Bhutan Post devises postcode system

Bhutan Post’s managing director, Tsheten Gyeltshen, said the company has developed numeric postcodes with help from the Universal Postal Union (UPU). “We finally settled for a five digit numeric postcode, based on the country’s administrative division,” he said.

The first digit of the country’s postcode represents the region – east, west, north and south; the second indicates dzongkhag, then dungkhag, if any; and the last two digits denote delivery areas at general and community post offices.

Gyeltshen said the code would facilitate speedy and accurate sorting of mail, unlike in the past where sorters had to first look at an addressee’s name, village and further details before identifying it for a particular place.