What is "zip-code"
ZIP CODE, or Postal Address Code, is the Brazilian Postal Code.
The postal address system in Brazil was created in order to organize, expedite and facilitate the posting, location and distribution of correspondence in a logical way. The system was created by the Brazilian Postal and Telegraph Company in May 1971,1 and was published to the general population with the publication of the Brazilian Postal Guide in the same year. Until May 1992, the Postal Address Codes - known by the acronym CEP - of all Brazil had format 00000 (five digits).
With the increase in population, the volume of correspondence and the need to create more specific codes for large correspondence receivers, the five-digit CEP system has become insufficient in large cities. Thus, in May 1992, the Post Office changed the format of the postal codes of the whole of Brazil, which became eight digits: 00000-000 (five digits - hyphen - three digits), and this change was informed to the population in the same year, with the publication of the Brazilian Postal Guide of 1992.
Source: Wikipedia.