小明收 |
| English-language international mail | Name or Company Number, Alley, Lane, Road/Street Name Township and District, County and City, Postal codes Country | Mr. Wang 2F., No.2, Shifu Rd. Xinyi Dist., Taipei City 11060 Taiwan |
| Complete address for Department of Household Registration, Ministry of Interior | Number, Alley, Lane, Road/Street Name, Neighbourhood, Village, Township and District, County and City | 2F., No.2, Shifu Rd., Neighbourhood 8, Xicun Vil., Xinyi Dist., Taipei City, Taiwan |
Thailand
In Thailand, address are generally formatted as follows:| Format | Example |
|
Turkey
addressing system is as follows:| Format | Example |
| Name Neighbourhood name Street name + number Building name + flat number Postal code + town + district name + province | Ahmet Korkmaz Etiler Mh. Badem Sk. No:13 Toprak Apt. D:8 34732 Besiktas / Istanbul |
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
Some neighbourhoods in the Ukraine 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 neighbourhoods, 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 vul. Bandery, d. 123 An address may also cover one or more subsidiary buildings behind the main building, addressed as vul. Bandery, d. 123, bud. 2 means a '. 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 neighbourhoods, with few, if any, buildings facing named streets, the name would be used instead of the street name; thus someone may live at 4-th microrayon, bud. 123, kv. 56, i.e. 123 - 4th Microraion, apt. 56.
| Format | Cyrillic example | Latin example |
| Name of addressee Street name, number, apartment/room Village/city/town Raion, Region Postal code Country | Петренко Іван Леонідович вул. Шевченка, буд. 17 м. Біла Церква Київська обл. 09117 Україна | Petrenko Ivan Leonidovych vul. Shevchenka, bud. 17 m. Bila Tserkva Kyivs'ka obl. 09117 UKRAINE |
United Arab Emirates
In the United Arab Emirates, Emirates Post Group recommends the following format:| Format | Example |
| Name of addressee P.O. Box number Name of the Emirate Country | Mr. Ali Al-Matwi P.O. Box 1714 Dubai United Arab Emirates |
Not all of the roads and buildings in the UAE are numbered consistently and no postal codes are used in the United Arab Emirates. All mail are delivered only to PO boxes in the United Arab Emirates.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the format specified by the postal operator Royal Mail is as follows:| Format | Example |
| Addressee's name Number supplement and street name Locality POST TOWN POSTCODE | Mr A Smith 3a High Street Hedge End SOUTHAMPTON SO31 4NG |
The locality is required only where its absence would cause ambiguity, for example where a post town or postcode district includes two streets with the same name. Royal Mail specifies that post towns should be written in block capitals. Until 1996 a postal county was required after the post town, unless it was a special post town, for example London. The post town and postcode should each be on a separate line. Historically, each line of an address ended with a comma and was indented from the previous line. Royal Mail discourage this usage and specify that all lines should start from the same point and not be staggered or aligned to the centre. The postcode identifies, from left to right, increasingly smaller units of the postal delivery system. The first half of the postcode, known as the outward code, contains the postcode area and postcode district. The second half, known as the inward code, contains the postcode sector and postcode unit.
United States
In the United States, addresses are generally formatted as follows.| Format | Example |
| Name of addressee House number and street name + Apartment/Suite/Room number Name of town + State abbreviation + ZIP code | Jeremy Martinson, Jr. 455 Larkspur Dr. Apt 23 Baviera, CA92908 |
| Name of addressee House number and street name +Apartment/Suite/Room number if any Name of town + State abbreviation + ZIP+4 code | JEREMY MARTINSON JR 455 LARKSPUR DR APT 23 BAVIERA CA92908‑4601 |
The street address line can take a number of alternate formats:
- "GENERAL DELIVERY" marks the item to be held for pickup from the post office
- Some street names are simply the names of highways, like "KY STATE HIGHWAY 625", "INTERSTATE 55 BYP", "FM 1200" or "LOOP 410".
- In rural areas, mail is addressed according to the mail route rather than the physical street address. The street line might be something like "RR 9 BOX 19-1A" "HC 68 BOX 23A" for "highway contract" routes The physical street address may appear in the line above the "RR" line without hindering delivery.
- In New York City, Hawaii, and Southern California, some addresses have a hyphen in the street number, which should not be removed if matched to the ZIP+4 file; for example "112–10 BRONX RD".
- In Utah, some address are given in a grid style, where the "street name" consists of a cardinal direction, a number that is a multiple of 100, and an orthogonal cardinal direction. For example, "401 West 500 North" is on the grid in St. George, Utah, on the road West 500 North between its intersections with North 400 West and North 500 West.
- In Wisconsin and northern Illinois, grid addresses are sometimes written as a sequence of numbers and directional letters, e.g. "N6W23001 BLUEMOUND RD".
- In Puerto Rico, street addresses often include an urbanization or condominium name. The USPS allows for Spanish conventions on the island.
- United States Virgin Islands street addresses sometimes include only an estate name or a street name with no number, and many street names do not have common suffixes like "Street" or "Road".
- Traditionally, only the United States Postal Service has been permitted to deliver to a P.O. Box. For this reason the recipient may choose to insert their physical address in the second line, expanding the complete address to four lines. Providing both allows a sender to ship via the USPS or via a private carrier. Some USPS facilities allow a user of a P.O. box to use the street address of the postal facility with the P.O. box number in the place of a suite number, in which case the user may receive packages from private carriers.
- 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 all punctuation except the hyphen in ZIP+4 codes, slashes in fractional addresses, hyphenated street numbers, and periods in decimal addresses. Hyphenated street numbers are common in the New York City borough of Queens, Hawaii, and Southern California; as well as the town of Fair Lawn, New Jersey; see house numbering.
- Sometimes the name of the town required by the United States Postal Service does not necessarily mean that address is within that city. See also ZIP codes and previous zoning lines.
- In some other cases, the boundaries of towns as recognized by the U.S. Postal Service are much smaller than the area within the city limits. For one example, mail to much of the city of Los Angeles cannot be addressed to "Los Angeles".
- The U.S. Postal Service does not recognize "New York City" as a valid postal address. "New York" is a valid postal town only for Manhattan; mail to all of the city's other boroughs must be addressed with the borough name or, in Queens, with a particular neighborhood name associated with the recipient's ZIP Code.
- The USPS prefers that territories be addressed in the standard domestic format but in practice territory names are sometimes written as if they are a country.
- International United States Department of State mail will use "DPO" as the city; military mail will use "APO" or "FPO". Both use "AE", "AP", or "AA" in place of the state code, depending on the continent.
- Three independent countries with a Compact of Free Association with the U.S. have their own domestic government-run mail services, but are integrated into the USPS addressing and ZIP code system.
Vietnam
| Format | Vietnamese example | English example |
| Name of addressee House number and street name Name of town | Lê Văn Bình, số 123A Trần Hưng Đạo, phường Nguyễn Du, quận Hai Bà Trưng, thành phố Hà Nội | Mr Lê Văn Bình number 123A Trần Hưng Đạo street, Nguyễn Du ward, Hai Bà Trưng district, Hà Nội city |