List of postcode areas in the United Kingdom facts for kids
The United Kingdom is divided by Royal Mail into postcode areas. The postcode area is the largest geographical unit used and forms the first characters of the alphanumeric UK postcode.
Contents
Subdivision
Each postcode area is divided into post towns and postcode districts. The London post town is instead divided into several postcode areas.
Scope
The single or pair of letters chosen for postcode areas are generally a mnemonic for the places served.
United Kingdom postcode areas
Crown dependencies
The Crown dependencies (which are not part of the United Kingdom) did not introduce postcodes until later, but use a similar coding scheme. They are separate postal authorities.
| Postcode area | Postcode area name |
|---|---|
| GY | Guernsey |
| JE | Jersey |
| IM | Isle of Man |
Defunct postcode areas
London NE and S
Glasgow
Glasgow, like London, was divided into compass districts: C, W, NW, N, E, SE, S, SW. When postcodes were introduced, these were mapped into the new G postcode: C1 became G1, W1 became G11, N1 became G21, E1 became G31, S1 became G41, SW1 became G51, and so on. As NW and SE had never been subdivided they became G20 and G40 respectively.
Norwich and Croydon
Norwich and Croydon were used for a postcode experiment in the late 1960s, which was replaced by the current system. The format was of the form NOR or CRO followed by two numbers and a letter, e.g. NOR 07A.
Non-geographic postcodes
GIR
GIR 0AA is a postcode created for Girobank in Bootle.
BF
The BF postcode area was introduced in 2012 to provide optional postcodes for British Forces Post Office addresses, for consistency with the layout of other UK addresses. It uses the national non-geographic post town "BFPO" and, as of 2012, the postcode district "BF1".
BX
The non-geographic postcode area BX has been introduced for addresses which do not include a locality: this allows large organisations flexibility as to where they receive their mail.
Overseas territories
Certain British overseas territories have postcodes:
| Postcode | Location |
|---|---|
| AI-2640 | Anguilla |
ASCN 1ZZ STHL 1ZZ TDCU 1ZZ |
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha: Ascension Island Saint Helena Tristan da Cunha |
| BBND 1ZZ | British Indian Ocean Territory |
| BIQQ 1ZZ | British Antarctic Territory |
| FIQQ 1ZZ | Falkland Islands |
| GX11 1AA | Gibraltar |
| PCRN 1ZZ | Pitcairn Islands |
| SIQQ 1ZZ | South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands |
| TKCA 1ZZ | Turks and Caicos Islands |
| BFPO 57 / BF1 2AT(Akrotiri) BFPO 58 / BF1 2AU (Dhekelia) |
Akrotiri and Dhekelia |
| List | Bermuda |
| List | Cayman Islands |
| List | British Virgin Islands |
| List | Montserrat |
These were introduced to prevent mail being sent to the wrong place, e.g., for St Helena to St Helens, Merseyside and Ascension Island to Asunción, Paraguay, and many on-line companies will not accept addresses lacking a postcode. Such mail is treated as international, not inland, so sufficient postage must be used.
Related pages
- List of postcode districts in the United Kingdom
- Postcodes in the United Kingdom
- Office for National Statistics - Postal geography
- OpenStreetMap - Postcode map
- PostcodeArea - Demographics, maps, crime rates, house prices and local information for all UK postcodes
- Strange Maps - Frank Jacobs - Diagrammatic Map -[1]
