Mapmaking Abbreviations

These are most of the abbreviations I use for maps. I generally prefer the shortest possible to save space on the map (hence Av is better than Ave). My preference is listed first. Many abbreviations are contextual. Lake Farm St Pk would not be interpreted as Street Park, but as State Park.

I avoid abbreviations unless space is tight, or to use them would help comprehension. I usually leave out punctuation marks as they are often so small as to be imperceptible when printed. Many mapmakers use them though, especially apostrophes.

Many of these abbreviations have been adapted from the U.S. Postal Service. Other sources include the U.S.Government and international commissions. Please forward suggestions or corrections.

The abbreviations are set off in a serif typeface so letters like capital I and lowercase l can be distinguished.

Directionals
Street Suffixes and Map Features
U.S. States
U.S. Territories
Canadian Provinces
International Country Abbreviations

North

N

North Northeast

NNE

Northeast

NE

East Northeast

ENE

East

E

East Southeast

ESE

Southeast

SE

South Southeast

SSE

South

S

South Southwest

SSW

Southwest

SW

West Southwest

WSW

West

W

West Northwest

WNW

Northwest

NW

North Nortwest

NNW

Street Suffixes and Map Features

Abbreviation

Abbr or Abrv

Airport

Air or Arpt

Alley

Aly or Al

Annex

Anx or An

Apartment

Apt

Arcade

Arc

Avenue

Av or Ave

Basement

Bsmt

Bayou

Byu

Beach

Bch

Bend

Bnd

Bluff

Blf

Bottom

Bot or Btm

Boulevard

Blvd

Branch

Br

Bridge

Brdg

Brook

Brk

Building

Bldg

Burg

Bg

Bypass

Byp

Camp

Cmp

Canyon

Cyn or Cnyn

Cape

Cpe

Causeway

Cswy

Center

Cen or Ctr

Chamber of Commerce

C of C or Ch of Comm

Circle

Cir

City Hall

CH

Cliff

Clf

Club

Clb

College

Coll

Common

Com or Cmn

Convention

Conv

Corner

Cor

County

Co.

Course

Crse

Court

Ct

Courthouse

Crths or Ct Hse

Cove

Cv

Creek

Ck or Crk

Crescent

Cres

Crest

Crst

Crossing

Xing or Cros

Crossroad

Xrd

Curve

Crv or Curv

Dale

Dl

Dam

Dm

Department

Dept

Divide

Div or Dv

Drive

Dr

Elementary School

ES or Elem Sch

Estate

Est

Expressway

Expy

Extension

Ext

Fairgrounds

Frgrnds

Falls

Fls

Ferry

Fry

Field

Fld

Flat

Flt

Floor

Flr

Ford

Frd

Forest

For or Frst

Forge

Frg

Fork

Frk or Fk

Fort

Frt or Ft

Freeway

Frwy or Fwy

Front

Frnt

Garden

Grdn or Gdn

Gateway

Gtwy

Glen

Gln

Green

Grn

Grove

Grv

Hangar

Hngr

Harbor

Hbr

Haven

Hvn

Heights

Hgts or Hts

High School

HS

Highway

Hwy

Hill

Hl

Historic Park

HP or Hist Pk

Historical

Hist

Hollow

Hlw or Hol

Hospital

Hosp

Indian Reservation

Ind Res

Inlet

Inlt

Institute

Inst

International

Int'l

Island

Isl or Is

Junction

Jct

Junior High School

JHS or Jun

Key

Ky

Knoll

Knl

Laboratory

Lab

Lake

Lk

Landing

Lndg

Lane

Ln or La

Library

Lib or Lbr

Light

Lgt

Lobby

Lbby

Lock

Lck

Lodge

Ldg

Loop

Lp

Lower

Lwr

Manor

Mnr

Meadow

Mdw

Medical Center

Med Cen

Middle School

MS or Mid Sch

Mill

Ml

Mission

Mssn

Motorway

Mtwy

Mount

Mt

Mountain

Mtn

Municipal

Muni

Museum

Mus

National Forest

NF

National

Nat'l

National Park

NP or Nat'l Pk

Neck

Nck

Office

Ofc

Orchard

Orch

Oval

Ovl

Overpass

Ovrps or Opas

Park

Pk or Prk

Parkway

Pkwy

Passage

Pass or Psge

Peak

Pk

Penthouse

Pent

Place

Pl

Plain

Pln

Plaza

Plz

Point

Pt

Police

Pol

Port

Prt

Post Office

PO

Prairie

Pr

Preserve

Pres

Primary School

Prim Sch

Radial

Rad or Rdl

Ramp

Rmp

Ranch

Rnch

Rapid

Rpd

Regional

Reg

Reservoir

Res

Rest

Rst

Ridge

Rdg

River

Riv

Road

Rd

Room

Rm

Route

Rte

Saint

St.

