A to Z - Zip Codes

I was looking up something about Zip Codes the other day and thought you might be interested in this too, so for my Z post we are learning more about Zip Codes.

I'm running out of time, so my information is coming from here (LINK).  Sorry for using copy/paste on you!!  I feel bad for not putting my usual amount of effort into this post.  So anyway here it is.

"ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service (USPS) since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly (zipping along), when senders use the code in the postal address. The basic format consists of five decimal numerical digits. An extended ZIP+4 code, introduced in the 1980s, includes the five digits of the ZIP code, a hyphen, and four more digits that determine a more specific location within a given ZIP code. The term ZIP code was originally registered as a servicemark (a type of trademark) by the U.S. Postal Service, but its registration has since expired."

"ZIP codes designate delivery points within the United States (including territories), and overseas stations of its armed forces. There are also ZIP codes for independent countries of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau, each of which is integrated into the U.S. postal system under a Compact of Free Association. Many other countries have separate postal code systems, so the USPS requires that the last line of an item mailed domestically but addressed for foreign delivery is the name of the country, written in English. The parts of the address above the country name adopt the standards for domestic delivery in the destination country, including potentially being written in a language other than English or in a non-Latin script. Some territories which are outside the mainland customs area (and have their own ISO 3166 country codes) may also appear as country names, even though they also have domestic postal abbreviations. Military mail is also addressed as if it were domestic mail, omitting the name of the country where the APO or FPO is physically located."

"There are four types of ZIP codes: Unique: assigned to a single high-volume address Post Office Box only: used only for PO Boxes at a given facility, not for any other type of delivery Military: used to route mail for the U.S. military Standard: all other ZIP codes. Unique ZIP codes are used for governmental agencies, universities, businesses, or buildings that receive such extremely high volumes of mail that they need their own ZIP codes. Government examples include 20505 for the Central Intelligence Agency in Washington, D.C.; 81009 for the Federal Citizen Information Center of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA)[9] in Pueblo, Colorado; 10997 for the Cadet Post Office at the United States Military Academy; 21412 for Bancroft Hall, the midshipman dormitory at the United States Naval Academy; and 80841 for Sijan and Vendenberg Halls, the cadet dormitories at the United States Air Force Academy. Unique ZIP codes are not limited to government use- the headquarters of Wal-Mart has a unique ZIP code (72716).

"An example of a PO Box only ZIP code is 22313, which is used for PO Boxes at the main post office in Alexandria, Virginia, as well as for the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In the area surrounding that post office, home and business mail delivery addresses use ZIP code 22314, which is thus a Standard ZIP code."

Anyway that's probably way more than you will find interesting, but you can read more at the link at the top of the post.  I found this kind of interesting because I never really gave Zip codes that much attention before.  :)

This A to Z challenge has been fun... and challenging!  I'm glad I decided to join.  I wish the last few days hadn't been so crazy so I could have put more effort into these posts, but I did the best I could.  Thanks for reading and commenting everyone!