The following is a list of abbreviations used by the United States Postal Service. They are used to help the postal service process mail with optical character recognition and other automated equipment. Optical character recognition, usually abbreviated to OCR, is the Mechanical or electronic translation of Images of handwritten typewritten [1] There are also official USPS abbreviations for other parts of the address, such as street designators (street, avenue, road, etc. ).
These postal abbreviations are distinguished from traditional abbreviations for U.S. States (such as Calif. The traditional abbreviations for US states and territories were widely used in mailing addresses prior to the introduction of two-letter U , Fla. , or Tex. ). In contexts other than mailing addresses, the traditional state abbreviations should be used[2].
Postal codes alphabetized by state (not postal code). Postal abbreviation is same as ISO 3166-2 subdivision code for all fifty states.
|
|
|
These codes do not overlap with the thirteen Canadian subnational postal abbreviations. Ohio ( is a Midwestern state of the United States. As part of the Great Lakes region, Ohio has long been a cultural and geographical crossroads Oklahoma ( is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. Oregon ( is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern Rhode Island ( officially named the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, is a state in the New England region of the United States South Carolina ( is a state in the southern region ( Deep South) of the United States of America. South Dakota ( is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America. Tennessee ( is a state located in the Southern United States. Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State. The State of Utah (ˈjuːtɔː or) is a western state of the United States. Vermont ( is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The Commonwealth of Virginia ( is an American state Washington ( is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. West Virginia ( is a state in the Appalachian Upland South, and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, bordered by Wisconsin ( or wɪˈskɑnsɨn (French Ouisconsin) is one of the fifty United States of America, located in the north central part of the United States The State of Wyoming ( is a sparsely populated state in the western region of the United States. This is a list of Canadian provincial and territorial postal abbreviations.
Contents |
Other codes
Federal districts
| Abbreviation | FIPS State Code | Location |
| DC | 11 | District of Columbia |
Insular areas
| Abbreviation | FIPS State Code | Location |
| AS | 60 | American Samoa |
| GU | 66 | Guam |
| MP | 69 | Northern Mariana Islands |
| PR | 72 | Puerto Rico |
| VI | 78 | U.S. Virgin Islands |
| UM | (see here for each island) | U.S. Minor Outlying Islands UM is the FIPS alphabetic code. FIPS state codes are two- digit numeric Codes and two- letter alphabetic codes that represent the 50 states, the District of Columbia Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D FIPS state codes are two- digit numeric Codes and two- letter alphabetic codes that represent the 50 states, the District of Columbia American Samoa (Amerika Sāmoa or sm ''Sāmoa Amelika'' is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast Guam ( Chamorro: cha Guåhån) officially the Territory of Guam, is an island in the western Pacific Ocean and is an organized unincorporated The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI is a commonwealth in Political union with the United Puerto Rico (ˌpwertoˈriko officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ("Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico" {{lang-en|"Associated Free State of Puerto Rico"}} The United States Virgin Islands is a group of Islands in the Caribbean that are an Insular area of the United States. FIPS state codes are two- digit numeric Codes and two- letter alphabetic codes that represent the 50 states, the District of Columbia The United States Minor Outlying Islands, a statistical designation defined by the International Organization for Standardization 's ISO 3166-1 code consists of nine The U. S. Postal Service does not employ the term U. S. Minor Outlying Islands, as mail for any of these islands is routed indirectly (use PR, HI, AA or AP). |
Freely associated states
| Abbreviation | FIPS State Code | Freely associated state |
| FM | 64 | Federated States of Micronesia |
| MH | 68 | Marshall Islands |
| PW | 70 | Palau |
Armed forces
