SENDING A LETTER OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY? WANT IT TO GET THERE?

If you ever send a letter outside of your own country, you need to consult Frank’s Compulsive Guide to Postal Addresses: Effective Addressing for International Mail. This the most comprehensive site I’ve ever seen—on almost any subject.

Frank da Cruz [The Kermit Project, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA] has compiled lists of addressing requirements, postal codes, state and country abbreviations, and more for every country on the planet. I found out that I’ve been doing it wrong on so many levels.

Here is just a few examples.
1. The US Postal Service looks only at the country line for international mail. Therefore, the country name should be in English, but the rest should conform to the style and language requirements of the addressee’s country.
2. Do not use UK or United Kingdom instead of England—and ENGLAND should be in all caps.
3. Do not use the form DE-22222 for postal codes for Germany—use just the numerical postal code.

So, if you really want that letter to get there, check out Frank’s Guide! Now excuse me, I have to correct the mailing list for The One-Person Library.

URL: http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/postal.html