diff --git a/python/postal/parser.py b/python/postal/parser.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b6e96891
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/postal/parser.py
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+import _parser
+from postal.text.encoding import safe_decode
+
+DEFAULT_LANGUAGES = ('en',)
+
+
+def parse_address(address, language=None, country=None):
+    '''
+    @param address: the address as either Unicode or a UTF-8 encoded string
+    @param language (optional): language code
+    @param country (optional): country code
+    '''
+    address = safe_decode(address, 'utf-8')
+    return _parser.parse_address(address, language=language, country=country)
diff --git a/python/postal/pyparser.c b/python/postal/pyparser.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..24ee28ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/postal/pyparser.c
@@ -0,0 +1,299 @@
+#include <Python.h>
+#include <libpostal.h>
+
+#if PY_MAJOR_VERSION >= 3
+#define IS_PY3K
+#endif
+
+struct module_state {
+    PyObject *error;
+};
+
+
+#ifdef IS_PY3K
+    #define GETSTATE(m) ((struct module_state*)PyModule_GetState(m))
+#else
+    #define GETSTATE(m) (&_state)
+    static struct module_state _state;
+#endif
+
+
+static PyObject *py_parse_address(PyObject *self, PyObject *args, PyObject *keywords) {
+    PyObject *arg_input;
+    PyObject *arg_language = Py_None;
+    PyObject *arg_country = Py_None;
+
+    PyObject *result = NULL;
+
+    static char *kwlist[] = {"address",
+                             "language",
+                             "country",
+                             NULL
+                            };
+
+
+    if (!PyArg_ParseTupleAndKeywords(args, keywords, 
+                                     "O|OO:pyparser", kwlist,
+                                     &arg_input, &arg_language,
+                                     &arg_country
+                                     )) {
+        return 0;
+    }
+
+    PyObject *unistr_input = PyUnicode_FromObject(arg_input);
+    if (unistr_input == NULL) {
+        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError,
+                        "Input could not be converted to unicode");
+        return 0;
+    }
+
+    char *input = NULL;
+
+    #ifdef IS_PY3K
+        // Python 3 encoding, supported by Python 3.3+
+
+        input = PyUnicode_AsUTF8(unistr_input);
+
+    #else
+        // Python 2 encoding
+
+        PyObject *str_input = PyUnicode_AsEncodedString(unistr_input, "utf-8", "strict");
+        if (str_input == NULL) {
+            PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError,
+                            "Input could not be utf-8 encoded");
+            goto exit_decref_input_unistr;
+        }
+
+        input = PyBytes_AsString(str_input);
+    #endif
+
+    if (input == NULL) {
+        goto exit_decref_input_str;
+    }
+
+    char *language = NULL;
+
+    PyObject *unistr_language = Py_None;
+    PyObject *str_language = Py_None;
+
+    if (arg_language != Py_None) {
+        unistr_language = PyUnicode_FromObject(arg_language);
+        if (unistr_language == NULL) {
+            PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError,
+                            "Language could not be converted to unicode");
+        }
+
+        #ifdef IS_PY3K
+            // Python 3 encoding, supported by Python 3.3+
+
+            language = PyUnicode_AsUTF8(unistr_language);
+
+        #else
+            // Python 2 encoding
+
+            PyObject *str_language = PyUnicode_AsEncodedString(unistr_language, "utf-8", "strict");
+            if (str_language == NULL) {
+                PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError,
+                                "Language could not be utf-8 encoded");
+                goto exit_decref_language_unistr;
+            }
+
+            language = PyBytes_AsString(str_language);
+        #endif
+
+        if (language == NULL) {
+            goto exit_decref_language_str;
+        }
+    }
+
+    char *country = NULL;
+    PyObject *unistr_country = Py_None;
+    PyObject *str_country = Py_None;
+
+    if (arg_country != Py_None) {
+        unistr_country = PyUnicode_FromObject(arg_country);
+        if (unistr_country == NULL) {
+            PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError,
+                            "Country could not be converted to unicode");
+        }
+
+        #ifdef IS_PY3K
+            // Python 3 encoding, supported by Python 3.3+
+
+            country = PyUnicode_AsUTF8(unistr_country);
