On the international stage, Mr Chirac will be best remembered for angering the United States with his public opposition to the 2003 war in Iraq.
"Jacques Chirac is part of the history of France," said parliament speaker Richard Ferrand.
He said he left behind "a France that was like him - complex, sometimes crossed by contradictions and always motivated by an unbridled Republican passion".
Both chambers of France's parliament - the lower House National Assembly and the upper house Senate - observed a minute of silence as the news was announced.
'Loved France so much'
A conservative politician but with an appeal that extended beyond the right, Mr Chirac served two stints as prime minister in 1974-76 and 1986-88 and was mayor of his native Paris from 1977-1995.
It was his time at the helm of the French capital that resulted, once he had lost his presidential immunity, in a conviction for embezzlement and misuse of public funds.
Mr Chirac was found guilty in December 2011 of influence peddling, breach of trust and embezzlement.
