The KDA address format

The first two letters are the region code — MQ is Banaadir, MJ is Maroodi Jeex. The next two are the district code inside that region — HG is Hawl Wadaag, XW is Xamar Weyne. Together they form the prefix an address in that district starts with: MQHG-, MQXW-.

Every region and district and the prefix it mints are listed on Regions and District Codes, straight from the registry.

Where a city's district is divided into recognised sub-districts, the four letters are the city's district code followed by the sub-district code. In Hargeisa (MJHG-) an address in Gacan Libaax reads HGGL-#####, one in 26 June HGTJ-#####. Outside the recognised sub-districts the city prefix still applies.

The digits identify one place within the district. They are not a street number and carry no order: MQHG-85983 is not next door to MQHG-85984. Read the code as a name, not as directions.

A KDA marks the usable entrance of the place — the gate or front door a visitor, a courier or an ambulance actually arrives at — not the centre of the plot. It is captured on site by an authorised KDA field verifier and the address is marked verified once the officer has confirmed it there. Until then it is pending verification.

Separate from the address, a Karaar Routing Codenames a routing or service area for sorting and dispatch. It is numeric and built from three parts: the region's routing code, the district's routing code and the waax (neighbourhood) code.

• 31001Banaadir 3 · Waaberi 10 · waax 01
• 83011Maroodi Jeex 83 · Gacan Libaax 01 · waax 1

A routing code is only issued when all three parts exist, so an address can have a KDA code and no routing code yet. The routing parts of each district are shown on the Regions and District Codes page and in the CSV download.

For post, parcels and visitors, the KDA address sits inside a complete address written in a fixed order: recipient, the KDA address, the unit directly beneath it when the property has units, district and city, region, the Karaar Routing Code, the country, a telephone. The format is dynamic by geography — the Regions & District Codes page builds it for any district.

Structured for interoperability. The same address is stored as separate machine-readable components — code, unit, district, city, region, routing code, country — so compatible authorised systems can process each element consistently. KDA is designed to align with recognized international addressing standards.

Uppercase letters, a hyphen, five digits: MQHG-85983. Searches on this site are case-insensitive, so mqhg-85983 finds the same place, but the printed and spoken form is always uppercase with the hyphen.