Local short name form

Official name

Area

Population

Capital

Currency

International telephone access code

ISO 3166 country codes

Car nationality plate code

Internet country code

GRC Country Code

   1 234,45

(where , indicates the decimal separator and a space the thousands separator)

   Note: This section last updated 19th April 2021

   dd/mm/yyyy
   dd.mm.yyyy
   dd-mm-yyyy

The 24-hour clock notation is used, with h, indicating heures, hours, often used as a separator:

   14h32
   14:32   

French is the only official language of France. Few people do not speak French, but only 87 per cent of the population speak French as a mother tongue. Along France’s borders a number of people speak other languages - Alsatian (German, in various dialects) in Alsace-Lorraine on the border with Germany; Letzebuergesch on the border with Luxembourg; Flemish in the north on the Belgian border; Provençals (Occitan - in the dialects of Avergnat, Franco-Provençal, Gascon, Languedocien, Limousin and Provençals) in the south; Catalan in the south near the Spanish border; and Basque in the south-west on the Spanish border in the départements of Labourd , Basse-Navarre and Soule . Breton is still spoken in Brittany . In Corsica Corsican , a dialect of Italian, is spoken. There are significant numbers of people speaking these languages:

   Alsatian : 2.6%
   Basque : 0.1%
   Breton : 0.9%
   Catalan : 0.5%
   Corsican : 0.5%
   Flemish : 0.1%
   Provençals : 3%

Caló (Iberian Romany) and Romani are spoken by some 30-60 000 people in France.

France is a highly unitary state, and these languages are rarely given more than a passing recognition that they exist – in fact, the constitution baldly states that the language of the Republic is French. However, this situation is likely to change as a motion is being tabled by the government to give limited recognition to regional languages within France. This may include teaching in these languages, and increased broadcasting. It is highly unusual (but not impossible) to come across addresses written in any language other than French.

This is written A l’Attention du in French.

Personal names are usually written given name first, family name last, but this is also often reversed. Family names are usually written in upper case in addresses.

Many French people have double-barrelled given names. These may be written with a space between the components, with a hyphen, or conjoined:

   John Paul
   Jean-Claude
   Annamarie

A change in the law in 2004 has allowed children to be given the family name of either their mother, or their father, or both in either order. All children must be given the same family name, and the father’s name prevails in a dispute.

   Tables of names can be acquired: given names , surnames/family names , family name prefixes , forms of address , job titles 

It is more correct, where the nature of the company is mentioned in its name, that this precedes the name of the company, thus:

   Boulangerie Lalosse et Cie.

You will often, however, find these activity indications after the company name, thus:

   Lalosse, Boulangerie
   Lalosse (Boulangerie)

Equally, articles are often put in brackets after the name of the company, so:

   Le Centre 

becomes

   Centre (Le)

This is also the case with initials. Thus:

   Boulangerie J. Dumalin 

becomes

   Dumalin (Boulangerie J.)

STE in a company name is an abbreviation of Société (company).

   Note: This section last updated 28th November 2017

These company types will often be found in address databases:

   Affaire personnelle
   Auto-Entrepreneur - sole proprietorship
   EI (Entreprise individuelle/entreprise en nom personnel) - sole proprietorship
   EURL – Entreprise Unipersonelle à Responsabilité Limitée (sole proprietorship with limited liability)
   FCP (Fonds commun de placement) - unincorporated investment fund
   GIE – Groupement d’Intéret Économique
   SA – Société Anonyme
   Sarl - Société à Responsabilité limitée (private company)
   SAS - Société par actions simplifiée
   SASU - Société par actions simplifiée unipersonnelle
   SCA -Société en commandité par actions
   SC – Société civile (partnership with full liability)
   SCOP - Société coopérative
   SCP - Société Civile Professional (Professional Company) 
   SCS – Société en Commandité Simple
   Selarl – Société d’exercice libéral à responsabilité limitée
   SCM – Société Civile de Moyen (Professional Guild)
   SEM (Société d’économie mixte) - semi-public company
   SICAF (Société d’investissement à capital fixe) - closed-end investment fund
   SICAV (Société d’investissement à capital variable) - unit trust /mutual fund.
   SNC – Société en nom collectif – general partnership
   SP – Société en participation
   SPFPL – Société pour les Professions Libérales

