Code postal in Bellgique — Wikipedia

Division of Belgium according to the first two digits of the postal code.

Each Postal code in Belgium is made up of a series of 4 digits ^{[ first ]} . The system entered into force in 1969 ^{[ 2 ]} . A postal code can be common to several municipal entities.

At the introduction of postal codes in 1969, each Belgian municipality was issued a clean postal code. During the merger process of municipalities from 1970 to 1983, postal codes remained unchanged. Thus, before the reform of the 1 ^is October 1990, each postal code corresponds to a municipal section. After the reform, half of the Belgian municipalities receive a new postal code, and the same postal code can cover several sections ^{[ 3 ]} . The goal is to match postal codes to provincial and municipal limits ^{[ first ]} .

The first two figures of the postal code indicate the sorting sector, the third figure indicates the post office and the fourth the distribution office ^{[ 4 ]} .

Special codes [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Some institutions have their own postal code. This is for example the case of Brussels French -speaking Parliament, the House of Representatives, the Belgian Senate, the RTBF (1044) chain and the Directorate of Registration of Vehicles ^{[ 6 ]} .

The postal codes ending with XX99 are used for postal returns directed towards the centers of provincial sorting (1099: Brussels x; 2099: Antwerp x; 4099: Liège X; 6099: Charleroi; 9099: gent x).

Special features and codes [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

If the 1990 reform consisted in harmonizing the postal codes towards the municipal borders, a series of exceptions was maintained, which was already in force before 1990, in particular for the city of Brussels which borrows various postal codes with Several neighboring municipalities.

Thus, the district of Squares, a portion of the east extension of the city of Brussels bought from the town of Saint-Josse-Ten-Noode in 1853, bears the 1040 postal code of the town of Etterbeek. The Palace residence, in the European district, also bears the postal code 1040.

This is also the case with part of the peers numbers on rue Stephenson, isolated from the rest of Brussels by the railroad tracks and bearing the postal code 1030 (Schaerbeek). These buildings located between the old and the new line of the railway line 161 adjoin the rail bifurcation north of Schaerbeek for which the municipal borders have been adapted in order to accommodate the entire rail infrastructure on the territory of Brussels.

In the southern extension of the city of Brussels, all the streets were brought to the postal code 1000 with the exception of avenue Louise and the avenue Franklin Roosevelt, central arteries of the extension, which hold the post code 1050 from the town of Ixelles. A minor part of avenue Louise also carries the code 1050 while belonging to the town of Saint-Gilles.

To remedy the possible confusion between the different municipalities, the public services make use of administrative codes, different of the postal codes but certainly used by the administration for its mail. Thus, the administrative code of Ixelles corresponds to its postal code 1050, but avenue Louise bears the administrative code 1051 for its major Brussels part and 1052 for the part belonging to Saint-Gilles ^{[ 7 ]} ; and the Brussels part of the European district carries the administrative code 1041 ^{[ 8 ]} .

Bpost is responsible for the allocation of postal codes as an operator of the universal postal service ^{[ 9 ]} .
Under the law of December 13, 2010, if a modification of postal code is envisaged, Bpost must propose this change to the Belgian Institute of Postal Services and Telecommunications (IBPT), which gives its opinion to the Minister of Guardianship ^{[ 9 ]} .

Related article [ modifier | Modifier and code ]