Vatican City

What the code says

The Grid Point Code for Vatican City is #J1N55-W3D8D. It names a cell 2.56 m north to south and 2.55 m east to west, centred on 41°54'09.63"N, 12°27'14.94"E, and it turns back into that cell on any phone or computer by arithmetic alone: no network, no account, no lookup table.

The point used is the one GeoNames records for Vatican City, near its centre, and Vatican City is the capital of Vatican.

Code

#J1N55-W3D8D

With a check character

#J1N55-W3D8D*J

Short form

W3D8D

Cell centre

41.902675, 12.454149

Cell size

2.56 m by 2.55 m

Country

Vatican

Population

829

How to give this address

On a sign, a form or a delivery note

The whole code, #J1N55-W3D8D. It needs nothing else: no city, no street, no network to read it back.

Said aloud, in Vatican

Vatican City W3D8D: a name both people know, then the last five characters. They give back the exact code for anywhere within 4.0 km north or south and 4.0 km east or west of Vatican City. Further away the same five name somewhere else, which is why the whole code is what goes on a sign.

Copied by hand, or read over a phone

#J1N55-W3D8D*J. The character on the end catches any single mistyped symbol and any two neighbours swapped.

As a link or a square code

Open it on the map, move to the exact door, and add directions if the code needs help: "blue gate, second floor". The link and the square code carry them. Nothing is kept on this site.

From the city to the door

The first four characters name a cell about 40 km by 39.8 km here. Each one after that picks one of 25 inside the last, so the whole ten name a spot about the size of a doorway.

1. 5J1N5Metropolitan area40 km by 39.8 km
2. 5J1N55District8 km by 7.95 km
3. WJ1N55WSuburb1.6 km by 1.59 km
4. 3J1N55W3A few streets320 m by 318 m
5. DJ1N55W3DBuilding64 m by 63.6 m
6. 8J1N55W3D8Entrance12.8 m by 12.7 m
7. DJ1N55W3D8DDoorway2.56 m by 2.55 m