Editing INSEE code (section)

== Geographical codes ==
[[File:Carte-des-codes-des-regions-selon-l-INSEE.jpg|thumb|Map of France with INSEE former region codes]]
INSEE also gives numerical indexing codes (French: ''les Codes INSEE'') to various administrative entities in France:
* '''INSEE codes''' (known as '''COG''', for {{lang|fr|Code officiel géographique}}) are given to various administrative units, notably the French [[Commune in France|communes]] (they do not coincide with [[postcode]]s, as there  are 36,778 communes in France and many have the same name). The code has five digits:
** 2 digits (''[[département]]'') and 3 digits (commune) for the 96 ''départements'' of Metropolitan France.
** 3 digits (''département'' or collectivity) and 2 digits (commune) for the overseas departments and overseas collectivities.

The departmental codes are well known since they were used as the last two digits of [[French vehicle registration plates|vehicle registration plates]] (75 is [[Paris]], 13 [[Marseille]], 31 [[Toulouse]], etc.). However, this vehicle registration plate numbering system became optional in 2009 so the last two digits no longer necessarily indicate the department to which the car is registered.

The commune codes were assigned initially by numbering the alphabetically ordered list of commune names within each department or overseas division. Exceptions have occurred over time because some communes were renamed, some communes were split and new communes have been added to the end of the list.

The departmental codes are also best known as part of the French postal codes; but the postal codes do not include the INSEE commune numbers but were designed by geographical series starting by the main city of the department and then split geographically around them, with additional series given for special distribution. Some areas of the largest and most populated communes can also be assigned distinct series. The postal codes do not indicate precisely the communes but the location of the post office in charge for the distribution, and many rural communes share the same postal code number as the commune where the post office is located.

There are also 5-digit INSEE codes for foreign countries and territories, beginning with 99.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.insee.fr/fr/information/2028273 |title=Codification des pays et territoires étrangers |publisher=INSEE |access-date=4 July 2022}}</ref>