When we see an address, it is normal for it to appear with the street name, the number and, in some cases, the block and lot number, as well as the neighborhood and city, isn't it? But there's also an eight-digit number that's always there and we never know why! That's the zip code, which means "ZIP code", better known only asPostal Code.
But, after all, what is the CEP for?
The CEP is a number created by the Brazilian Postal and Telegraph Company in 1971 to facilitate the separation and delivery of correspondence. Imagine if you had to organize thousands of letters and parcels directed to the most diverse places, with many streets with the same name or the wrong name... it would be a real mess!
That's what the zip code is for, as the numbers will always be the same and will help people – and especially postmen and postal workers – not to confuse addresses. Thus, the postal code works like a coordinate, in which each street has its specific number.
In the beginning, the CEP only had five numbers, but later (in 1991) it had the addition of three digits separated by one digit, taking the following form: 00000-000. But of course there is no zip code out there with all the numbers zero!
How is the zip code for each place chosen?
Choosing the zip code of a street is not done in any way. It obeys a specific criterion, and each number means a region or locality. For example, the first number is equivalent to one of the ten regions of Brazil listed below:
Number 0: City of São Paulo and Metropolitan Region
Number 1: Interior of the State of São Paulo
Number 2: States of Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo
Number 3: Minas Gerais
Number 4: Bahia and Sergipe
Number 5: Alagoas, Paraíba, Pernambuco and Rio Grande do Norte
Number 6: Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Ceará, Maranhão, Pará and Roraima
Number 7: Federal District, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Rondônia and Tocantins
Number 8: Paraná and Santa Catarina
Number 9: Rio Grande do Sul
Therefore, any zip code that starts with 3, for example, refers to an address that is in the state of Minas Gerais.
The other digits of the postal code refer to sub-regions (cities or areas of a city), sector, sub-sectors and divisors. The last three digits, which are after the digit, are more specific codes for the street and units used by the post office. Thus, each zip code is equivalent to a different street.
Do you know your street zip code? No? So it's better to memorize it or write it down on paper, because sooner or later you'll need it. To find your zip code, it's very easy, just type your street name on the Post Office website, which can be accessedon here!
By Rodolfo Alves Pena
Graduated in Geography
