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Postal Codes Solution
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Dataset Files

Each file has a stable URL (r-link) that you can use directly in scripts, apps, or AI agents. These URLs are permanent and safe to hardcode.

/logistics/postal-codes-bj/

├ .licensing-notes.md

https://datahub.io/logistics/postal-codes-bj/_r/-/.licensing-notes.md

├ .migration-notes.md

https://datahub.io/logistics/postal-codes-bj/_r/-/.migration-notes.md

├ ATTRIBUTION.txt

https://datahub.io/logistics/postal-codes-bj/_r/-/ATTRIBUTION.txt

├ README.md

https://datahub.io/logistics/postal-codes-bj/_r/-/README.md

└ datapackage.yaml

https://datahub.io/logistics/postal-codes-bj/_r/-/datapackage.yaml

Key Files

Start with these files — they give you everything you need to understand and access the dataset.

datapackage.yaml— metadata & schema

https://datahub.io/logistics/postal-codes-bj/_r/-/datapackage.yaml

README.md— documentation

https://datahub.io/logistics/postal-codes-bj/_r/-/README.md

Typical Usage

1. Fetch datapackage.yaml to inspect schema and resources
2. Download data resources listed in datapackage.yaml
3. Read README.md for full context

Data Files

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postal-codes-bj

Field	Type	Description	Title
country_code	string	ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 -- always BJ	Country Code
postal_code	string	Always empty -- Benin has no operational postal code system. Not a data gap; see ATTRIBUTION.txt.	Postal Code
place_name	string	Locality/place name (GeoNames populated place)	Place Name
admin_name1	string	Department (ISO 3166-2:BJ spelling) -- all 12 covered; blank where GeoNames assigns a place to no department	Administrative Name 1
admin_code1	string	ISO 3166-2:BJ code	Administrative Code 1
admin_name2	string	Not populated in this release	Administrative Name 2
admin_code2	string	Not populated	Administrative Code 2
admin_name3	string	Not populated	Administrative Name 3
admin_code3	string	Not populated	Administrative Code 3
latitude	number	GeoNames latitude (WGS84)	Latitude
longitude	number	GeoNames longitude (WGS84)	Longitude
accuracy	string	Not populated -- the GeoNames gazetteer dump carries no accuracy field	Accuracy
alternative_city_name	string	Not populated in this release	Alternative City Name

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About

Last updated: 6 October 2026
Total rows: 3,760
Format: CSV
File size: 183 kB
Sources: GeoNames main gazetteer dump -- Benin (BJ); GeoNames admin1 codes table
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

About this dataset

Benin (BJ): migration notes

Internal record of the P6 migration from the old scripts to the producer: the discrepancies found, their causes, and who decided what. This is a dated record, so the numbers are as of the migration and not kept current. It is not shipped in the zip.

Issue: pc-28e.8.3
Commit: see git log -- datasets/bj/ (P6 bj commit on feat/single-source-of-truth, base c51b72a)
Parity verdict: format-only (gate: pass, exit 0); CRLF→LF only
Producer: custom, refresh disabled

Sources

Input	URL	Notes
GeoNames gazetteer dump	https://download.geonames.org/export/dump/BJ.zip	`BJ.txt`, filtered to feature class `P`. The old builder read a local `sources/BJ.txt` snapshot of this file
GeoNames admin1 table	https://download.geonames.org/export/dump/admin1CodesASCII.txt	Used only to check GeoNames' department labels against the crosswalk. The old builder read a local `sources/geonames_admin1CodesASCII.txt` snapshot

Both URLs are stable, unversioned GeoNames URLs. The fetch date and sha256 are recorded in bj.inputs.json; --no-fetch reuses the cache.
Benin has no postal-code system and GeoNames has no postal export for BJ (export/zip/BJ.zip is a 404), so postal_code is empty on every row. pipeline.postal_code_required: false tells build.py this is intended.

Parity against the live public CSV (2026-10-05)

Rows: 3,760 live and 3,760 fresh, none only on one side, 0 changed cells, no cell classes. Once CRLF is normalised to LF the fresh bj.csv is byte-identical to the live CSV, including row order. Live sha256 6ffc99b4…, fresh 1a08c492… (the only difference is line endings).

No discrepancies to explain. The GeoNames dump at migration time still has 3,760 populated places, 14 of them on the reserved admin1 code 00, as on 2026-09-17.

Decisions

Decision	By	Basis
Accept the CRLF→LF difference	Standing rule (P5 sign-off: row_order/CRLF-only pre-approved)	Equal rows, 0 changed cells
Drop the exact-count asserts (3,760 places, 14 unresolved)	P6 brief	Replaced by structural checks: all 12 departments present, primary key unique, GeoNames labels match the crosswalk
An admin1 code other than `00`/blank that isn't in the crosswalk stops the build	Agent: port choice	The old builder blanked it silently (only its exact unresolved-count assert would have caught it); blanking a real but new department would hide a crosswalk gap
`latitude`/`longitude` typed `number`; `accuracy` stays `string`	Agent, per the brief	`accuracy` is empty on every row (the gazetteer dump has no accuracy field), so it isn't numeric data and doesn't get the GeoNames accuracy description
`primaryKey: [place_name, latitude, longitude]`	Agent, from the produced CSV	Unique in the produced CSV; it is the old builder's own PK. (place_name, admin_code1) is not unique
`pipeline.postal_code_required: false`	Agent	build.py refuses empty postal codes otherwise and names this flag; bj is the first dataset to use it
Add `admin1CodesASCII.txt` to the descriptor `sources`	Agent	It is a fetched input
Field descriptions taken from the old builder's datapackage.json (minus counts)	Agent	The P3 generic descriptions said "Postal code for the location", which is wrong for bj

Transforms carried over

From build_postal_codes_product.py:

Feature class P only; place_name is the dump's name column; latitude/longitude copied verbatim.
admin_code1 → ISO 3166-2:BJ via the bucket-code crosswalk (BJ.07–BJ.18), admin_name1 in ISO spelling (Atakora→Atacora BJ-AK, Kouffo→Couffo BJ-KO). Every GeoNames label is checked so an upstream rename stops the build.
Reserved admin1 00 → blank admin_name1/admin_code1.
postal_code, accuracy, alternative_city_name and admin tiers 2–3 empty.
Sorted by (admin_code1, place_name), ties in dump order.
Not ported: the old builder's own datapackage.json, README, ATTRIBUTION and zip writing (build.py / committed docs handle those) and publish_r2.py.

Open questions

Resolved: README.md was the generic stub ("We don't have postal code data for Benin yet … No data is currently available"), which contradicts the published locality directory. It has no counts or licence line, so the agent left it; the orchestrator rewrote it afterwards (below).
.licensing-notes.md and data/ATTRIBUTION.txt still carry dated counts; left for pc-hfz.

Orchestrator follow-up (2026-10-05)

README.md was the stale "no data yet" stub although the live CSV is a full locality directory. The orchestrator rewrote it from the old builder's README text, without counts and without the stale licence_status line. README text confirmed by the user (2026-10-05).