[Qcwa] History--Zip Codes

[qcwa@mailman.qth.net]

ZIP Code is a code system used to speed the sorting and delivery of mail in 
the United States.  The name stands for Zoning Improvement Plan.  

The ZIP system uses five numerals that appear after an address.  In the ZIP 
number 22207, for example, the first numeral--2--designates one of 10 
geographic areas.  Area 2 consists of the District of Columbia, Maryland, North 
Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.  The second two 
numerals--22--indicate a metropolitan area or sectional center.  In this case, the mail is 
going to the Arlington area of Virginia.  The last two numerals--07--represent 
a small town or delivery unit from which the mail will be delivered.  In 1983, 
the Postal Service introduced a voluntary nine-number ZIP code.  High-volume 
business mailers that use this code receive a discount on their mailing rate.  


The Post Office Department (now the United States Postal Service) introduced 
the ZIP Code in 1963.  By that time, the volume of the mail in the United 
States had increased almost 900 percent since 1900.  The mail had also changed in 
nature from chiefly personal to about 80 percent business correspondence.  

Many companies use mechanized addressing systems.  To help them, the Post 
Office Department in 1963 introduced two-letter abbreviations for states and some 
other areas.  These abbreviations enable mechanized addressing systems to 
save space by putting a ZIP Code on the same line of an address as the city and 
state.  For the two-letter state abbreviations, see POST OFFICE (table).  

The ZIP Code especially speeds up the handling and delivery of bulk mail (a 
huge number of identical pieces).  Several other nations also use code systems. 
 

Critically reviewed by the United States Postal Service

S


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