Editing Postal codes in France (section)

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'''Postal codes''' were introduced in France in 1964, when ''[[La Poste (France)|La Poste]]'' introduced [[Optical character recognition|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 [[Departments of France|département]] in which the city is located. The [[Departments of France#Maps and tables|département numbers]] were assigned alphabetically between 1860 and 1870, but later changes (such as renaming and splitting of départements) mean that the list is no longer in strictly alphabetical order. The system extends to [[French overseas departments and territories]], and also includes [[Monaco]]. 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 ''[[Prefectures in France|préfecture]]''. However, in [[Paris]], [[Lyon]] and [[Marseille]], the last two digits indicate the ''[[Municipal arrondissements of France|arrondissement]]''. For example, 80000 corresponds to [[Amiens]], which is the ''préfecture'' of the [[Somme (department)|Somme]] or département 80, while 69008 corresponds to the 8th arrondissement of [[Lyon]].