Postal codes in France

Postal codeswere introduced in France in 1964, whenLa Posteintroducedautomated sorting.They were updated to use the current 5 digit system in 1972.

France uses five-digit numeric postal codes, the first two digits representing thedépartementin which the city is located. Thedépartement numberswere assigned Alpha betically between 1860 and 1870, but later changes (such as renaming and splitting of départements) mean that the list is no longer in strictly Alpha betical order. The system extends toFrench overseas departments and territories,and also includesMonaco.Note that postcodes in both départements ofCorsicacommence with the "20" historically assigned to Corsica before it was split into two départements, which are now numbered 2A and 2B.

The last three digits identify a more precise location, 000 being in general reserved for thepréfecture.However, inParis,LyonandMarseille,the last two digits indicate thearrondissement.For example, 80000 corresponds toAmiens,which is thepréfectureof theSommeor département 80, while 69008 corresponds to the 8th arrondissement ofLyon.

Format

Two-digit postcode areas of metropolitan France (defined through the first two postcode digits)

Thepostal code(French:code postal) consists of five digits. Inmetropolitan Francethe first two digits are the number of thedépartementwhere the post office in charge of delivery to a town is located. There are some places where this is different from the department where the place is located. In theOverseas DepartmentsandTerritories,the first three digits identify thedépartementor territory. The digits00are used forMilitaryaddresses. The digits20are used for all ofCorsica;the split of the island into two départements was not followed by a change in the postal codes.

The next three digits identify the local postal office in charge of mail delivery. A regular postcode always ends with a0,with the notable exception of Paris, Lyon and Marseille – see below – and the Overseas Départements and Territories. Postcodes not ending with a 0 may indicate a special code, known as CEDEX (see below), or newest postcodes.

In Paris,LyonandMarseille,the last two digits of the postal code indicate themunicipal arrondissement.Prior to 1972, an address in the eighthmunicipal arrondissementof Paris, would be written as:

8 rue Chambiges

Paris 8^e

This number was incorporated into the postal code as:

8 rue Chambiges

75008Paris

The16th arrondissement of Parishas two postal codes, 75016 (south) and 75116 (north).

In eachdépartement,thepréfecture(main city) has a postal code ending with000,for exampleBourgesin Cher:

15 avenue du Général Leclerc

18000 Bourges

The more important the city, the simpler the postal code. Thesous-préfecturesare generally recognized by using aXXX00postcode (but a few additionalXXX00postcodes may also be allocated in the most populatedpréfecturesto subdivide them into several postal distribution areas,XX000being still used for the most central post office of the city). Here is for example the postal code of a small village,Lépaudin Creuse:

16 grande rue

23170 Lépaud

Another example withPouillé-les-CôteauxinLoire-Atlantique:

17 rue de la Cour

44522 Pouillé-les-Côteaux

And the postal code of Mortagne-au-Perche,sous-préfectureof the Département de l'Orne:

4 rue des Quinze Fusillés

61400 Mortagne-au-Perche

It is not rare that many adjacent villages share the same postal code, which is primarily associated with a bigger post office, e.g.: 64150 can correspond to Abidos, Bésingrand, Lagor, Lahourcade, Mourenx, Noguère, Os Marsillon, Pardies, Sauvelade and Vielleségure. It may happen that a village is associated with a bigger post office in another département, thus its postcode begins with the two digits of another département. For example,Le Fresne-sur-Loire,inLoire-Atlantique,uses 49123, while its postcode should normally start with 44, because it is associated with the post office ofIngrandes,a neighbouring commune inMaine-et-Loire.

Overseas Départements and Territories use 3-digit codes starting with: 971 (Guadeloupe), 972 (Martinique), 973 (French Guiana), 974 (Réunion), 975 (Saint-Pierre and Miquelon), 976 (Mayotte), 984 (French Southern Territories), 986 (Wallis and Futuna), 987 (French Polynesia), 988 (New Caledonia). In March 2008 La Poste proposed allotting 977 toSaint Barthélemyand 978 toSaint Martindue to their new status asoverseas collectivities.In this case, the last zero is dropped so as to keep the 5-digit format. This is why the regular postcodes for these do not end with 0 except for thepréfectureorsous-préfecture,for example:

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('business mail with special delivery'), 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:

12 rue de Broquedis

64205 Biarritz CEDEX

CEDEX should always be written in capitals. It may be followed by a number, if the town has more than one post office, or if it is split intoarrondissements.

Ordinary deliveries would be addressed to:

12 rue de Broquedis

64200 Biarritz

It is acceptable to include aboîte postale('post office box') number (abbreviated asBPnnnn) as well as the street address in CEDEX addresses.

Monaco

Although an independent country,Monacois part of the French postal code system as if it were a French department, numbered, with codes consisting of 980 and two digits, with 00 being used for deliveries to all physical addresses in the Principality, and 01 to 99 being used for special types of delivery.However the destination country on inbound mail must be specified as "Monaco", not "France".

12 avenue de la Costa

98000 Monaco

MONACO

23 avenue Prince Héréditaire Albert

98025 Monaco CEDEX

MONACO

See also

• Departments of France

External links

• Les Codes Postaux et CEDEX
• French Postal Codes in JSON, XML and CSV format