Background - Understanding the distribution of human papillomaviruses (HPV) detected in the cervix is crucial for assessing any changes in viral ecology associated with the introduction of vaccination against HPV types 6, 11, 16, and 18. In France, few data from academic studies regarding the characteristics of HPV infection in the general population are available, both in normal smears and in cases of cervical lesions. Objective - To describe the characteristics of HPV infection in normal cervical smears: prevalence, genotype distribution, and rate of multiple infections. Method - Genotyping using the PapilloCheck® kit (Greiner Bio-One) of 979 normal cervical smear specimens collected in liquid medium (Hologic®). The smears were processed by the Biomnis laboratory, which collects specimens from throughout France. Results - The mean age of the women was 37.5 years. A total of 960 samples were analyzed. The overall prevalence of infection with oncogenic genotypes was 19.3% and ranged from 32% among women under 20 years of age to 10% among those aged 40 to 44 years. The two most frequently detected genotypes were non-oncogenic HPV 42 (5.0% of samples) and HPV 16 (3.5% of samples). The overall rate of HPV 16/18 infection was 4.2%. Among the 224 infected women, the rate of multiple infections was 35% (79/224). Conclusion - These data show that nearly one in five women with a normal Pap smear is infected with one or more oncogenic HPV types, but that infection with HPV16 or 18 is much less common. (R.A.)