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Geocoding — entry 018 of 80

API Découpage Administratif (API Geo)

Verified Jul 2026

Etalab's Découpage Administratif API looks up and cross-references France's administrative hierarchy — communes, EPCIs, départements, and régions — by name, postcode, SIREN, or geographic coordinates, with no API key required. The stored api.gouv.fr/api/geoapi.html link had gone stale, 301-redirecting to a generic data.gouv.fr listing page instead of the live docs; the real service and interactive documentation are hosted at geo.api.gouv.fr. A live Origin-header probe against the real /communes endpoint confirms open CORS, reflecting back whatever Origin is sent.

Etalab's Découpage Administratif API is a free, keyless lookup for France's administrative divisions. Query it by commune name, postcode, SIREN, or coordinates, and it returns communes, EPCIs, départements, and régions as JSON or GeoJSON.

franceadministrative-divisionsgovernment-datageojsonfree
Visit geo.api.gouv.fr ↗Read the docs ↗More Geocoding
AuthenticationNone requiredCall it straight away — no key, no signup.
HTTPSSupportedTraffic is encrypted in transit.
CORSEnabledCallable directly from browser JavaScript.
PricingFreeNo paid tier — free for the documented use case.
FormatsJSON, GeoJSONResponses can be requested as JSON or GeoJSON.

GreatAPIs Score

Score100out of 100
Authentication25/25No authentication required
Pricing20/20Free to use
Docs20/20Machine-readable spec file bundled
Formats15/15Supports 2 response formats
Freshness20/20Verified within 6 months

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Scored 100 on greatapis.com
<a href="https://greatapis.com/api/geoapi/"><img src="https://greatapis.com/badge/geoapi.svg" alt="Scored 100 on greatapis.com"></a>

Auth quickstart

  1. No API key or sign-up needed. Every request is a plain GET against geo.api.gouv.fr.
Stored keyNo key stored

Your key is stored only in this browser (localStorage) and sent directly to the API — never to greatapis.