+
+        #else
+            // Python 2 encoding
+
+            PyObject *str_country = PyUnicode_AsEncodedString(unistr_country, "utf-8", "strict");
+            if (str_country == NULL) {
+                PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError,
+                                "Country could not be utf-8 encoded");
+                goto exit_decref_country_unistr;
+            }
+
+            country = PyBytes_AsString(str_country);
+        #endif
+
+        if (country == NULL) {
+            goto exit_decref_country_str;
+        }
+    }
+    
+    address_parser_options_t options = LIBPOSTAL_ADDRESS_PARSER_DEFAULT_OPTIONS;
+    options.language = language;
+    options.country = country;
+
+    address_parser_response_t *parsed = parse_address(input, options);
+    if (parsed == NULL) {
+        goto exit_decref_country_str;
+    }
+
+    result = PyList_New((Py_ssize_t)parsed->num_components);
+    if (!result) {
+        goto exit_destroy_response;
+    }
+
+    for (int i = 0; i < parsed->num_components; i++) {
+        char *component = parsed->components[i];
+        char *label = parsed->labels[i];
+        PyObject *component_unicode = PyUnicode_DecodeUTF8((const char *)component, strlen(component), "strict");
+        if (component_unicode == NULL) {
+            Py_DECREF(result);
+            goto exit_destroy_response;
+        }
+
+        PyObject *label_unicode = PyUnicode_DecodeUTF8((const char *)label, strlen(label), "strict");
+        if (label_unicode == NULL) {
+            Py_DECREF(component_unicode);
+            Py_DECREF(result);
+            goto exit_destroy_response;
+        }
+        PyObject *tuple = Py_BuildValue("(OO)", component_unicode, label_unicode);
+        if (tuple == NULL) {
+            Py_DECREF(component_unicode);
+            Py_DECREF(label_unicode);
+            goto exit_destroy_response;
+        }
+
+        // Note: PyList_SetItem steals a reference, so don't worry about DECREF
+        PyList_SetItem(result, (Py_ssize_t)i, tuple);
+
+        Py_DECREF(component_unicode);
+        Py_DECREF(label_unicode);
+    }
+
+exit_destroy_response:
+    address_parser_response_destroy(parsed);
+exit_decref_country_str:
+    #ifndef IS_PY3K
+    if (str_country != Py_None) {
+        Py_XDECREF(str_country);
+    }
+    #endif
+exit_decref_country_unistr:
+    if (unistr_country != Py_None) {
+        Py_XDECREF(unistr_country);
+    }
+exit_decref_language_str:
+    #ifndef IS_PY3K
+    if (str_language != Py_None) {
+        Py_XDECREF(str_language);
+    }
+    #endif
+exit_decref_language_unistr:
+    if (unistr_language != Py_None) {
+        Py_XDECREF(unistr_language);
+    }
+exit_decref_input_str:
+    #ifndef IS_PY3K
+    Py_XDECREF(str_input);
+    #endif
+exit_decref_input_unistr:
+    Py_XDECREF(unistr_input);
+
+    return result;
+}
+
+static PyMethodDef parser_methods[] = {
+    {"parse_address", (PyCFunction)py_parse_address, METH_VARARGS | METH_KEYWORDS, "parse_address(text, language, country)"},
+    {NULL, NULL},
+};
+
+
+
+#ifdef IS_PY3K
+
+static int parser_traverse(PyObject *m, visitproc visit, void *arg) {
+    Py_VISIT(GETSTATE(m)->error);
+    return 0;
+}
+
+static int parser_clear(PyObject *m) {
+    Py_CLEAR(GETSTATE(m)->error);
+    libpostal_teardown();
+    libpostal_teardown_parser();
+    return 0;
+}
+
+static struct PyModuleDef module_def = {
+        PyModuleDef_HEAD_INIT,
+        "_parser",
+        NULL,
+        sizeof(struct module_state),
+        parser_methods,
+        NULL,
+        parser_traverse,
+        parser_clear,
+        NULL
+};
+
+#define INITERROR return NULL
+
+PyObject *
+PyInit_parser(void) {
+#else
+
+#define INITERROR return
+
+void cleanup_libpostal(void) {
+    libpostal_teardown();
+    libpostal_teardown_parser(); 
+}
+
+void
+init_parser(void) {
+#endif
+
+#ifdef IS_PY3K
+    PyObject *module = PyModule_Create(&module_def);
+#else
+    PyObject *module = Py_InitModule("_parser", parser_methods);
+#endif
+
+    if (module == NULL) {
+        INITERROR;
+    }
+    struct module_state *st = GETSTATE(module);
+
+    st->error = PyErr_NewException("_parser.Error", NULL, NULL);
+    if (st->error == NULL) {
+        Py_DECREF(module);
+        INITERROR;
+    }
+
+    if (!libpostal_setup() || !libpostal_setup_parser()) {
+        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError,
+                        "Error loading libpostal data");
+    }
+
+#ifndef IS_PY3K
+    Py_AtExit(&cleanup_libpostal);
+#endif
+
+
+#ifdef IS_PY3K
+    return module;
+#endif
+}
+