BT postcode area

Coordinates: 54°36′11″N 5°55′23″W / 54.603°N 5.923°W / 54.603; -5.923

The BT postcode area, also known as the Belfast postcode area, covers Northern Ireland and was the last part of the United Kingdom to be coded, between 1970 and 1974.

Coverage

Belfast

Belfast had already been divided into numbered districts. Today, the Belfast post town covers postcode districts BT1 to BT17 and part of BT29. In common with all addresses in Northern Ireland, Belfast postcodes start with the letters BT, a mnemonic of the capital city's name. The commercial centre of the city is designated BT1 and the surrounding districts form a roughly sequential clockwise ring around the city. The postcode of the Royal Mail offices at Tomb Street in Belfast is BT1 1AA.

The only BELFAST addresses in BT29 are at Belfast International Airport. All other addresses in BT29 are under the post town CRUMLIN.

Rest of Northern Ireland

The remainder of Northern Ireland is divided into 43 other post towns which are further divided into postcode districts BT18–BT49, BT51–BT57, BT58 (non-geographic postcode district reassigned from Belfast to Newtownabbey post town), BT60–BT71, BT74–BT82 and BT92–BT94. Certain addresses in BT29 located at Belfast International Airport (a total of 31 delivery points) are in the post town of BELFAST despite being geographically under the post town of CRUMLIN, which has the remaining 7,206 delivery points in that postcode area.

List of postcode areas in the United Kingdom

For the purposes of directing mail, the United Kingdom is divided by Royal Mail into postcode areas. The postcode area is the largest geographical unit used and forms the initial characters of the alphanumeric UK postcode. There are currently 121 geographic postcode areas in use in the UK and a further 3 often combined with these covering the Crown Dependencies of Guernsey, Jersey and Isle of Man.

Subdivision

Each postcode area is further divided into post towns and postcode districts. There are on average 20 postcode districts to a postcode area. The London post town is instead divided into several postcode areas.

Scope

The single or pair of letters chosen for postcode areas are generally intended as a mnemonic for the places served. Postcode areas, post towns and postcode districts do not follow political boundaries and usually serve much larger areas than the place names with which they are associated. For example, within the PA postcode area the PA1 and PA78 postcode districts are 140 miles apart; and the eight postcode areas of the London post town cover only 40% of Greater London. The remainder of its area is covered by sections of twelve adjoining postcode areas: EN, IG, RM, DA, BR, TN, CR, SM, KT, TW, HA and UB.