Belgium (BEL)

This chapter defines the supported Geocode datasets, operations, and input and output field information for Belgium and Luxembourg.

Supported Geocode Datasets

The following table lists the supported Geocode dataset(s) with the available geocoding levels for Belgium.

Geocode Dataset Maximum Precision Postcodes Language Geocode Level
TomTom Address Points Yes Dutch, French, German Premium & Advanced
GIM Address Points Yes Dutch, French, German Premium
NAVTEQ Address Points Yes Dutch, French, German Premium

Supported Operations

The following operations are supported for Belgium:

  • Geocoding—Takes one or more addresses as input and returns latitude/longitude coordinates and other information.
  • Reverse Geocoding—Takes one or more latitude and longitude coordinates as input and returns the address of the location.
Input Fields

The input address may contain some or all of the following address elements.

Field Name Parameter Type Description
placeName String Specifies the building name, place name, Point of Interest (POI), company or firm name associated with the input address. Optional.
mainAddress String Single Line Input—If no other address field is populated, then the mainAddress entry will be treated as a single line input. Single line input can consist of multiple input address fields; these should be entered in the typical address order for the country. For more details, refer to the section "Single Line Input" below.

Street Address—If the post address components (city, postalCode, etc.) are provided separately or in the lastLine field, then the contents of mainAddress will be treated as the street address part and can include company name, house number, building names and street names. Optional.

Street Intersection Input—To enter an intersection, specify the two street names separated by a double ampersand (&&).
lastLine String The last line of the address. Optional. For example:

Masterstroke 26
1070 Wanderlust
areaName1 String Not used.
areaName2 String Specifies the province. Optional.
areaName3 String Specifies the city or town.
areaName4 String Not used.
postalCode String Belgium uses a four-digit postal code. The first two digits designate the sorting area (with the first digit usually representing the region). The next two digits represent the post office and delivery office.
country String ISO 3166-1 Alpha-3 country code or country name. For Belgium, the country code is BEL. For Luxembourg, the country code is LUX. Required for forward geocoding.
Address Guidelines for Belgium

Follow these suggestions to ensure that your input address data is in the best format possible for optimum matching and geocoding. For additional information on Belgium addresses, see the Belgium Post website: www.bpost.be.

  • Required fields—Addresses must contain either a city or a postal code.
  • Supported languages—Dutch, French, and German language aliases and address formats are supported.
  • Thoroughfare types—Belgian thoroughfare types and their common abbreviations are recognized and fully supported on input and output. Dutch, French, and German thoroughfare types are also supported.
  • Numbers, numeric equivalents, and ordinals—Numbered streets are mapped to the named equivalents. Ordinals are also recognized in input addresses.
  • Common words and abbreviations—Common words, directionals, house number indicators, and abbreviations used in addresses are supported.

Single Line Input

Instead of entering each address component in separate fields, you can enter the entire address in the mainAddress input field with the address elements ordered as follows:

[street_info][address_number][postal_code][area]

Where:
  • [street_info] consists of the street name, street type and any pre- or post-directional information (e.g. East, West, etc.). Optional.
  • [address_number] is optional.
  • [postal_code] is the postal code.
  • [area] is the city only, or city plus supporting information, such as state, province, locality.
  • Either the [area] or [postal_code] is required.

For best results, put a comma between the street information and the last address line information.

Custom Options

There are no options specific to Belgium.

Parsed Address Output Fields

The following table lists the parsed address fields returned for a candidate located in Belgium.

To return the Parsed Address fields, send the returnAllCandidateInfo preference true in POST request.

Note: The placeName, addressNumber, unitType and unitValue field values are only returned when the Geocode dataset that supports street address interpolation is installed.
Field Name Description
mainAddressLine The street address which may include company name, house number, building names and street names.
addressLastLine The last line of the address.
placeName The building name, place name, Point of Interest (POI), company or firm name associated with the address.
areaName1 Not used.
areaName2 The province.
areaName3 The city or town.
areaName4 Not used.
postCode1 The 4-digit postal code.
postCode2 Not used.
country The three-letter ISO 3166-1 Alpha-3 country code. For Belgium, the country code is BEL.
addressNumber The address number.
streetName The street or road name.
unitType The unit type such as APT, STE, etc.
unitValue The unit value/number, such as "3B".
customFields Belgium does not have any custom output fields.