Where to get geography data?

Question

I need geography data for new website.

Data required is

• States (With names and standard abbreviations)
• ZipCode (List of zip code with all available data like where zipcode belongs to)

What would be my best source to get this data?

Any help is appreciated.

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Thanks for all answers,

Sorry i went offline for fewdays. Yes i am talking about US zipcode data.

I think postal service data most reliable I will go with that.

Other alternative mentioned has similar and in better format data. but i think going with postal service will be the best option

Answer 1

(US assumed, "zip code" sort of implies the US 5-digit code, whereas "postal code" is the generic term)

States and their abbreviations are easy, it's on the Postal Service website. (including Guam & other parts of the US that aren't states)

Zip codes: the Postal Service would be the authority in question, but it looks like they don't offer the basic database of zipcode <-> town, other than through an interactive one-by-one lookup. They do offer street-level zipcode databases and other information for $ale. However the Census Bureau has a nearly identical set of information available. (ZCTA = ZIP Code Tabulation Areas) This has also been prepackaged more easily in a Sourceforge project (in their forum they claim this is from the Census Bureau data).

Answer 2

For postal codes Maxmind Free Postalcode Database is the most comprehensive freely available list I know of.

For a list of countries with names and ISO ALPHA-3 codes see Countries or areas, codes and abbreviations.

Of course there is Wikipedia with a list and some pointers to other useful resources Wikipedia - List of Countries