An historic trial is beginning in France over the 2015 Paris attacks which left 130 people dead.

The shooting and bombing assault by Islamist State (IS) group extremists was the worst post-World War Two atrocity in France, BBC reported.

The only surviving attacker, Salah Abdeslam, will appear in court with 13 other defendants at a purpose-built facility in Paris.

The trial is being described as the biggest in France's modern history.

Over the next nine months, there will be over 140 days of hearings involving about 330 lawyers and 1,800 civil plaintiffs. About 300 witnesses will be heard, including survivors and François Hollande, French president at the time of the attacks.