Locality, District and City in Addresses

Below the level of a region, addresses use several overlapping terms: locality, district, suburb, neighbourhood, town and city. They are not defined identically everywhere, which is why they cause confusion.

City or town

The main settlement. In many systems, the city or town name is the primary label used for sorting. Large cities contain many smaller areas, but mail is often addressed to the city as a whole.

Locality

A named place within or beside a city, such as a village, neighbourhood or suburb. Localities are useful when the same street name appears in different parts of one city.

District

A district can be an administrative division, a postal district or simply an area people recognise. In some regions a district is a formal unit with its own office; in others it is an informal name.

Why the distinction matters

Two streets with the same name might exist in different localities of one city. Without the locality, a courier may have to guess. Including the locality or district is one of the simplest ways to remove ambiguity.

Which one to write

1. If the form has a field for it, write the locality or district exactly as the recipient does.
2. If you have only one field, use the sorting name, usually the city or town.
3. If unsure, ask the recipient what name appears on their official documents.

Dealing with changing names

Localities are sometimes renamed or merged into a larger city. People continue to use the old name. When data is stored, keeping the locality in its own field helps manage this, as discussed in address data quality for businesses.

Relation to the postal code

A postal code often covers a locality or group of localities. The code and locality should agree; a mismatch is a common sign of a typo. See postal code format vs address format.

Summary

Use the city for broad routing and the locality or district for disambiguation. Together with the street, they give a courier a precise enough picture to find the right area quickly.