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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.[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., 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.
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These codes do not overlap with the thirteen Canadian subnational postal abbreviations.
Contents |
Other codes
Federal districts
| Abbreviation | FIPS State Code | Location |
| DC | 11 | District of Columbia |
Insular areas
| Abbreviation | FIPS State Code | Insular area |
| 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. 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
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For more details on this topic, see military mail.
| 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 |
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| 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. | |
| 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. In this case, international postage rates will apply.citation needed 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.
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
- * These three states (California, Colorado, Delaware) have the same second letter and last letter. Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee also match this pattern, but use another letter in their abbreviation.
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.
- ^ 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)
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Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 8 October 2008, at 18:15.
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