Difference between revisions of "ZIP code"
(corrected capitalization and rewrote one confusing part; also, they haven't been limited to 5 digits since 1981) |
(50-year anniversary!) |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
A '''ZIP code''' is a five-[[digit]] [[numeric]] [[code]] used by the [[United States Postal Service]] in sorting [[mail]]. The first digit indicates a group of [[state]]s; the second and third, a region of a state or a large [[city]]; and the fourth and fifth, a small [[town]], a delivery area in a larger town or city, a particular postal facility, or a particular large mail recipient. Extensions of the ZIP code include the nine-digit ZIP+4 code and the 11-digit ABC (Advanced Bar Coding) code. | A '''ZIP code''' is a five-[[digit]] [[numeric]] [[code]] used by the [[United States Postal Service]] in sorting [[mail]]. The first digit indicates a group of [[state]]s; the second and third, a region of a state or a large [[city]]; and the fourth and fifth, a small [[town]], a delivery area in a larger town or city, a particular postal facility, or a particular large mail recipient. Extensions of the ZIP code include the nine-digit ZIP+4 code and the 11-digit ABC (Advanced Bar Coding) code. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Zip codes were introduced by the Postal Service in 1963, with a massive advertising campaign feature "Mr. Zip," which encouraged Americans to use the numbers.<ref>http://www.thesmartset.com/article/article06121301.aspx</ref> "ZIP" is an acronym for "Zone Improvement Plan." | ||
ZIP codes are encoded into barcodes, using a redundant binary code with tall lines to represent the bit "1" and short lines to represent the bit "0," and printed on mail. A "1" (tall line) starts and ends the ZIP code, and immediately before the final "1" comes a [[checksum]] digit which, when added to all of the digits of the ZIP code, adds to a multiple of 10. The code scheme is chosen so that each digit's binary equivalent has exactly two "1"'s. Digits are encoded as follows: | ZIP codes are encoded into barcodes, using a redundant binary code with tall lines to represent the bit "1" and short lines to represent the bit "0," and printed on mail. A "1" (tall line) starts and ends the ZIP code, and immediately before the final "1" comes a [[checksum]] digit which, when added to all of the digits of the ZIP code, adds to a multiple of 10. The code scheme is chosen so that each digit's binary equivalent has exactly two "1"'s. Digits are encoded as follows: | ||
| Line 36: | Line 38: | ||
|11000 | |11000 | ||
|} | |} | ||
| + | |||
| + | == References == | ||
| + | |||
| + | <references/> | ||
| + | |||
[[Category:United States Government]] | [[Category:United States Government]] | ||
Revision as of 14:49, June 30, 2013
A ZIP code is a five-digit numeric code used by the United States Postal Service in sorting mail. The first digit indicates a group of states; the second and third, a region of a state or a large city; and the fourth and fifth, a small town, a delivery area in a larger town or city, a particular postal facility, or a particular large mail recipient. Extensions of the ZIP code include the nine-digit ZIP+4 code and the 11-digit ABC (Advanced Bar Coding) code.
Zip codes were introduced by the Postal Service in 1963, with a massive advertising campaign feature "Mr. Zip," which encouraged Americans to use the numbers.[1] "ZIP" is an acronym for "Zone Improvement Plan."
ZIP codes are encoded into barcodes, using a redundant binary code with tall lines to represent the bit "1" and short lines to represent the bit "0," and printed on mail. A "1" (tall line) starts and ends the ZIP code, and immediately before the final "1" comes a checksum digit which, when added to all of the digits of the ZIP code, adds to a multiple of 10. The code scheme is chosen so that each digit's binary equivalent has exactly two "1"'s. Digits are encoded as follows:
| Digit | Binary encoding | Digit | Binary encoding |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 00011 | 6 | 01100 |
| 2 | 00101 | 7 | 10001 |
| 3 | 00110 | 8 | 10010 |
| 4 | 01001 | 9 | 10100 |
| 5 | 01010 | 0 | 11000 |