Sainte

Ste.

School

Sch

Shoal

Shl

Shopping

Shop

Shore

Shr

Skyway

Skwy

Space

Spc

Spring

Spg

Springs

Spgs

Spur

Spr

Square

Sq

Stadium

Stad

State Forest

SF

State Historic Park

SHP

State Park

SP

State

ST or St

Station

Sta or Stn

Stravenue

Stra or Strv

Stream

Strm

Street

St

Suite

Ste

Summit

Smt or Sum

Technology

Tech

Terrace

Ter

Throughway

Trwy

Trace

Trce

Track

Trk

Trafficway

Trfy

Trail

Tr or Trl

Trailer

Trlr

Transportation

Trans

Tunnel

Tunl

Turnpike

Tpk or Tpke

Underpass

Undps or Upas

University

Univ

Upper

Upr

Valley

Val or Vly

Veterans Administration

VA or Vet. Admin.

Viaduct

Vdct or Via

View

Vw

Village

Vill or Vlg

Ville

Vl

Vista

Vis

Way

Wy

Well

Wl

State Abbreviations

Alabama

AL or Ala.

Alaska

AK or Alas.

Arizona

AZ or Ariz.

Arkansas

AR or Ark.

California

CA or Calif.

Colorado

CO or Colo.

Connecticut

CT or Conn.

Delaware

DE or Del.

District Of Columbia

DC or D.C.

Florida

FL or Fla.

Georgia

GA or Geor.

Hawaii

HI or Haw.

Idaho

ID or Ida.

Illinois

IL or Ill.

Indiana

IN or Ind.

Iowa

IA

Kansas

KS or Kans.

Kentucky

KY or Kent.

Louisiana

LA or Lou.

Maine

ME

Maryland

MD or Mary.

Massachusetts

MA or Mass.

Michigan

MI or Mich.

Minnesota

MN or Minn.

Mississippi

MS or Miss.

Missouri

MO

Montana

MT or Mont.

Nebraska

NE or Nebr.

Nevada

NV or Nev.

New Hampshire

NH or New Hamp.

New Jersey

NJ or New Jer.

New Mexico

NM or New Mex.

New York

NY

North Carolina

NC or No. Caro.

North Dakota

ND or No. Dak.

Ohio

OH

Oklahoma

OK or Okla.

Oregon

OR or Ore.

Pennsylvania

PA or Penn.

Rhode Island

RI or Rh. Isl.

South Carolina

SC or So.Caro.

South Dakota

SD or So. Dak.

Tennessee

TN or Tenn.

Texas

TX or Tex.

Utah

UT

Vermont

VT or Ver.

Virginia

VA or Vir.

Washington

WA or Wash.

West Virginia

WV or West Vir.

Wisconsin

WI or Wisc.

Wyoming

WY or Wyo.

U.S. Territories

American Samoa

AS

Federated States Of Micronesia

FM

Guam

GU

Marshall Islands

MH

Northern Mariana Islands

MP

Puerto Rico

PR

Palau

PW

Virgin Islands

VI

Canadian Provinces

Alberta

AB

British Columbia

BC

Manitoba

MB

New Brunswick

NB

Newfoundland and Labrador

NL

Northwest Territories

NT

Nova Scotia

NS

Nunavut

NU

Ontario

ON

Prince Edward Island 

PE

Québec

QC

Saskatchewan

SK

Yukon

YT

International Country Abbreviations
The following list gives the domain name country abbreviations for internet URLs. Perhaps these could be used for country abbreviations in tight spots or small scale maps.

Afghanistan

AF

Albania

AL

Algeria

DZ

American Samoa

AS

Andorra

AD

Angola

AO

Anguilla

AI

Antarctica

AQ

Antigua and Barbuda

AG

Argentina

AR

Armenia

AM

Aruba

AW

Australia

AU

Austria

AT

Azerbaijan

AZ

Belize

BZ

Benin

BJ

Bermuda

BM

Bhutan

BT

Bolivia

BO

Bosnia and Herzegovina

BA

Botswana

BW

Bouvet Island

BV

Brazil

BR

British Indian Ocean Territory

IO

Brunei Darussalam

BN

Bulgaria

BG

Burkina Faso

BF

Burundi

BI

Cambodia

KH

Cameroon

CM

Canada

CA

Cape Verde

CV

Cayman Islands

KY

Central African Republic

CF

Chad

TD

Chile

CL

China

CN

Christmas Island

CX

Cocos (Keeling) Islands

CC

Colombia

CO

Comoros

KM

Congo

CG

Congo, The Democratic Republic of the

CD

Cook Islands

CK

Costa Rica

CR

Côte D'Ivoire

CI

Croatia

HR

Cuba

CU

Cyprus

CY

Czech Republic

CZ

Denmark

DK

Djibouti

DJ

Dominica

DM

Dominican Republic

DO

East Timor

TL

Ecuador

EC

Egypt

EG

El Salvador

SV

Equatorial Guinea

GQ

Eritrea

ER

Estonia

EE

Ethiopia

ET

Falkland Islands (Malvinas)

