Talk:List of country calling codes

+3 unassigned?

How is +3 unassigned? Pretty much by definition, calling codes are prefix-free, and there are plenty of +3 telephone numbers. Prumpf 14:24, 5 Sep 2004 (UTC)

you might want to read the full "A numbering policy for telecommunications" from the european comission http://europa.eu.int/en/record/green/gp9611/

Thewikipedian 14:39, 1 March 2005 (UTC+1)

Link country names and codes

Would it be practical to link all the country names and codes to Communications in (Country) rather than (Country) articles? -- Chuq 04:19, 6 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Spain and France codes

Is there a reason why the calling code of European countries such as France and Spain only have two digits (+33 and +34 respectively) while the calling codes of other countries such as Portugal (+351) have three? -- Pecholobo 23:31, 13 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I would guess it's because France and Spain had much larger populations at the time, or were earlier adopters. After handing out a bunch of two-digit codes to the larger countries, they probably realised they wouldn't have enough to go round, so they split the un-used numbers (ie. +35) into additional ranges (+351 - +359) -- Chuq 23:14, 14 Nov 2004 (UTC)

i wonder if it had anything to do with the length of phone numbers in those countries and trying to minimise the length of the longest international numbers. Are there any official documents on the selection process for the codes publically availible? Plugwash 01:40, 21 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Actually, from about 1960, prior to the worldwide plan, there was a regional country code plan of two-digit codes covering Europe, western Asia and northern Africa, with codes beginning with anything between about 20 and 69. Some codes were the same as they are now (Greece, France, Italy, Britain, Sweden, West Germany); others are different. Perhaps there had already been a small start to implementation by those countries, when the worldwide plan was adopted in 1964. Even then, there have been changes over the years... Peru was 596 at first, and changed in the early 1970s. Cuba, Thailand, Vietnam have two-digit codes, but relative size suggests a three-digit code would make more sense. GBC 05:23, 10 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Some History?

A little history section would round this article off nicely. Can anyone help with this? (I wouldn't know where to begin!) Seabhcán 01:02, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Initial History section was added; linked to WTNG which has some detailed history Dl2000 04:26, 15 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Role of ITU

These codes are essentially what is defined by the (ITU as ITU Operational Bulletin No 719 (there is more recent) "Dialling procedures (International Prefix, National (Trunk) Prefix and National (Significant) Number) (In Accordance with ITU-T Recommendation E.164 (05/97)). A reference should be made to this document/organisation. Also the procedure for getting a new code should be discussed. -- Softgrow 01:47, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC). I've just put in a link to E.164 that covers this off --Softgrow 09:44, 28 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I eliminated the following eyesore:

"+1(868)620, 1(868)678, 1(868)700 to 1868(799), 1(868)680 to 1(868)689 = Trinidad and Tobago-Cellular"

as a separate listing below that of Trinidad and Tobago. The fact that the international dialing code is 1-868 has already been stated, there is no need to expand into prefixes.

Hong Kong and Macao

There was a tussle about this a year or so ago. There are those who want to regard Hong Kong and Macao as part of China, without distinction. There are those who want them listed separately without any reference to China. I regard "(S.A.R.)" (special administrative region) as a workable compromise which acknowledges China as sovereign authority, but as distinct regions. Can we please return to that middle-ground compromise, unless someone has a better compromise to suggest? GBC 17:55, 11 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Italy, Vatican and San Marino

An interesting thing. Italy has a calling space too. Vatican and San Marino are considered part of Italian telephone area, so an Italian/Vatican/"Sammarinese" needs no int'l dialling code to call someone south of the Alps.

Ok, I've been clear like a foggy day, se here's some

EXAMPLES (with fictional numbers, of course).

Davide, Italian, lives in Bari (my home town ^_^) and his phone is 080-5555555. Matteo, Sammarinese, lives in Serravalle and his phone is 0549-7777777. Thomas, German, lives in Munich and his phone is 089-2222222

Practice

Davide calls Matteo: he does no +378, but calls 0549-7777777. Thomas calls Matteo: he does +378 and then the 7777777 (with or without 0549).

Finally, a Vatican telephone is considered exactly as a Roman one, hence the "prefisso" 06. To be honest, Vatican City has an int'l code (+379) but it's still unused.

I hope that: 1) this can be useful; 2) my English was good; 3) this world can be a better place to live. --Frank87 14:37, 23 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Zone 2 Mostly Africa

Shouldn't this just say Africa? The only country I noticed that was questionable on there was Ascension Island. Is this not considered part of Africa or South America?

"Most of Africa" is not correct. Every single country* on the African continent has a zone 2 country code, indeed, technically, it covers a bit of Asia as Egypt extends. "Mostly Africa" is more correct because most of 2xx is Africa, and all of Africa is 2xx. There are areas completely external to Africa, adjacent to America and Europe, that use 2xx codes. GBC 20:16, 12 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

(* Ceuta and Melilla are not covered by a 2xx code, but they are part of Spanish sovereignty and included under 34. The Western Sahara is indeterminate.)

