Whatever the reasons for the votes, outgoing French President François Hollande celebrated Macron's victory by saying it "confirms that a very great majority of our fellow citizens wanted to rally to the values of the Republic and mark their attachment to the European Union as well as to France's open attitude to the world". The interior ministry announced Sunday the turnout had reached 65.3%, compared to 71.96% in the second round of presidential voting in 2012.
By midday, both candidates had voted, Macron in Le Touquet on the north coast, and Le Pen in the northern town of Henin-Beaumont.
Minutes after the first results were released, Le Pen said that she would call for a new political force as legislative elections loom in June.
Mr Macron thanked his supporters and said France will continue to fight terrorism at home and overseas.
Ahead of the vote, analysts had overwhelmingly warned that a Le Pen victory would have been a nightmare for financial markets and for the single currency, far worse than Brexit or Trump.
Despite fears to the contrary, Le Pen's brand of far-right populism also wasn't the catch-all solution for voters fed up with the status quo.
Speaking to thousands of his supporters at the Louvre in Paris, Mr Macron said: "Everyone said to us it was impossible, they didn't know France".
This is published unedited from the PTI feed. During her campaign, Le Pen vowed to drastically restrict immigration, eradicate welfare benefits for immigrants, and strip French Muslims of dual-citizenship.
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Macron, who entered politics as economy minister under current President Francois Hollande, quit the ruling Socialist party to found the En Marche! political movement only a year ago.
"Congratulations, @EmmanuelMacron. Your victory is a victory for a strong and united Europe and for French-German friendship", said Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman.
Le Pen took the helm from her father in 2011 and has worked hard to try to cleanse it of an image for xenophobia and anti-Semitism. But her total, if confirmed as final results are declared, fell short of the most optimistic opinion poll forecasts since she ended in second place to the centrist candidate in the first round of voting on April 23.
Either candidate would lead France into uncharted territory, since neither comes from the mainstream parties that dominate parliament and have run the country for decades.
She also insisted to supporters that together they would form the primary opposition fighting Macron's agenda, framing that conflict as the "patriots" of the National Front vs Macron and the "globalists".
With the United States, Macron says he wants continued intelligence-sharing and cooperation at the United Nations and hopes to persuade Trump not to pull the US out of a global emissions-cutting deal against climate change.
Should an upset occur and Le Pen win, the very future of the European Union could be on the line given her desire to close borders, dump the euro currency, and tear up trade treaties.
Macron may be celebrating now, but harsh reality is likely to quickly set in as he will face his first big test next month during the parliamentary elections. A series of militant attacks in Paris, Nice and elsewhere in France have killed more than 230 people since 2015.
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