FK

Faroe Islands

FO

Fiji

FJ

Finland

FI

France

FR

French Guiana

GF

French Polynesia

PF

French Southern Territories

TF

Gabon

GA

Gambia

GM

Georgia

GE

Germany

DE

Ghana

GH

Gibraltar

GI

Greece

GR

Greenland

GL

Grenada

GD

Guadeloupe

GP

Guam

GU

Guatemala

GT

Guinea

GN

Guinea-Bissau

GW

Guyana

GY

Haiti

HT

Heard Island And McDonald Islands

HM

Holy See (Vatican City State)

VA

Honduras

HN

Hong Kong

HK

Hungary

HU

Iceland

IS

India

IN

Indonesia

ID

Iran, Islamic Republic of

IR

Iraq

IQ

Ireland

IE

Israel

IL

Italy

IT

Jamaica

JM

Japan

JP

Jordan

JO

Kazakhstan

KZ

Kenya

KE

Kiribati

KI

Korea, Democratic People's Republic of

KP

Korea, Republic of

KR

Kuwait

KW

Kyrgyzstan

KG

Lao People's Democratic Republic

LA

Latvia

LV

Lebanon

LB

Lesotho

LS

Liberia

LR

Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

LY

Liechtenstein

LI

Lithuania

LT

Luxembourg

LU

Macao

MO

Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of

MK

Madagascar

MG

Malawi

MW

Malaysia

MY

Maldives

MV

Mali

ML

Malta

MT

Marshall Islands

MH

Martinique

MQ

Mauritania

MR

Mauritius

MU

Mayotte

YT

Mexico

MX

Micronesia, Federated States of

FM

Moldova, Republic of

MD

Monaco

MC

Mongolia

MN

Montserrat

MS

Morocco

MA

Mozambique

MZ

Myanmar

MM

Namibia

NA

Nauru

NR

Nepal

NP

Netherlands

NL

Netherlands Antilles

AN

New Caledonia

NC

New Zealand

NZ

Nicaragua

NI

Niger

NE

Nigeria

NG

Niue

NU

Norfolk Island

NF

Northern Mariana Islands

MP

Norway

NO

Oman

OM

Pakistan

PK

Palau

PW

Palestinian Territory (occupied)

PS

Panama

PA

Papua New Guinea

PG

Paraguay

PY

Peru

PE

Philippines

PH

Pitcairn

PN

Poland

PL

Portugal

PT

Puerto Rico

PR

Qatar

QA

Réunion

RE

Romania

RO

Russian Federation

RU

Rwanda

RW

Saint Helena

SH

Saint Kitts and Nevis

KN

Saint Lucia

LC

Saint Pierre and Miquelon

PM

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

VC

Samoa

WS

San Marino

SM

Sao Tome and Principe

ST

Saudi Arabia

SA

Senegal

SN

Seychelles

SC

Sierra Leone

SL

Singapore

SG

Slovakia

SK

Slovenia

SI

Solomon Islands

SB

Somalia

SO

South Africa

ZA

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

GS

Spain

ES

Sri Lanka

LK

Sudan

SD

Suriname

SR

Svalbard and Jan Mayen

SJ

Swaziland

SZ

Sweden

SE

Switzerland

CH

Syrian Arab Republic

SY

Taiwan, Province of China

TW

Tajikistan

TJ

Tanzania, United Republic of

TZ

Thailand

TH

Togo

TG

Tokelau

TK

Tonga

TO

Trinidad and Tobago

TT

Tunisia

TN

Turkey

TR

Turkmenistan

TM

Turks and Caicos Islands

TC

Tuvalu

TV

Uganda

UG

Ukraine

UA

United Arab Emirates

AE

United Kingdom

GB

United States

US

United States Minor Outlying Islands

UM

Uruguay

UY

Uzbekistan

UZ

Vanuatu

VU

Vatican City State (see Holy See)

VA

Venezuela

VE

Viet Nam

VN

Virgin Islands, British

VG

Virgin Islands, U.S.

VI

Wallis and Futuna

WF

Western Sahara

EH

Yemen

YE

Yugoslavia

YU

Zaire see Congo, The Democratic Republic of the

CD

Zambia

ZM

Zimbabwe

ZW