Re: CHAT: postcodes

bnathyuw nevesht:
>
>( a propos nothing in particular, and not really
>directly related to conlanging, altho as this is an
>international and well informed group i may get some
>helpful answers )
>
>i'm interested to know what sort of post codes
>different countries use, in particular to find out
>whether anywhere else has anything remotely similar (
>either in form or in function ) to the british system
>
>our system here, for those who don't know it, is
>alphanumberic, in the form ( L standing for letter, D
>for digit and parentheses marking optionalness ) :
>
>L(L)D(D)* DLL
>* the first half can in one or two cases have a final
>letter
>
>the first letter(s) are related to the name of the
>place they refer to :
>
>E East london
>EH EdinburgH
>G Glasgow
>TW TWickenham
>WC West Central london
>BF BelFast
>
>these are followed by a number that indicates which
>subdivision you're in. 1 usually represents the
>central subdivision of the area, but the rest are
>allocated in different ways. in london, the allocation
>is alphabetical, so you find SE10 ( Greenwich ) next
>to SE3 (Blackheath)
>
>this first half of the post code can be found on
>street signs in some places, particularly london (
>indeed the london system dates back a long way )
>
>the second half of the code is always in the form DLL
>and indicates to within what in america would be
>called a block where the address is. odd and even
>numbers have alphabetically adjacent codes, reflecting
>the need for one code for each side of the road. this
>falls down when roads aren't numbered with odds on one
>side and evens on the other, but for some reason is
>stuck to
>
>because of this, the system is pretty accurate. this
>means that when you phone up to order something (
>tickets, whatever ) the person on the other end will
>frequently ask your postcode before any of your other
>address details. the rest will then pop up on their
>screen and they just need to confirm your house number
>
>so, questions :
>
>is the uk really odd in using this system ? does
>anything similar exist elsewhere ? i haven't seen it
>in the places i've been to, but that's not saying much
>
In Canada a similar system is in use, LDL DLD
1st letter:province/territory(or part thereof for Ontario and Quebec)
A= newfoundland V=British Columbia
1st number is 0 for rural
after that down to block in cities,post office rural
(H0H 0H0 is for those addressed to Santa Claus, North Pole, Canada)
Also similar systems are in use in Australia and New Zealand(closer to the
UK system).




-Wayne Chevrier


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