# VARCHAR or CHARACTER VARYING
<a name="Character_types-varchar-or-character-varying"></a>

Use a VARCHAR or CHARACTER VARYING column to store variable-length strings with a fixed limit. These strings are not padded with blanks, so a VARCHAR(120) column consists of a maximum of 120 single-byte characters, 60 two-byte characters, 40 three-byte characters, or 30 four-byte characters.

```
varchar(120)
```

VARCHAR data types are defined in terms of bytes, not characters. A VARCHAR can contain multibyte characters, up to a maximum of four bytes per character. For example, a VARCHAR(12) column can contain 12 single-byte characters, 6 two-byte characters, 4 three-byte characters, or 3 four-byte characters. 


| Name  | Storage  | Range (width of column)  | 
| --- | --- | --- | 
| VARCHAR or CHARACTER VARYING  | 4 bytes \+ total bytes for characters, where each character can be 1 to 4 bytes.  | 65535 bytes (64K -1)  |