- For more details on this topic, see military mail. FIPS state codes are two- digit numeric Codes and two- letter alphabetic codes that represent the 50 states, the District of Columbia An associated state is the minor partner in a formal free relationship between a political territory with a degree of statehood and a (usually larger nation for which no other specific The Federated States of Micronesia is an Island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, north of Papua New Guinea. The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI is a Micronesian nation of islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean Palau, officially the Republic of Palau (Beluu er a Belau is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, some 500 miles (800 km) east Military mail is a special Military postal system used to integrate the civil postal system in a given country with that country's military posted overseas
| Abbreviation | FIPS State Code | Location |
| AA | Armed Forces Americas (except Canada) | |
| AE | Armed Forces Europe (covers all USARAEUR) Armed Forces Canada Armed Forces Middle East Armed Forces Africa | |
| AP | Armed Forces Pacific |
Obsolete codes
| Abbreviation | FIPS State Code | Location |
| CM | Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands changed to MP in 1988 to match ISO 3166-1 and FIPS Alpha Code. FIPS state codes are two- digit numeric Codes and two- letter alphabetic codes that represent the 50 states, the District of Columbia FIPS state codes are two- digit numeric Codes and two- letter alphabetic codes that represent the 50 states, the District of Columbia The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI is a commonwealth in Political union with the United | |
| CZ | Canal Zone | |
| TT | Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands | |
| PI | Philippine Islands |
Example of address
JOHN DOE
359 OAK LN
GIBBSBORO NJ 08026
Adding the line "UNITED STATES" to the bottom of the address is necessary if the envelope or package is being mailed from outside the United States. The Panama Canal Zone (Zona del Canal de Panamá was a 553 square mile (1432 km² territory inside of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia (western Pacific) administered by the United The Commonwealth of the Philippines was the political designation of the Philippines from 1935 to 1946 when the country was a commonwealth with the United In this case, international postage rates will apply. It is not necessary if the item is being mailed domestically via the United States Postal Service or military mail service (including overseas locations which pay domestic mail rates). This includes all of the areas served by the postal codes mentioned above, except those noted as obsolete. ZIP codes are assigned to every area served by the USPS. The ZIP code is the system of Postal codes used by the United States Postal Service (USPS
Methodology
For each state, the initial letter of the abbreviation is the initial letter of the state's name. The second letter of each abbreviation fits at least one of the following patterns:
- Each of the 10 two-word state names is abbreviated with the initial of each word:
- NC, ND, NH, NJ, NM, NY, RI, SC, SD, WV
- 19 states' names are each abbreviated with the first two letters of the name:
- AL, AR, CA*, CO*, DE*, FL, ID, IL, IN, MA, MI, NE, OH, OK, OR, UT, WA, WI, WY
- 15 states' names are each abbreviated with the initial and final letters of the state's name:
- CA*, CO*, CT, DE*, GA, HI, IA, KS, KY, LA, MD, ME, PA, VA, VT
- 9 states' names are each abbreviated with the initial and another letter from the state's name, often the second consonant:
- AK, AZ, MN, MO, MS, MT, NV, TN, TX
- * six states (California, Colorado, Delaware, Missouri, Mississippi, Tennessee) have the same second letter and last letter.
See also
- List of U.S. states by traditional abbreviation
- ISO 3166-2 International standard codes for subdivisions of countries – lists similar abbreviations for many more countries
- Canadian subnational postal abbreviations
- FIPS state code for the numerical equivalents that should be used by computer systems for storage
References
- ^ United States Postal Service Publication 28 - Postal Addressing Standards. Accessed February 4, 2007. The traditional abbreviations for US states and territories were widely used in mailing addresses prior to the introduction of two-letter U ISO 3166-2 is the second part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO This is a list of Canadian provincial and territorial postal abbreviations. FIPS state codes are two- digit numeric Codes and two- letter alphabetic codes that represent the 50 states, the District of Columbia Events 211 - Roman Emperor Septimius Severus dies leaving the Roman Empire in the hands of his two quarrelsome sons Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
- ^ State Abbreviations
- ^ "Appendix B - Two-Letter State and Possession Abbreviations. " United States Postal Service. Accessed 13 June 2008
External links
- Official addressing instructions and abbreviations from the USPS (including abbreviations for street addresses)
- Official FIPS Abbreviations (Alpha and Numeric)
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic