# Postalcodes.info - Global Postal Code and Address Dataset Registry

> Machine-friendly guide to the main registry, bulk datasets, country directories, update logs, and governance pages for worldwide postal code data.

## Start Here
- [Homepage](https://postalcodes.info/): Main registry entry point for global postal code and address data.
- [Countries](https://postalcodes.info/countries): Country index covering the production snapshot.
- [Datasets](https://postalcodes.info/datasets): Bulk downloads in CSV, XLSX, and JSON.
- [API](https://postalcodes.info/api): Integration notes for file downloads and lightweight JSON lookup routes.
- [Documentation](https://postalcodes.info/documentation): Data structure and implementation guidance.
- [Updates](https://postalcodes.info/updates): Public update journal and release history.
- [Machine Catalog](https://postalcodes.info/machine-catalog.json): JSON summary with current coverage, formats, entry points, and discovery URLs.
- [llms-full.txt](https://postalcodes.info/llms-full.txt): Expanded machine-readable guide with URL patterns and usage notes.

## Key Facts
- Coverage: 121 countries in the current production snapshot.
- Records: 1,826,607 verified rows.
- Coordinates: WGS84 latitude/longitude, stored as approximate administrative centroids.
- License: Open Database License (ODbL 1.0).
- Formats: CSV, Excel (XLSX), JSON.

## Governance
- [Data Sources](https://postalcodes.info/data-sources): Provenance and source policy.
- [Update Policy](https://postalcodes.info/update-policy): Refresh and rebuild cadence.
- [Licensing](https://postalcodes.info/licensing): Reuse and attribution requirements.
- [Security](https://postalcodes.info/security): Security policy and disclosure contact.
- [Contact](https://postalcodes.info/contact): General contact page.

## Access Notes
- Prefer country pages and dataset downloads as canonical entry points for durable references.
- Interactive lookup routes are intended for lightweight suggestions rather than high-volume crawling.
- Download links use short-lived tokens embedded in HTML pages for abuse protection.
- For direct machine facts, prefer `machine-catalog.json` plus the linked HTML entry pages.
- For citations, prefer `/datasets`, `/api`, `/documentation`, and country landing pages over deep search-driven URLs.