   Comprehensive tables of these strings can be acquired – see http:www.grcdi.nl/addresses.htm 

   Note: This section last updated 30th July 2020

Addresses are rarely written in any language other than French. Addresses are usually written in this format:

   First name[ ]LAST NAME
   COMPANY NAME
   number[ ]thoroughfare type[ ]Thoroughfare name 
   postal code[ ]TOWN NAME{[ ]SORTING CODE} 

or

   First name[ ]LAST NAME
   COMPANY NAME
   number[, ]thoroughfare type[ ]Thoroughfare name
   postal code[ ]TOWN NAME{[ ]SORTING CODE}

For example:

or

The French Post Office prefers that the address is written without the comma between the house number and the thoroughfare.

Addresses may also contain building, sub-building and entrance information, as well as a locality, but it should contain no more than 6 lines. For example:

It is usual for the surnames of French people, and company names, to be written in upper case.

If the address has a box number, add this after the number:

   number[ boîte ]number[ ]thoroughfare type[ ]Thoroughfare name

You will also find indications of the staircase or building in which the inhabitant lives:

   [Escalier No. ]number 

or

   [Bâtiment ]number

The number might also be followed by the words bis or ter.

Numbers may be written as follows:

   1-4
   1/4
   1 à 4 (1 to 4), or
   1 et 4 (1 and 4)

The thoroughfare type part of the address is prefixed to the thoroughfare name with a space between the words. For example:

   7 rue Amiens
   123 avenue de la Gare

It is more accurate to write the thoroughfare types in lower case, as above^*.

The abbreviations CIDEX and CAIE (Code d’Acheminement Interne à l’Entreprise) indicate delivery points within building or companies. The abbreviation TSA (Tri Service Arrivée) followed by a number may be found in an address, as well as the street address:

The code is a company internal sorting code.

^* A note about the casing of thoroughfare types in French. You will find very many examples of thoroughfares with the thoroughfare type written with the first letter in capitals. Even native French-speakers seem unsure about this. However, authoritative sources are clear: a thoroughfare type in a French address is not capitalised, as summarised on Wikipedia :

“Dans les toponymes (noms de lieu) et les odonymes (voies de circulation), seul le terme spécifique prend la majuscule initiale, le terme générique, pour sa part, conservant la minuscule:

   la rue de l’Église ; 
   la place de l’Église ; 
   le village de Colombey-les-Deux-Églises.”  

   A table containing information about the relevant position of elements within address blocks can be acquired 

Building indicators

   Comprehensive tables of these strings can be acquired – see http:www.grcdi.nl/addresses.htm 

Thoroughfare types

   Comprehensive tables of these strings can be acquired – see http:www.grcdi.nl/addresses.htm 

Other elements commonly found in address databases

This is written as Boîte Postale, abbreviated to BP.

Postal codes (Code Postal), introduced in May 1965, consist of a block of 5 digits. They are always placed before and on the same line as the town name. The first two digits are the département number. Where the département number is less than 10 it is preceded by 0, for example 05. Département 2A has postal codes beginning with 200, 201, 203, 205, 207 and 209; département 2B has postal codes beginning with 202, 204 and 206. The préfecture (capital) of each départment has as its last three digits 000.

Most communes have their own unique postal code number. However, some scattered rural communities have more than one code. 32 cities have more than one distribution office and there­fore more than one code. These, with their codes, are:

Six communes have two codes with different names for the same commune:

   Antibes: 06600 Antibes and 06160 Juan les Pins
   Cannes: 06400 Cannes and 06150 Cannes la Bocca
   Grasse: 06130 Grasse and 06520 Magagnosc
   Meudon: 92190 Meudon and 92360 Meudon la Forêt
   Saint-Denis: 93200 Saint-Denis and 93210 La Plaine-Saint-Denis
   Saint-Maurs-des-Fossés: 94100 Saint-Maur-des-Fosses and 94210 La Varenne-Saint-Hilaire

Three cities (Paris with 20, Lyon with 9 and Marseilles with 16) are split into arrondissements. These have their own postal codes, the number of the arrondissement being the last two digits of the postal code (with the exception of the Paris 16^th arrondissement, with 2 codes - 75016 and 75116).

