# State/Province Code

Key: `geography.location.state_code`

Two- or three-letter state or province abbreviation. Locale-specific due to country-dependent subdivision codes (e.g., US states, CA provinces, AU states/territories). The US form is the USPS abbreviation; the AU form is the ISO 3166-2:AU subdivision code without its country prefix (AU-NSW is the ISO 3166-2 form of NSW).

Page: <https://meridian.online/docs/projects/finetype/types/geography/location/state_code>

Samples: `CA`, `NY`, `TX`, `FL`, `ON`, `NSW`

## Background

### Origin

The modern two-letter codes for US states and territories originated in October 1963 with Publication 59.[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_and_territory_abbreviations) The US codes arrived three months after ZIP codes were introduced in July 1963.[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_and_territory_abbreviations) Only one US state code has changed since 1963: Nebraska moved from NB to NE in November 1969 to avoid confusion with Canada's New Brunswick.[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_and_territory_abbreviations)

Canada Post's two-letter provincial and territorial abbreviations replaced the inconsistent traditional system that Canadians used until the 1990s.[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_postal_abbreviations_for_provinces_and_territories) In 1991, the Canadian code for Quebec was changed from PQ to QC.[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_postal_abbreviations_for_provinces_and_territories) On 21 October 2002, the postal abbreviation for Newfoundland and Labrador was changed from NF to NL.[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_postal_abbreviations_for_provinces_and_territories) Before the Nunavut code NU took effect in December 2000, NT covered both Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_postal_abbreviations_for_provinces_and_territories) Canada avoided abbreviations that overlap with US state codes, which is why NV was not used for Nunavut.[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_postal_abbreviations_for_provinces_and_territories)

ISO 3166-2, published by the International Organization for Standardization and first published in 1998, defines codes for the principal subdivisions of countries.[[3]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-2) For Canada, ISO adopted the existing Canada Post abbreviations.[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_postal_abbreviations_for_provinces_and_territories)

### Use

The US Census Bureau's code list gives each state both a numeric State FIPS code and a state postal abbreviation.[[4]](https://www.census.gov/library/reference/code-lists/ansi.html)

## Sources

1. [List of U.S. state and territory abbreviations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_and_territory_abbreviations) — secondary source
2. [Canadian postal abbreviations for provinces and territories](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_postal_abbreviations_for_provinces_and_territories) — secondary source
3. [ISO 3166-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-2) — secondary source
4. [American National Standards Institute (ANSI), Federal Information Processing Series (FIPS), and Other Standardized Geographic Codes](https://www.census.gov/library/reference/code-lists/ansi.html) — organisation