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# Power plug & outlet Type N

Type N is used exclusively in Brazil and South Africa. (Click [here](https://docs.ifreeq.com/general-knowledge/electricity/plug-socket-and-voltage-by-country) for the full list of all countries with their respective plugs/sockets)

![](https://2999784448-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-MBlD-pGvqUEQDs9SdgH%2F-MBppruq8wKemPEqsfBl%2F-MBpqGVM-iRtz3yabLbG%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=fab7e0d9-ea2b-4048-9ef9-f5d0f749f8d2)

In 2001 and 2013, respectively, Brazil and South Africa standardised on the type N socket and plug system in order to put an end to the proliferation of different socket and plug types within their borders.

The plug consists of two pins and a grounding pin that form a triangle. The power pins have 10 mm long insulated sleeves to prevent accidental contact with a bare connector while the plug is partially inserted. There are three variants, two of which are in use in Brazil (10 A & 20 A) and one in South Africa (16 A). The prongs of all three versions have a length of 19 mm, but their diameters are different: the pins of the 10 amp version have a diameter of 4 mm, those of the 16 amp version have a diameter of 4.5 mm and those of the 20 amp version have a diameter of 4.8 mm. The centres of the line and neutral pins are spaced 19 mm apart. The centre-to-centre distance between the earth pin and the middle of the imaginary line connecting the two power pins is 3 mm. Type N looks very much like the Swiss type J standard, but it is incompatible with it since type N has the earth pin closer to the imaginary line that connects the two power pins (3 mm instead of 5 mm). Type N sockets were specifically designed to accommodate the ubiquitous type C plugs and therefore have the same hexagonal profile.

![](https://2999784448-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-MBlD-pGvqUEQDs9SdgH%2F-MBppruq8wKemPEqsfBl%2F-MBpqJlTgcoPfHhH53tP%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=bc596a95-b658-4b3a-b310-51fecf27f827)

Type N is actually based on the international standard 230 V household plug system, called IEC 60906-1. In 1986, the International Electrotechnical Commission published this standard, which was intended to become the common standard for the whole of Europe (and, by extension, all other regions with 230 V mains). Unfortunately, the effort to adopt it as a European Union standard was put on hold in the mid-1990s.

Thanks to modern injection moulding technology, which did not exist when most other plug types were originally designed, the very recent type N standard is more compact, robust and safe than any other plug/socket system in the world.