# VARCHAR or CHARACTER VARYING
VARCHAR or CHARACTER VARYING

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. 

[\[See the AWS documentation website for more details\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/clean-rooms/latest/sql-reference/Character_types-varchar-or-character-varying.html)