Postal codes were introduced in France in 1964, when La Poste introduced automated sorting. They were updated to use the current 5 digits system in 1972.
France uses five-digit numeric postal codes, the first two digits representing the département in which the city is located. The département numbers were assigned alphabetically at the time of the French Revolution, but some later changes (such as renaming and splitting of départements) mean that the list is not completely in alphabetical order anymore. The system is extended to French overseas departments and territories as well. Note that postcodes in both départements of Corsica commence 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 the préfecture. However, in Paris, Lyon and Marseille, the last two digits indicate the arrondissement. For example, 80000 corresponds to Amiens, which is the préfecture of the Somme or département 80, while 69008 corresponds to the 8th arrondissement of Lyon.
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The postal code (French: code postal) consists of five digits. In metropolitan France the first two digits are the number of the département where the post office in charge of delivery to a town is located. There are some places where this is different to the department where the place is located. In the Overseas Departments and Territories, the first three digits identify the département or territory. The digits 00 are used for Military addresses. The digits 20 are used for all of Corsica; 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 a 0, 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, Lyon and Marseille, 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:
This number was incorporated into the postal code as:
An exception to this rule is the XVIe arrondissement of Paris, which has two postal codes, 75016 (south) and 75116 (north).
In each département, the préfecture (main city) has a postal code ending with 000, for example Bourges in Cher:
The more important the city, the simpler the postal code. The sous-préfectures are generally recognized by using a XXX00 postcode. Here is for example the postal code of a small village, Lépaud in Creuse:
And the postal code of Mortagne-au-Perche, sous-préfecture of the Département de l'Orne:
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.
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 to Saint Barthélemy and 978 to Saint Martin due to their new status as overseas collectivities.[1] 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 the préfecture or sous-préfecture, for example:
There is also a system known as CEDEX, Courrier d'Entreprise à Distribution EXceptionnelle ("special business mail"), 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:
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 into arrondissements.[2]
Ordinary deliveries would be addressed to:
It is acceptable to include a boîte postale (post office box) number as well as the street address in CEDEX addresses.
The French postal code system is also used in Monaco as if it were a French département numbered 98. However the destination country that has to be indicated, when sending a letter from outside the country, is "Monaco" and not "France".
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