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Postal codes in Cyprus
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Postal codes in Cyprus have been made up of four digits since 1 October 1994. They are administered by Cyprus Post.
Postal districts
[edit]The system is organised around the six administrative districts for local government on the island, with each district allocated a numerical range. Most of the four digit numbers are allocated to small geographic areas, such as streets, urban communes or villages, although some are reserved for government use.
| District | Post code range |
|---|---|
| Nicosia District | from 1000 to 2999 |
| Limassol District | from 3000 to 4999 |
| Famagusta District | from 5000 to 5999 |
| Larnaca District | from 6000 to 7999 |
| Paphos District | from 8000 to 8999 |
| Kyrenia District | from 9000 to 9999 |
Northern Cyprus
[edit]Due to the division of Cyprus, only the (internationally-recognised) Republic of Cyprus uses this post code system. Mail sent to the de facto state of Northern Cyprus must instead be addressed to via Mersin 10, TURKEY via Mersin in southern Turkey. However, five-digit postcodes were introduced in northern Cyprus in 2013,[1] in a similar format to those of Turkey, with the first two digits being 99, and the last three indicating the locality.
British bases
[edit]The two British Sovereign Base Areas (or SBAs) of Akrotiri and Dhekelia are not part of the Republic of Cyprus, although the Cypriot villages within these areas use the Cyprus post code system. British military organisations and personnel use British Forces Post Office numbers, BFPO 57 for Akrotiri and BFPO 58 for Dhekelia.
References
[edit]- ^ "K.K.T.C. POSTA DAİRESİ - List of TRNC Postcodes" (PDF). Retrieved 2015-01-17.
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Postal codes in Cyprus
View on Grokipediafrom Grokipedia
Introduced on 1 October 1994, the system organizes codes geographically by the republic's six administrative districts—Lefkosia (1000–1999), Larnaka (6000–6999), Lemesos (3000–3999), Pafos (8000–8999), Ammochostos (5000–5999, limited to government-controlled areas), and Keryneia (9000–9999, similarly restricted)—with the leading digit denoting the district to facilitate automated processing and reduce delivery errors.[2][3][4]
Administered exclusively by Cyprus Post, the state-owned entity responsible for universal postal service in the government-controlled southern portion of the island, the framework does not extend to the Turkish-occupied northern territories, where a distinct five-digit system beginning with 99 operates under separate postal arrangements, often routing international mail through Turkey's Mersin province.[1][5][3]
History
Early postal system and unification era
Postal services in Cyprus trace back to rudimentary systems under Ottoman rule, with the first recorded modern postal activity occurring in 1872 when a letter was dispatched from the island to Istanbul. However, these operations were limited, primarily involving hand-carried mail or agency services like the Austrian Lloyd post office in Larnaca, without a structured network or standardized addressing beyond basic place names.[6][7] British administration, commencing in 1878 following the Ottoman cession, formalized the postal system almost immediately, establishing the first fully functional post office in Larnaca on July 22, 1878, and extending services to Nicosia and other towns via contracts for mail carriage, such as between Nicosia and Larnaca. By the early 1880s, a network of post offices emerged across districts, utilizing British postage stamps overprinted for Cyprus and relying on descriptive addressing with town or village names, streets, and landmarks for sorting, as no numeric codes were implemented. This system expanded gradually, incorporating rural agencies and facilitating intra-island and international mail, though inefficiencies arose from manual sorting in a compact geography prone to similar place names.[8][9][10] Following independence on August 16, 1960, the unified Cyprus Postal Services, renamed the Department of Postal Services, maintained the descriptive addressing model without introducing postal codes, handling mail for both Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities through a centralized network of over 100 post offices and agencies island-wide. Operations emphasized place-based identifiers—districts like Famagusta or Limassol, followed by villages or specific locales—to manage distribution, sufficing for domestic volumes but complicating international routing amid growing intercommunal tensions by the mid-1960s, which began isolating Turkish Cypriot areas and prompting ad hoc handstamps by 1964. This era persisted until the 1974 events disrupted the unified framework, with the system's lack of codes reflecting reliance on local knowledge rather than numeric standardization.[11][12]Post-1974 division and separate developments
