Machine-readable Zone
The format of the first row is:
| positions | chars | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | alpha | I |
| 2 | alpha | Type, at discretion of states (D in that case) |
| 3–5 | alpha | FRA // issuing country (ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code with modifications) |
| 6–31 | alpha | Card holder's last name followed by '<' symbols to fill any unused space |
| 31-33 | alpha+num | Digits 5-7 of ID card number, department of issuance. |
| 34-36 | num | Office of issuance |
| 31-36 | alpha | On some cards 31-36 will instead be filled with <<<<< |
The format of the second row is:
| positions | chars | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1-12 | num | ID card number. Digits 1-2 are year of issuance, 3-4 are month of issuance and 5-7 are department of issuance |
| 13 | num | Check digit over digits 1–12 |
| 14–27 | alpha | First name followed by given names separated by two filler characters |
| 28-33 | num | Birth date (YYMMDD) |
| 34 | num | Check digit over digits 28-33 |
| 35 | alpha | Gender (M or F) |
| 36 | num | Check digit over digits 1-36 in first row combined with digits 1-35 in second row |
For check digit calculations: First, convert any non-numeric characters into numbers. Letters are assigned values alphabetically from 10 to 35 (A=10, Z=35), < is 0. Second, multiple each number by a weighting value. This is a repeating pattern of 7,3,1. For example, the first number is multiplied by 7, the second number by 3, the third by 1, the fourth by 7, the fifth by 3, etc. Now, sum the products to obtain a single number. Finally, divide the number by 10 and the remainder is your check digit (this is known as a modulo 10 calculation).
Read more about this topic: National Identity Card (France)
Famous quotes containing the word zone:
“In the zone of perdition where my youth went as if to complete its education, one would have said that the portents of an imminent collapse of the whole edifice of civilization had made an appointment.”
—Guy Debord (b. 1931)