Postal codes were introduced in France in 1972, when La Poste introduced automated sorting. 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... La Poste is the mail service of France, which also operates postal services in the French Overseas Departments of Réunion, Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana, and the territorial collectivities of Saint Pierre and Miquelon and Mayotte. ... Optical character recognition (using optical techniques such as mirrors and lenses) and digital character recognition (using scanners and computer algorithms) were originally considered separate fields. ...

Format

The postal code (in French, code postal) consists of five digits, the first two digits identifying the département in metropolitan France. The system is also used outside Europe, in the Overseas Departments and Territories, but it is the first three digits that identify the département or territory. The digits 00 are used for Military addresses. The next two numbers indicate the canton. All the cities or towns inside the same canton have the same postcode. A regular postcode always ends with a 0, with the notable exception of Paris, Lyon and Marseille - see below - and the Overseas Départements and Territories). A postcode not ending with a 0 indicates a special code, known as CEDEX (see below). A postal code is a series of letters and/or digits appended to a postal address for the purpose of sorting mail. ... The départements (or departments) are administrative units of France, roughly analogous to British counties and are now grouped into 22 metropolitan and four overseas régions. ... The term Metropolitan France (French: la France métropolitaine, or just la Métropole) refers to the part of France in Europe, including Corsica, as opposed to the overseas departments and overseas territories, which, while integral parts of the French Republic, are regarded as Overseas France (French: la France d... A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... Under the 1946 Constitution of the Fourth Republic, the French colonies of Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana in the Caribbean and Réunion in the Indian Ocean became départements doutre-mer (Overseas departments) or DOMs. ... A Territoire doutre-mer (TOM, French for Overseas territory) is an administrative divisions of France. ... The canton is an administrative division of France. ...

In Paris, the last two digits of the postal code indicate the arrondissement. Prior to 1972, an address in the eighth arrondissement in Paris, would be written as: The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... An arrondissement is an administrative division in some francophone countries: France Paris Main article: Arrondissements of Paris The city of Paris, in France is divided into 20 arrondissements. ...

 8, Rue Chambiges Paris 8e 

This number was incorporated into the postal code as:

 8, Rue Chambiges 75008 Paris 

An exception to this rule is the sixteenth arrondissement, which has two postal codes, 75016 (south) and 75116 (north).

Outside of Paris, the cities of Lyon and Marseille are also divided into arrondissements, which are part of the postal code: City motto: Avant, avant, Lion le melhor. ... City motto: Actibus immensis urbs fulget Massiliensis. ...

 11 rue Duhamel 69002 Lyon 

 2 avenue du Maréchal Foch 13004 Marseille 

In each département, the préfecture (main city) has a postal code ending with 000, for example Ajaccio in Corsica: The départements (or departments) are administrative units of France, roughly analogous to British counties and are now grouped into 22 metropolitan and four overseas régions. ... In France, a préfecture is the capital city of a département. ... Ajaccio ( Corsican: Aiacciu) is a city and commune of France, préfecture ( capital) of the département of Corse-du-Sud and, since 1810 capital of the région of Corsica. ... Capital Ajaccio Area 8,680 km² Regional President Camille de Rocca-Serra Population  - 2004 estimate  - 1999 census  - Density 272,000 260,196 30/km² Arrondissements 5 Cantons 52 Communes 360 Départements {{{départements}}} Corsica (Corsican: Corsica; French: Corse) is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily...

 15 avenue du Général Leclerc 20000 Ajaccio 

The bigger the city, the simpler the postal code. The sous-préfectures are recognized by using a XXX00 postcode. Here is for example the postal code of a small village, Lépaud in Creuse: Creuse is a département in central France named after the Creuse River. ...

 16 grande rue 23170 Lépaud 

And the postal code of Mortagne-au-Perche, sous-préfecture of the Département de l'Orne: Orne is a département in the northwest of France named after the Orne River. ...

 4 rue des Quinze Fusillés 61400 Mortagne-au-Perche 

Overseas Départements and Territories use 3-digit codes starting with 97 or 98, the last of which identifies the correct territory. For instance, 971 is Guadeloupe. In this case, the last digit is dropped so as to keep the 5-digit format. This is why the regular postcodes for these don't end with 0 except for the préfecture or sous-préfecture, for example : In France, a préfecture is the capital city of a département. ... Subprefecture is an administrative level that is below prefecture or province. ...

 Maison du Port 97100 Basse-Terre 

 4 boulevard du Général de Gaulle 97320 Saint-Laurent du Maroni 

 193 RN2 97439 Sainte-Rose 

CEDEX

There is also a system known as CEDEX, Courrier d'Entreprise à Distribution EXceptionnelle, designed for recipients of large volumes of mail. A postal code is allocated to each large organisation or to post office box holders, ending in three unique digits, for example:

 2 place Jussieu 75251 Paris Cedex 05 

The '05' is for the 5th arrondissement. Ordinary deliveries would be addressed to:

 2 place Jussieu 75005 Paris 

It is also acceptable to include a boîte postale (post office box) number as well as the street address in CEDEX addresses.