The Turkish military intervention in Cyprus, commencing on July 20, 1974, resulted in the de facto partition of the island, with the Republic of Cyprus retaining control over approximately 63.8% of the territory in the south and Turkish forces occupying 36.2% in the north, thereby severing the previously unified postal infrastructure and mail delivery networks.[13] This division immediately fragmented postal operations, as cross-line mail exchange became impractical amid ongoing hostilities and population displacements, compelling each side to develop insular systems reliant on descriptive addressing rather than standardized codes.[11] In the government-controlled areas of the Republic of Cyprus, the Department of Postal Services persisted with its pre-division practices, managing domestic mail through local post offices and verbal or landmark-based descriptions, while incurring substantial losses of facilities, vehicles, and personnel assets north of the new ceasefire line.[11] International outbound mail from the south continued via established routes through ports like Limassol, but inbound correspondence addressed to northern destinations faced delays or rerouting issues due to the absence of reliable inter-entity cooperation.[13] Northern areas under Turkish Cypriot administration saw the rapid establishment of autonomous postal branches, with the inaugural post office opening in Kyrenia immediately following the intervention on July 20, 1974, to facilitate local communication among displaced Turkish Cypriots.[14] Mail services aligned informally with mainland Turkish protocols, utilizing overprinted or Turkish-issued stamps for franking and routing international items through Ankara, though without distinct Cypriot-specific codes, leading to inconsistent delivery for cross-border or global shipments.[15] The British Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, retained under UK sovereignty per the 1960 treaty, operated independently via the British Forces Post Office (BFPO) network, which exclusively served military personnel and dependents with numbered addresses (such as BFPO 57 for Akrotiri) insulated from the Cypriot partition's disruptions.[16] This separation precluded integration with either the Republic's or northern systems, maintaining a self-contained military postal chain that bypassed local civilian evolutions on the island.[17]Introduction of codes in the Republic (1994)
The Republic of Cyprus implemented a four-digit postal code system on 1 October 1994, marking the introduction of the country's first formal numeric postcode framework. Administered by Cyprus Post, the system aimed to simplify mail sorting processes and expedite delivery, particularly as postal volumes increased following the 1974 division of the island.[11][2] The codes were allocated according to the five administrative districts under Republic control, excluding areas occupied by Turkish forces and the British Sovereign Base Areas. Ranges included 1000–2999 for Nicosia District, 3000–4999 for Limassol District, 5000–5999 for the southern portions of Famagusta District, 6000–7999 for Larnaca District, and 8000–8999 for Paphos District. This district-based structure facilitated automated sorting at the newly established Mail Sorting Center, operational by 2000.[18][11] For inbound international mail, postcodes required a 'CY-' prefix followed by the four digits and locality, such as CY-1900 Nicosia, though domestic addresses omitted the prefix. The system did not extend to northern Cyprus or the Sovereign Base Areas, where separate postal arrangements prevailed, ensuring the codes applied solely to government-controlled territories.[2]Republic of Cyprus
Code structure and district allocation
Postal codes in the Republic of Cyprus comprise four consecutive digits, with the first two digits designating the administrative district to which the code pertains. This structure supports efficient mail routing within the government-controlled southern territories, aligning with post-1974 demographic and territorial realities.[4][19] The system allocates codes exclusively to areas under Republic administration, spanning urban centers, rural communities, and limited enclaves, while omitting the northern occupied regions. Approximately 1,121 unique codes are in use, reflecting granular coverage of localities in the five southern districts.[2] District-specific ranges are as follows:| District | Code Range |
|---|---|
| Nicosia | 1000–2999 |
| Limassol | 3000–4999 |
| Larnaca | 6000–7999 |
| Paphos | 8000–8999 |
| Famagusta | 5000–5999 |