'Allo Allo' - Telephone Numbers in France

Telephone Numbers in France

This new article is about phone numbers in France, all telephone numbers how to use them. France uses a 10-digit system with the first two digits denoting a mobile phone, a non-geographic number or one of the five geographic area of France for landlines.

• 01 Paris & Île-de-France
• 02 Northwest France
• 03 Northeast France
• 04 Southeast France
• 05 Southwest France
• 06 Mobile phone services
• 07 Mobile phone services
• 08 Special phone numbers including Freephone (numéro vert) and shared services
• 09 Non-geographic number (used by Voice over IP services)

NUMBERING SYSTEM IN FRANCE

This telephone numbering system is used in France, its French overseas departments and territories. All geographic numbers are dialled using the full 10-digit format even local calls.

Every country has a different country code that must be dialled before the local phone number. Without them there wouldn't be enough numbers for everyone in the world to have a unique one. The international access code is the International Telecommunication Union's recommended standard starting with 00. France’s country code is +33.

MAKING INTERNATIONAL CALLS

When calling France from abroad, the leading 0 of the local number should be omitted; for example, to call a number in the southwest, from overseas you would dial +33 5 and the other 8 digits.

In France, people (and forms on websites) usually write telephone numbers in pairs, forming a sequence of five double-digit numbers, for example , 01 23 45 67 89. There are two main directories to look up people or businesses in France, les pages blanches to find the number of a private individual and les pages jaunes for products and services.

ABOUT FRANCE'S PHONE HISTORY

For those interested in France's communication system, visit the wikipedia website and the former France Télécoms, now Orange, your first port of call when you move to France. Checkout the history of the Minitel, a kind of internet of the future back then. The Minitel was a videotex online service accessible through telephone lines and was the world's most successful online service prior to the World Wide Web. It was invented near Rennes in Brittany.

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY

Finally, if you have an emergency, here are the main telephone numbers to use, we hope this helps.