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ZIP is an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan. However, the USPS intentionally chose the acronym to indicate that mail travels more quickly when senders mark the postal code on their packages and envelopes. It makes sense that the term ZIP code would be related to being zippy, which means ?lively? or ?peppy.?

So what do the extra numbers mean? These last 4 digits represent specific delivery routes within delivery areas. This extra detail means an even more precise matching to a more granular level. It could represent a handful of houses on one side of a street, or even a single building that receives a high volume of mail.

The most complete ZIP Code is a nine-digit number consisting of five digits, a hyphen, and four digits, which the USPS describes by its trademark ZIP+4. The correct format for a numeric ZIP+4 code is five digits, a hyphen, and four digits.

A ZIP+4 Code is a 4-digit code appended to a standard 5-digit ZIP that helps the USPS sort, route, and deliver mail more efficiently. The last 4 digits of these 9-digit ZIP Codes usually represent 6-20 delivery points on a USPS carrier route.

This is because ZIP code boundaries are based on mail routes and delivery points rather than geographic factors. The U.S. Post Office Department, predecessor to USPS, developed a zoning address system in 1943 as a way to make sorting and delivery of mail easier.

In 1963 the Post Office Department introduced the Zone Improvement Plan (ZIP) Code as a means to allow mail sorting methods to become faster and eventually be automated, but the innovation also created unimagined socio-economic benefits as an organizing and enabling device.

The ZIP in ZIP Code stands for Zone Improvement Plan, and it was introduced July 1, 1963, as part of a larger Postal Service Nationwide Improved Mail Service (NIMS) plan to improve the speed of mail delivery.