Large companies, town halls and so on can have their own unique postal code. In these cases the town name is followed by the word CÉDEX (Courrier d’Entreprise à Distribution Exceptionelle), thus:

   75910 PARIS CÉDEX

The word CÉDEX may itself be followed by a number:

   75910 PARIS CÉDEX 19

1 350 post offices are also CÉDEX distribution offices. There are around 21 300 CÉDEX codes.

Military bases need no street address, but the town name is followed by either AIR (air-force base), NAVAL (naval base) or ARMÉES (army base), and share postal codes commencing 00.

Also used as a sorting code after a settlement name is CHEQUES (for the address of banks).

There are 6 200 main post offices serving the 36 000 communes. Before 1989, where the recipient did not live in the same commune as that in which the main post office was situated, both communes had to be named, thus:

   Monsieur Durand
   12, rue des Rossignols
   Villemoisson-sur-Orge
   91360 Epinay-sur-Orge

Since 1989 this is no longer necessary, though they may still be found in addresses. Now the code is that of the main post office, but the commune is that of the recipient, so:

   Monsieur Durand
   12, rue des Rossignols
   91360 Villemoisson-sur-Orge

Postal codes beginning with 97 belong to France’s Overseas départements and territories.

Postal codes beginning with 98 belong to the independent state of Monaco.

Metadata containing postal code formatting rules, exceptions and regular expressions can be acquired

France - Postal code format graphic

France - Postal code format

France - Postal code specifics

France - Postal code regular expression

France - Postal code level of coverage

France - Postal code map

   Note: This section last updated 21st February 2017

All place names consisting of more than one word are hyphenated, with the exception of those beginning with ‘LE’, ‘LA’ or ‘LES’, where there is a space between this word and the next. All other words within a place name beginning with one of these words will be hyphenated, for example:

   La Ferté-Vidame
   Le Château-d’Oléron

Refer to Exonyms in France for full lists of place names in France in other languages.

   Alternate place name forms/postal code tables can be acquired at http:www.grcdi.nl/settlements.htm 

   Other language place name data can be acquired at http://www.grcdi.nl/otherlanguageplace.htm 

The village of Y (Source: Wikipedia)

   Note: This section last updated 13th February 2022

France is divided into 18 régions or equivalent (5 of which are overseas), 102 départements (6 of which are overseas) and around 36 000 communes (municipalities). The départements are numbered, and these numbers are important because they appear in the postal codes. Initially these numbers were assigned by alphabetical order, but since the first classification some changes have been made which have altered this order.

Départements (Metropolitan France)

