
Ask HN: Why can't we have universal postal codes? - chirau
We have a standard for internet addresses, IPs, so why not the same for postal codes. I really dealing with this on forms especially when filling out credit card information.
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Someone
What good would it do? It still would have to be compartmentalized on country
borders because that's the way the mail system operates.

Also, existing codes vary a lot in resolution.

So, chances are you would get something as cleanly designed and as useful as
IBAN
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Bank_Account_Num...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Bank_Account_Number)):

 _" The IBAN consists of up to 34 alphanumeric characters comprising: a
country code; two check digits; and a number that includes the domestic bank
account number, branch identifier, and potential routing information"_

For example, bank account numbers in East Timor (population 1.2 million and
AFAIK not known for its banking sector) are 23 characters long now; those in
Iceland (population 333,333 or thereabouts) have 26.

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MBCook
The podcast Surprisingly Awesome had an episode not too long ago about postal
systems and what it was like to try and establish a new one. [1]

As part of the podcast they mentioned a system called What3Words which assigns
a unique combination of three words to every ~10x10ft space on the planet as a
'universal' postal code. The system sounded rather impractical, the only
country that was supposedly using it (Mongolia) didn't have any citizens who
actually seemed to use it.

[1] [https://gimletmedia.com/episode/21-postal-
addresses/](https://gimletmedia.com/episode/21-postal-addresses/)

[2] [http://what3words.com](http://what3words.com)

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nabla9
The cost of changing all systems is probably not worth of it. Most mail is
send inside the countries.

There is UPU Addressing S42 standard and Universal POST*CODE® DataBase. S42
tells how to transform address elements into an accurately formatted address.

[http://www.upu.int/en/activities/addressing/s42-standard/app...](http://www.upu.int/en/activities/addressing/s42-standard/application-
form.html)

[http://www.upu.int/en/resources/postcodes/universal-
postcode...](http://www.upu.int/en/resources/postcodes/universal-postcoder-
database.html)

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arkitaip
The Universal Postal Union has 117 members with a postal code system (73
members lack a postal code system) [1]. Convincing all members to submit to a
single standard would be challenging.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postal_code](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postal_code)

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tmaly
Why not use a geohash, that would be pretty universal at least for this
planet.

