Postal codes were introduced in France in 1964, when La Poste introduced automated 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 the département
in which the city is located.
The département numbers were assigned alphabetically at the time of the French Revolution, but
later changes mean that the list is no longer in strictly alphabetical order.
The system also extends to French overseas departments and territories.
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.
Format
The postal code 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 from 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, 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:
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 16th arrondissement of Paris, which has two postal codes, 75016
and 75116.
In each département, the préfecture has a postal code ending with 000, for example
Bourges in Cher: 15 avenue du Général Leclerc
18000 Bourges 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:
16 grande rue 23170 Lépaud
Another example with Pouillé-les-Côteaux in Loire-Atlantique:
17 rue de la Cour 44522 Pouillé-les-Côteaux
And the postal code of Mortagne-au-Perche, sous-préfecture of 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, in Loire-Atlantique, uses 49123, while its postcode should normally
starts with 44, because it is associated with the post office of Ingrandes, a neighbouring
commune in Maine-et-Loire.
Overseas Départements and Territories use 3-digit codes starting with : 971, 972, 973,
974, 975, 976, 984, 986, 987, 988.
In March 2008 La Poste proposed allotting 977 to Saint Barthélemy and 978 to Saint
Martin due to their new status as overseas 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 the préfecture
or sous-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,
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 into arrondissements.
Ordinary deliveries would be addressed to: 12 rue de Broquedis
64200 Biarritz It is acceptable to include a boîte postale
number as well as the street address in CEDEX addresses.
Monaco French postal codes are also used in Monaco
as if it were a French département, numbered 980.
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 Département in France
References
External links Les Codes Postaux et CEDEX
Find a French postcode Postal Code Lookup France
Les codes postaux sur mobile