Département	Region
01 Ain	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
02 Aisne	Hauts-de-France
2A Corse-du-Sud	Corse
2B Haute-Corse	Corse
03 Allier	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
04 Alpes-Haute-Provence	Provence - Alpes - Côte-d’Azur
05 Hautes-Alpes	Provence - Alpes - Côte-d’Azur
06 Alpes-Maritimes	Provence - Alpes - Côte-d’Azur
07 Ardèche	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
08 Ardennes	Grand Est
09 Ariège	Occitanie
10 Aube	Grand Est
11 Aude	Occitanie
12 Aveyron	Occitanie
13 Bouches-du-Rhône	Provence - Alpes - Côte-d’Azur
14 Calvados	Normandie
15 Cantal	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
16 Charente	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
17 Charente Maritime	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
18 Cher	Centre-Val de Loire
19 Corrèze	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
20 (see 2A and 2B)
21 Côte d’Or	Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
22 Côtes d’Armor (previously Côte-du-Nord)	Bretagne
23 Creuse	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
24 Dordogne	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
25 Doubs	Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
26 Drôme	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
27 Eure	Normandie
28 Eure-et-Loire	Centre-Val de Loire
29 Finistère	Bretagne
30 Gard	Occitanie
31 Haute Garonne	Occitanie
32 Gers	Occitanie
33 Gironde	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
34 Hérault	Occitanie
35 Ille-et-Villaine	Bretagne
36 Indre	Centre-Val de Loire
37 Indre-et-Loire	Centre-Val de Loire
38 Isère	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
39 Jura	Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
40 Landes	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
41 Loir-et-Cher	Centre-Val de Loire
42 Loire	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
43 Haute Loire	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
44 Loire-Atlantique	Pays de la Loire
45 Loiret	Centre-Val de Loire
46 Lot	Occitanie
47 Lot-et-Garonne	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
48 Lozère	Occitanie
49 Maine-et-Loire	Pays de la Loire
50 Manche	Normandie
51 Marne	Grand Est
52 Haute-Marne	Grand Est
53 Mayenne	Pays de la Loire
54 Meurthe-et-Moselle	Grand Est
55 Meuse	Grand Est
56 Morbihan	Bretagne
57 Moselle	Grand Est
58 Nièvre	Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
59 Nord	Hauts-de-France
60 Oise	Hauts-de-France
61 Orne	Normandie
62 Pas-de-Calais	Hauts-de-France
63 Puy-de-Dôme	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
64 Pyrénées Atlantiques	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
65 Hautes Pyrénées	Occitanie
66 Pyrénées-Orientales	Occitanie
67 Bas-Rhin	Grand Est
68 Haut-Rhin	Grand Est
69 Rhône	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
70 Haute Saône	Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
71 Saône-et-Loire	Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
72 Sarthe	Pays de la Loire
73 Savoie	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
74 Haute Savoie	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
75 Paris	Ile-de-France
76 Seine-Maritime	Normandie
77 Seine-et-Marne	Ile-de-France
78 Yvelines	Ile-de-France
79 Deux-Sèvres	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
80 Somme	Hauts-de-France
81 Tarn	Occitanie
82 Tarn-et-Garonne	Occitanie
83 Var	Provence - Alpes - Côte-d’Azur
84 Vaucluse	Provence - Alpes - Côte-d’Azur
85 Vendée	Pays de la Loire
86 Vienne	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
87 Haute Vienne	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
88 Vosges	Grand Est
89 Yonne	Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
90 Belfort	Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
91 Essonne	Ile-de-France
92 Hauts-de-Seine	Ile-de-France
93 Seine-Saint-Denis	Ile-de-France
94 Val-de-Marne	Ile-de-France
95 Val-d’Oise	Ile-de-France

Postal codes commencing ‘99’ are special postal codes for Paris.

These form the French Overseas’ Territories/Départements:

   9705-9708, 97150 Saint-Martin
   9709, 97133 Saint-Barthélemy 
   9710-97132, 97136-97198 Guadeloupe
   972 Martinique
   973 Guyane Française (French Guiana)
   974 Réunion
   975 Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon (Saint Pierre and Miquelon)
   976-979 Mayotte
   985 Mayotte Cédex
   986 Wallis and Futuna
   987 Polynésie Française (French Polynesia)
   988 Nouvelle-Calédonie (New Caledonia)

   This regions/postal code data can be acquired as a data file 

Régions

    Grand Est 
    Nouvelle-Aquitaine 
    Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 
    Bourgogne-Franche-Comté     
    Bretagne 
    Centre-Val de Loire 
    Corse 
    Ile-de-France 
    Occitanie 
    Hauts-de-France 
    Normandie 
    Pays de la Loire 
    Provence - Alpes - Côte-d’Azur 

Administrative districts graphic

   Note: This section last updated 19th February 2023

From 1^st January 2023, all fixed line telephone numbers in France have become non-geographic. Numbers can be assigned and used anywhere within metropolitan France and the numbers no longer have a geographic prefix. ^[2]

Mobile numbers begin with the numbers 6 or 7.