Private IP addresses also provide a basic form of security as in a typical network configuation of this type it is not possible for the outside world (Internet) to establish a connection directly to a host using these addresses.
Specifically the networks are:
Name
start IP address
end IP address
classful description
largest CIDR block
24-bit block
10.0.0.0
10.255.255.255
single class A
10.0.0.0/8
20-bit block
172.16.0.0
172.31.255.255
16 contiguous class Bs
172.16.0.0/12
16-bit block
192.168.0.0
192.168.255.255
256 contiguous class Cs
192.168.0.0/16
RFC 1597 was the original specification but is now for historical purposes only.