For the purposes of directing mail, the United Kingdom (although the populations listed just show figures for England, Wales and Northern Ireland), is divided by Royal Mail into postcode areas. The postcode area is the largest geographical unit used and forms the initial characters of the alphanumeric UK postcode. There are currently 121 geographic postcode areas in use in the UK, and a further 3 often combined with them which cover the Crown Dependencies of Guernsey, Jersey and Isle of Man.
Postcodearea Postcodearea name 2011 Censuspopulation AB Aberdeen 500,309 AL St Albans 250,427 B Birmingham 1,904,658 BA Bath 434,166 BB Blackburn 488,917 BD Bradford 578,336 BH Bournemouth 551,987 BL Bolton 380,259 BN Brighton 802,831 BR Bromley 299,293 BS Bristol 940,241 BT BelfastThe BT postcode area precisely covers Northern Ireland 1,876,695 CA Carlisle 318,244 CB Cambridge 421,467 CF Cardiff 1,005,334 CH ChesterThe CH postcode area is partly in England and partly in Wales. 659,743 CM Chelmsford 653,492 CO Colchester 411,418 CR Croydon 405,982 CT Canterbury 482,504 CV Coventry 821,807 CW Crewe 309,489 DA Dartford 430,560 DD Dundee 280,291 DE Derby 730,620 DG Dumfries 151,174 DH Durham 309,211 DL Darlington 360,975 DN Doncaster 755,713 DT Dorchester 213,203 DY Dudley 410,598 E East London 990,035 EC East Central London 33,205 EH Edinburgh 868,938 EN Enfield 344,434 EX Exeter 547,511 FK Falkirk 276,600 FY Blackpool 276,623 G Glasgow 1,184,619 GL Gloucester 605,821 GU Guildford 725,368 GY Guernsey and dependencies HA Harrow 480,953 HD Huddersfield 262,814 HG Harrogate 138,343 HP Hemel Hempstead 488,351 HR Hereford 176,493 HS Outer Hebrides 27,684 HU Hull 443,223 HX Halifax 160,378 IG Ilford 335,694 IM Isle of Man IP Ipswich 595,934 IV Inverness 228,244 JE Jersey KA Kilmarnock 371,478 KT Kingston upon Thames 531,664 KW Kirkwall 53,203 KY Kirkcaldy 364,238 L Liverpool 857,079 LA Lancaster 328,704 LD Llandrindod Wells 49,792 LE Leicester 985,795 LL Llandudno 537,467 LN Lincoln 293,310 LS Leeds 774,180 LU Luton 335,950 M Manchester 1,167,402 ME Medway 607,143 MK Milton Keynes 507,978 ML Motherwell 383,317 N North London 848,197 NE Newcastle upon Tyne 1,162,698 NG Nottingham 1,163,185 NN Northampton 653,215 NP Newport 488,368 NR Norwich 722,087 NW North West London 551,407 OL Oldham 462,833 OX Oxford 612,827 PA Paisley 321,691 PE Peterborough 890,223 PH Perth 165,367 PL Plymouth 542,719 PO Portsmouth 822,331 PR Preston 520,556 RG Reading 778,677 RH Redhill 532,536 RM Romford 516,824 S Sheffield 1,358,507 SA Swansea 730,232 SE South East London 988,702 SG Stevenage 402,911 SK Stockport 603,795 SL Slough 373,607 SM Sutton 217,048 SN Swindon 459,049 SO Southampton 665,193 SP Salisbury 232,524 SR Sunderland 250,826 SS Southend-on-Sea 518,677 ST Stoke-on-Trent 644,068 SW South West London 874,844 SY ShrewsburyThe SY postcode area is partly in England and partly in Wales. 342,140 TA Taunton 322,197 TD TweeddaleThe TD postcode area lies mainly in Scotland but partly in England 94,483Scottish population only TF Telford 212,061 TN Tunbridge Wells 680,816 TQ Torquay 281,404 TR Truro 293,864 TS Cleveland 602,474 TW Twickenham 490,472 UB Southall 371,969 W West London 533,706 WA Warrington 616,180 WC West Central London 35,995 WD Watford 255,988 WF Wakefield 512,657 WN Wigan 308,483 WR Worcester 287,414 WS Walsall 449,687 WV Wolverhampton 395,857 YO York 562,439 ZE Zetland 23,167
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