ZIP codes are unique to the United States, while Europe employs postal codes. Formats of European postal codes vary from country to country; they can be only numbers, like in France, or made up of letters and numbers, like in the UK. European postal codes serve the same purpose as American ZIP codes: help in the efficient sorting and delivery of mail within each respective nation’s postal system.

A German postal code has five digits, such as “12345.” These codes are used to identify specific regions, cities, or even neighborhoods within Germany. The first digit generally corresponds to a region, while subsequent digits provide more detailed location information.

In the United Kingdom, zip codes, often called postcodes, are integral to the mail delivery system. Unlike the five-digit ZIP codes used in the United States, UK postcodes typically contain alphanumeric characters and are structured in a more complex format. For instance, a standard UK postcode might look like “AB1 2CD,” where the first part, known as the outward code, identifies the postal area or district, while the second part, the inward code, specifies a more precise location, such as a street or building.

Paris, as part of France, does not have a single ZIP code; instead, it is divided into multiple areas, each assigned its own unique postal code. The postal system is organized by arrondissements, which are administrative districts. Each arrondissement has its own postal code, which is commonly referred to as a “postal code” or “arrondissement number.” Paris has 20 arrondissements, numbered from 1 to 20, with each arrondissement covering a specific area of the city. For example, the postal code for the 1st arrondissement is 75001, and it goes up sequentially from there. So, instead of a single ZIP code for the entire city, Paris has multiple postal codes corresponding to its arrondissements.

To gather zip code data for European countries, various sources, such as national post offices or open-source libraries, can be used. GeoPostCodes offers comprehensive datasets covering different countries in the world in several formats including GeoJSON which a form of JSON format for geographical data. These files include data such as the country code, addresses, postal codes, and time zones catering to the specific needs of businesses conducting various activities such as address validation, BI reporting, or market research.