Monaco

The French postal code system is also used in Monaco, where the postal code is prefixed with 'MC', not with 'F' for France:

 12 avenue de la Costa MC-98000 Monaco MONACO 

 23, Avenue Prince Héréditaire Albert MC-98025 Monaco Cedex MONACO 

Départements of metropolitan France

The term Metropolitan France (French: la France métropolitaine, or just la Métropole) refers to the part of France in Europe, including Corsica, as opposed to the overseas departments and overseas territories, which, while integral parts of the French Republic, are regarded as Overseas France (French: la France d...

01000-09999

 01 Ain 02 Aisne 03 Allier 04 Alpes-de-Haute-Provence 05 Hautes-Alpes 06 Alpes-Maritimes 07 Ardèche 08 Ardennes 09 Ariège 

Ain is a département named after the Ain River on the eastern edge of France bordering Switzerland. ... Aisne is a département in the northern part of France named after the Aisne River. ... Allier is a département in south-central France named after the Allier River. ... Alpes_de_Haute_Provence is a French département in the south of France, it was formerly part of the province of Provence. ... Hautes-Alpes is a département in southeastern France named after the Alp mountain range. ... Alpes_Maritimes is a département in the extreme southeast corner of France. ... Ardèche is a département in south-central France named after the Ardèche River. ... Ardennes is a département in the northeast of France named after the Ardennes area. ... Ariège is a département in southwestern France named after the Ariège River. ...

10000-19999

 10 Aube 11 Aude 12 Aveyron 13 Bouches-du-Rhône 14 Calvados 15 Cantal 16 Charente 17 Charente-Maritime 18 Cher 19 Corrèze 

Aube is a département in the northeastern part of France named after the Aube River. ... Aude is a département in south-central France named after the Aude River. ... Aveyron is a département in southern France named after the Aveyron River. ... Bouches-du-Rhône is a département in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rhône River. ... For the apple brandy produced in the region, see Calvados (spirit). ... Cantal is a département in south-central France. ... Charente is a département in central France named after the Charente River. ... Charente-Maritime is a département on the west coast of France named after the Charente River. ... Cher is a département in the center of France. ... Corrèze is a département in the center of France. ...

20000-29999

 20 Corse-du-Sud, Haute-Corse 21 Côte-d'Or 22 Côtes-d'Armor 23 Creuse 24 Dordogne 25 Doubs 26 Drôme 27 Eure 28 Eure-et-Loir 29 Finistère 

Corse-du-Sud is a French département. ... Haute-Corse is a French département. ... Côte-dOr is a département in the eastern part of France. ... Côtes-dArmor is a département in the northwest of France. ... Creuse is a département in central France named after the Creuse River. ... Dordogne is a département in central France named after the Dordogne River. ... Doubs is a département in eastern France named after the Doubs River. ... Drôme is a département in southeastern France named after the Drôme River. ... Eure is a département in the north of France named after the Eure River. ... Eure-et-Loir is a French département, named after the Eure and Loir rivers. ... Finistère (Penn-ar-Bed in Breton) is a département of France, located in Brittany (Bretagne in French). ...

30000-39999

 30 Gard 31 Haute-Garonne 32 Gers 33 Gironde 34 Hérault 35 Ille-et-Vilaine 36 Indre 37 Indre-et-Loire 38 Isère 39 Jura 

Gard is a département located in the south of France named after the river Gardon (or Gard). ... Haute-Garonne is a département in the southwest of France named after the Garonne river. ... Gers is a département in the southwest of France named after the Gers River. ... Gironde is a département in the southwest of France named after the Gironde Estuary. ... Hérault is a département in the southwest of France named after the Hérault River. ... Ille-et-Vilaine is a département of France, located in Brittany (Bretagne in French) in the northwest corner of France. ... Indre is a département in the center of France named after the Indre River. ... Indre-et-Loire is a département in west-central France named after the Indre and the Loire rivers. ... Isère is a département in the east of France named after the Isère River. ... Jura is a département in the east of France named after the Jura mountains. ...

40000-49999

 40 Landes 41 Loir-et-Cher 42 Loire 43 Haute-Loire 44 Loire-Atlantique 45 Loiret 46 Lot 47 Lot-et-Garonne 48 Lozère 49 Maine-et-Loire 

Landes is a département in southern France. ... Loir-et-Cher is a département in north-central France named after its two principal rivers. ... Loire is a département in the east-central part of France occupying the Loire Rivers upper reaches. ... Haute-Loire is a département in south-central France named after the Loire River. ... Loire-Atlantique (formerly Loire-Inférieure) is a département on the west coast of France named after the Loire River and the Atlantic Ocean. ... Loiret is a département in north-central France named after the Loiret River. ... Lot is a département in the southwest of France named after the Lot River. ... Lot-et-Garonne is a département in the southwest of France named after the Lot and Garonne rivers. ... Lozère is a département in southeast France near the Massif Central. ... Maine-et-Loire is a département in west-central France. ...

