This document defines key terms for postal addressing, postal address components and constraints on their use.


Specifically, this document specifies postal address components organized into three hierarchical levels:


—    elements, such as organization name or postcode, which have well-defined conceptual meaning and are not themselves made up of subordinate components, though they can be sub-divided for technical purposes;


—    constructs, such as organization identification, which group elements into units form a logical portion of a postal address;


—    segments, such as addressee specification, which group related postal address constructs and/or postal address elements into units with a specific defined function.


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