Location Code

A location code is a 10-digit number. The the latitude can be calculated from the first 5 digits and the longitude can be calculated from the remaining 5 digits.

The codes all fall within a bounding box around Tanzania: -0.922812, 40.561523 to -12.039, 29.399. The area in this box is divided into a grid of approximately 100 metres in cell size (0.000916 lat, 0.000836 lon). Thus to retrieve the co-ordinates from a location code of 0555504444:

0555504444 => -12.039 + 05555 x 0.000916, 29.399 + 04444 x 0.000836 = -6.95062, 33.11418.

Obviously this is not an ideal system as it does not take into account the curvature of the earth, assumes a uniform population density, and is not linked to any real world features. Ideally this would be replaced by an official postcode system but this does not yet exist.