50000-59999

 50 Manche 51 Marne 52 Haute-Marne 53 Mayenne 54 Meurthe-et-Moselle 55 Meuse 56 Morbihan 57 Moselle 58 Nièvre 59 Nord 

Manche is a French département in Normandy named after La Manche (the sleeve), which is the French name of the English Channel. ... Marne is a region in France. ... Haute-Marne is a département in the northeast of France named after the Marne River. ... Mayenne is a département in northwest France named after the Mayenne River. ... Meurthe-et-Moselle is a département in the northeast of France named after the Meurthe and Moselle rivers. ... Meuse is a département in northeast France, named after the Meuse River. ... Morbihan is a département in the northwest of France named after the Morbihan (small sea in Breton), the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastline. ... Moselle is a département in the northeast of France named after the Moselle River. ... Nièvre is a département in the center of France named after the Nièvre River. ... Nord (French, the north) is a département in the north of France. ...

60000-69999

 60 Oise 61 Orne 62 Pas-de-Calais 63 Puy-de-Dôme 64 Pyrénées-Atlantiques 65 Hautes-Pyrénées 66 Pyrénées-Orientales 67 Bas-Rhin 68 Haut-Rhin 69 Rhône 

Oise is a département in the north of France named after the Oise River. ... Orne is a département in the northwest of France named after the Orne River. ... Pas-de-Calais is a département in northern France named after the strait which it borders. ... Puy-de-Dôme is a département in the center of France named after the famous dormant volcano, the Puy-de-Dôme. ... Pyrénées-Atlantiques (Gascon: Pirenèus-Atlantics; Basque: Pirinio-Atlantiarrak or Pirinio-Atlantikoak) is a département in the southwest of France which takes its name from the Pyrenees mountains and the Atlantic Ocean. ... Hautes-Pyrénées is a département in southwestern France. ... Pyrénées-Orientales (Eastern Pyrenees, Catalan: Pirineus Orientals) is a département of southern France adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier and the Mediterranean Sea. ... History The département was created on March 4, 1790, during the French Revolution. ... Haut-Rhin is a French département, named after the Rhine river. ... Rhône is a French département located in eastern central France. ...

70000-79999

 70 Haute-Saône 71 Saône-et-Loire 72 Sarthe 73 Savoie 74 Haute-Savoie 75 Paris 76 Seine-Maritime 77 Seine-et-Marne 78 Yvelines 79 Deux-Sèvres 

Haute-Saône is a French département, named after the Saône River. ... Saône-et-Loire is a French département, named after the Saône and the Loire rivers. ... Sarthe is a French département, named after the Sarthe River. ... Savoie is a French département. ... Haute-Savoie is a French département, named after the Alps mountain range. ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... Seine-Maritime is a French département in Normandy. ... Seine-et-Marne is a French département, named after the Seine and the Marne rivers, and located in the Île-de-France région. ... Yvelines is a French département in the région of Île-de-France. ... Deux-Sèvres is a French département. ...

80000-89999

 80 Somme 81 Tarn 82 Tarn-et-Garonne 83 Var 84 Vaucluse 85 Vendée 86 Vienne 87 Haute-Vienne 88 Vosges 89 Yonne 

Somme is a French département named after the Somme River. ... Tarn (disambiguation). ... Tarn-et-Garonne is a French département in the southwest of France. ... Var is a département of southern France. ... For other uses of the name Vaucluse, see Vaucluse (disambiguation) Vaucluse is a département in the south of France. ... Vendée is a département in west central France, on the Atlantics Bay of Biscay. ... This article is about the French département. ... Haute-Vienne is a French département named after the Vienne River. ... Vosges is a French département, named after the Vosges mountain range. ... Yonne is a French département named after the Yonne River. ...

90000-95999

 90 Territoire-de-Belfort 91 Essonne 92 Hauts-de-Seine 93 Seine-Saint-Denis 94 Val-de-Marne 95 Val-d'Oise 

The Territoire de Belfort is a département in the Franche-Comté région of eastern France. ... The French département of Essonne is part of the région of Île-de-France. ... Hauts-de-Seine is a département in France. ... Seine-Saint-Denis is a French département located in the Île-de-France région. ... Val-de-Marne is a French département, named after the Marne River, located in the Île-de-France région. ... Val-dOise is a French département named after the Oise River, located in the Île-de-France région. ...

Overseas Departments and Territories

Départements d'outre mer (DOM) (Overseas departments)

 971 Guadeloupe 972 Martinique 973 French Guiana 974 Réunion 

Collectivités territoriales (TOM) (Territorial Collectivities):

 975 Saint-Pierre and Miquelon 976 Mayotte 

Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (French Saint-Pierre et Miquelon) is a French overseas collectivity consisting of several small islands off the eastern coast of Canada near Newfoundland. ...

Pays et Territoires d'outre mer (PTOM) (Overseas Countries and Territories)

 986 Wallis and Futuna 987 French Polynesia 988 New Caledonia 

See also

Lists of postal codes For an overview of postal code notation schemes of all countries using postal codes, please refer to the list of postal codes. ...

External links

• Guide to French postal codes
• Identifying CEDEX codes (in French)
• Postal Services in France - at Discover France (English)