The epilogue of The Handmaid's Tale is set in the year 2195.
This date appears in “Historical Notes,” the novel's fictional academic-conference transcript. The event is held by the International Historical Association, whose scholars are studying the rise and fall of the Republic of Gilead long after the events described by the narrator.
By placing the epilogue in 2195, Margaret Atwood creates a large historical distance between June's personal testimony and the scholars who later analyze it. That distance changes the tone: the narrator's fear and oppression become evidence in an academic debate, and the future researchers cannot fully verify what happened.
The year is not the date when Gilead was founded or when June's main story occurs. It belongs specifically to the later conference framing the recovered account. The epilogue also mentions the difficulty of authenticating the tapes and invites readers to question who controls historical memory. The surrounding options are invented dates rather than alternate dates given in the novel.