Postal Codes in France

Postal Codes In France

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 (such as renaming and splitting of départements) 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.

Read more about Postal Codes In France:  Format, CEDEX, Monaco

Famous quotes containing the words postal, codes and/or france:

    This is the Night Mail crossing the Border,
    Bringing the cheque and the postal order,
    Letters for the rich, letters for the poor,
    The shop at the corner, the girl next door.
    —W.H. (Wystan Hugh)

    We must trust infinitely to the beneficent necessity which shines through all laws. Human nature expresses itself in them as characteristically as in statues, or songs, or railroads, and an abstract of the codes of nations would be an abstract of the common conscience.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    The best of America drifts to Paris. The American in Paris is the best American. It is more fun for an intelligent person to live in an intelligent country. France has the only two things toward which we drift as we grow older—intelligence and good manners.
    F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940)