--- Nasci Caldeira <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> What I and any resident would like is that these > post codes, be made known > and published at every post office in Goa; and more > importantly the people > should be told of the purpose of these codes, and to > shorten their postal > addresses accordingly, by using the codes and > avoiding all un required > information in the addresses.
Nasci, Postal codes in different countries delineate areas in vastly different ways. e.g. in Goa, 403001 practically indicates whole of Panjim, therefore of very little use to reduce the stuff that constitutes an address for purposes of delivery of a letter. Even here in Melbourne, 3000 means the whole of the CBD, 3082 the whole of Hawthorn, and sometimes it happens that one post code straddles two council areas. The most comprehensive postal code that I have seen so far is the British one. To make my point clear, 788 - SW15 2SH is as complete a code as one could possibly get to describe an address as 788 Upper Richmond Rd, Putney, SW London, UK, because SW15 indicates the distribution office in SW London, 2SH indicates the block of buildings on one side of a street and 788 is the house number on the street. In fact, we were instructed by the local police officers to inscribe such a description (e.g. 788 SW15 2SH) on articles of value such as bikes and TVs to assist in recuperating them in case of theft, when we lived in there before we moved downunder. I think Canada follows the British pattern. I have got the following definition of the American system: "A ZIP Code is the postal code used by the United States Postal Service, which always writes it with capital letters. ZIP is an acronym for the Zone Improvement Plan, but was also cleverly meant to imply the fact that mail travels more efficiently (and therefore faster) when senders use it. The basic ZIP Code consists of five numerical digits. An extended ZIP+4 code includes the five digits of the ZIP Code plus four digits which allow a piece of mail to be delivered to a specific address." So my understanding is that ZIP+4 approaches the British system in its completeness of information in a code. I think India and Australia have some way to go before the postal code can be seen as an abbreviation of a full address. NOTE: In many European and some South American countries, the Postal code precedes the town (and the street number usually being written after the street name), as opposed to the way these are written in anglicized countries. Cheers, Gabriel de Figueiredo. Melbourne -Australia. P.S. Please see http://www.free-definition.com/Postal-codes.html Send instant messages to your online friends http://au.messenger.yahoo.com