Endpoints

Servers
https://geo.api.gouv.fr
Communes2
GET/communesRecherche des communes
Parameters
NameInRequiredType
codePostalquerynostring
latquerynonumber
lonquerynonumber
nomquerynostring
boostquerynostring
codequerynostring
sirenquerynostring
codeEpciquerynostring
codeDepartementquerynostring
codeRegionquerynostring
codeParentquerynostring
ancienCodequerynostring
zonequerynoarray
typequerynoarray
fieldsquerynoarray
formatquerynostring
geometryquerynostring
Responses
StatusDescriptionSchema
200Liste de communes—
400Erreur. Requête mal forméeError
GET/communes/{code}Récupérer les informations concernant une commune
Parameters
NameInRequiredType
codepathyesstring
fieldsquerynoarray
formatquerynostring
geometryquerynostring
Responses
StatusDescriptionSchema
200Informations concernant une communeCommune
400Erreur. Requête mal forméeError
404Commune introuvableError
Communes associées et déléguées2
GET/communes_associees_delegueesRecherche des communes associées et/ou déléguées
Parameters
NameInRequiredType
latquerynonumber
lonquerynonumber
nomquerynostring
codequerynostring
codeEpciquerynostring
codeDepartementquerynostring
codeRegionquerynostring
typequerynoarray
fieldsquerynoarray
formatquerynostring
geometryquerynostring
Responses
StatusDescriptionSchema
200Liste de communes associées et/ou déléguées—
400Erreur. Requête mal forméeError
GET/communes_associees_deleguees/{code}Récupérer les informations concernant une commune associée ou déléguée
Parameters
NameInRequiredType
codepathyesstring
fieldsquerynoarray
formatquerynostring
geometryquerynostring
Responses
StatusDescriptionSchema
200Informations concernant une commune associée ou déléguéeCommune
400Erreur. Requête mal forméeError
404Commune associée ou déléguée introuvableError
Départements4
GET/departementsRecherche des départements
Parameters
NameInRequiredType
codequerynostring
codeRegionquerynostring
nomquerynostring
zonequerynoarray
fieldsquerynoarray
Responses
StatusDescriptionSchema
200Le ou les départements—
400Erreur. Requête mal forméeError
GET/departements/{code}Récupérer les informations concernant un département
Parameters
NameInRequiredType
codepathyesstring
fieldsquerynoarray
Responses
StatusDescriptionSchema
200Informations concernant un départementDepartement
400Erreur. Requête mal forméeError
404Département introuvableError
GET/departements/{code}/communesRenvoi les communes d'un département
Parameters
NameInRequiredType
codepathyesstring
fieldsquerynoarray
formatquerynostring
geometryquerynostring
Responses
StatusDescriptionSchema
200Liste des communes du département—
400Erreur. Requête mal forméeError
404Département introuvableError
GET/regions/{code}/departementsRenvoi les départements d'une région
Parameters
NameInRequiredType
codepathyesstring
fieldsquerynoarray
Responses
StatusDescriptionSchema
200Liste des départements de la région—
400Erreur. Requête mal forméeError
404Département introuvableError
EPCI3
GET/epcisRecherche des EPCI
Parameters
NameInRequiredType
nomquerynostring
boostquerynostring
codeEpciquerynostring
codeDepartementquerynostring
codeRegionquerynostring
zonequerynoarray
fieldsquerynoarray
formatquerynostring
geometryquerynostring
Responses
StatusDescriptionSchema
200Liste des EPCI—
400Erreur. Requête mal forméeError
GET/epcis/{code}Récupérer les informations concernant un EPCI
Parameters
NameInRequiredType
codepathyesstring
fieldsquerynoarray
formatquerynostring
geometryquerynostring
Responses
StatusDescriptionSchema
200Informations concernant un EPCIEpci
400Erreur. Requête mal forméeError
404EPCI introuvableError
GET/epcis/{code}/communesRenvoi les communes d'un EPCI
Parameters
NameInRequiredType
codepathyesstring
fieldsquerynoarray
formatquerynostring
geometryquerynostring
Responses
StatusDescriptionSchema
200Liste des communes de l'EPCI—
400Erreur. Requête mal forméeError
404EPCI introuvableError
Régions2
GET/regionsRecherche des régions
Parameters
NameInRequiredType
codequerynostring
nomquerynostring
zonequerynoarray
fieldsquerynoarray
Responses
StatusDescriptionSchema
200La ou les régions—
400Erreur. Requête mal forméeError
GET/regions/{code}Récupérer les informations concernant une région
Parameters
NameInRequiredType
codepathyesstring
fieldsquerynoarray
Responses
StatusDescriptionSchema
200Informations concernant la régionRegion
400Erreur. Requête mal forméeError
404Région introuvableError

Try it

Developer reference
Base URLhttps://geo.api.gouv.fr
Rate limit
50 requests/second per IP address
Key endpoints
  • GET/communes
  • GET/communes/{code}
  • GET/departements/{code}/communes
Gotchas & limits
  • The fields parameter trims each result to the properties you list. With no fields, a live probe of GET /communes?codePostal=75001 returned nom, code, codeDepartement, siren, codeEpci, codeRegion, codesPostaux, and population. Other properties, such as surface, centre, and contour, only come back when you name them. A live probe with fields=nom,surface,centre returned those 3 properties plus code. The API adds code even when you leave it out.
  • A postcode with no match doesn't return a 404. A live probe of GET /communes?codePostal=00000 returned HTTP 200 with an empty JSON array []. Check for an empty array rather than an error status.
  • CORS is open and reflects the caller's Origin rather than sending a fixed *. A live probe with Origin: https://example.com returned access-control-allow-origin: https://example.com in the response headers, so it's safe to call directly from browser JavaScript.
Availability
Uptime100%
Median latency694 ms
Last checkUp · 200 · Sep 2026
17 checks since Aug 2026. A person runs this check by hand, not an automated monitor.
Changelog
Spec version1.1
Tracked paths13
  • Aug 2026gained an OpenAPI spec
Tracking since Sep 2026. See every tracked change ↗ ·Subscribe with RSS ↗
Featured in
4 collections
GeoJSON-native dataSpec-backed APIsNo key requiredCORS-ready browser APIs
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