When registering a user, foreign sites often ask him for a ZIP code. How to decipher this abbreviation, not everyone knows. What is a ZIP code? How did he appear and for what reasons? We will talk about this in our article.
What is a ZIP code?
The ZIP code stands for Zone Improvement Plan, which means "zone improvement plan" in English. ZIP codes are a system of postal codes in the USA. They speed up the process of delivery and sorting of mail and perform the same functions as Russian indexes. Unlike the usual six digits, the US ZIP code consists of nine, and they are written with a hyphen, for example 12345-6789.
US Postal Code System History
United States postal systems began using postal codes in the forties of the last century. They were then double-digit and meant a postal district within the boundaries of one city.
Already in the sixties in the country the need arose for a more specific system. From the very beginning of July 1963, it already started in test mode. Its creator was Robert Moon, an employee of the US Postal Service. It is interesting that the world could learn back in 1944 what a ZIP code is when Robert, as a simple postal inspector, developed this classifier.
The ZIP code at that time consisted of five characters, where the first three designated the center for sorting letters, parcels and parcels, and the last two - the number of the post office where they needed to be delivered. Since 1967, the ZIP-indexing system was declared mandatory throughout the United States. At that time, in America, a funny cartoon character Mr. Zip, or Zippy, even appeared on TV screens, urging citizens not to ignore the new system.
In 1983, she had to complicate it and add four more figures specifying the place where correspondence should be delivered, for example, a residential complex, a quarter, a company branch or an organization unit.
Speaking of what a ZIP code is, one cannot fail to mention that US government agencies use special numbers. These indices of five and nine digits can not have any user of postal services in the district.