Removed dead link

The external link under "Zone 3 - Europe" (http://europa.eu/en/record/green/gp9611/) points to a non-existing page. I removed it but was not able to find an alternative source. (Roy Berkeveld 62.131.71.8 19:13, 17 August 2006 (UTC))[reply]

Deleted Link Question

I am new to Wikipedia and would like to understand why a link I submitted (http://www.the-acr.com/codes/cntrycd.htm) to the "External Links" was deleted? Thank you for any assistance.Bbowenjr 12:40, 5 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Here's a hint: studysphere.com and other spammy links such as acr.com have been campaign-spammed to Wikipedia; see 29 November 2006 discussion at WT:WPSPAM. Bbowenjr added them to a wide range of articles from Dental implants to Military robots. There's been a misconception among some spamdexers that if they get a link deleted they can question the deletion on the talk page and still get the page rank benefit; this is wrong since all Wikipedia talk and user page links are automatically coded with the html tag rel="nofollow"; search engine bots don't follow these links. --A. B. 23:23, 2 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Additionally, the link you submitted hasn't been updated in several years, showing, for example, Guam as +671 instead of +1-671, and listing Yugoslavia, Zaire and Zanzibar. Linking should be made to up-to-date sources, such as has been done with WTNG. --Glenn L 06:27, 9 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Usage

There needs to be something that tells people how to use them, gives them an example for instance.

that's the reason many people would visit this page, after all. To find out how to call someone abroad. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 143.167.233.7 (talk • contribs) 00:08 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Tristan da Cunha and +290

Tristan da Cunha (country code +290) Communication of 15.XII.2006:

The Office of Communications (Ofcom), London, in consultation with the Director of TSB, announces that the E.164 country code “290”, formerly assigned to the Administration of the United Kingdom solely for the British Overseas territory of Saint Helena, will henceforth be shared with the British overseas territory of Tristan da Cunha. The basis of the sharing will be that after the E.164 country code “290”, four-digit national numbers commencing with the initial digit “3” will be assigned to Tristan da Cunha, whilst national numbers commencing with the initial digits “1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9” will remain assigned to Saint Helena.

[contact info removed to prevent spam]

http://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-t/oth/02/02/T02020000ED0002MSWE.doc —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Glenn L (talk • contribs) 02:59, 15 February 2007 (UTC).[reply]

According to WTNG, Tristan da Cunha's correct dialing code is +290 (8) and not +290 (3) as previously announced. Glenn L 07:06, 29 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Space

The international space station is now permanently manned at all times. Of course, it does not have telephones, and can rely only on a patch into the telephone network through Mission Control in Houston or Moscow. At what point should it, or any other outpost in space, be added to this list as a point with no country code? Probably when operators, at least, are given instructions on how to connect calls to those locations, whether or not a "desk phone" or "wall phone" is aboard that outpost.

Of course, the first space phone call, I believe, was from +1 202-456-1414 to Tranquility Base, the Moon, on July 21, 1969, UTC. The White House would have received a phone bill showing a call to Houston, Texas. GBC 21:35, 12 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I just learned from a news article the other day - re the visit of astronaut Julie Payette to Whitehorse, YT - that the international space station has two telephones for outgoing calls only. GBC 16:00, 26 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I imagine if POTS still exists in a meaningfull form when there is major activity in earth/lunar space and/or on the moons surface that spacephone networks will get thier own country codes just like satphone networks do now. Talking to the moon on the phone will be pretty painfull though (over 2 second round trip time even for the most direct of links). Further out the delays will repaidly make phone calls impractical. Plugwash 22:21, 21 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Can someone help me?

I'm attempting to expand this article but I've come across something I don't understand about number formats. Could someone educate me? Take the number: 03)9690-9999 (fake, obviously). Can someone deconstruct it?Yeago 15:43, 11 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I don't really understand what did you mean. This article is about country calling codes, i.e codes that are used when calling to other countries, not about numbering formats. You may want to take a look at telephone numbering plan.--Joshua ^{Say "hi" to me!}_{What have I done?} 16:03, 11 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Right, but in the above example I am not sure what part indicates the country calling code. Can someone please deconstruct the pieces of the above number?Yeago 17:01, 11 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I think there is no country calling code in the above number. the "03" part is the area code and the "9690-9999" is the subscriber number.--Joshua ^{Say "hi" to me!}_{What have I done?} 02:38, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It looks like an Australian number Victoria - try + 61 3 9690 9999 —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 81.137.193.91 (talk • contribs) 17:30, 30 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

As I had noted above, there is no country code in the above number. It looks like an Australian phone number, but I could also say that it resembles a number in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - +60 3 9690 9999. But please be considerate and don't try the number.--Joshua ^{Say "hi" to me!}_{What have I done?} 04:51, 31 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

External Link Proposition

This page has a downloadable CSV list of all these country calling codes and area codes. It is a useful resource because it offers the same data in a more usable format. Should we add it to the External Link section? Hathawayc 19:42, 31 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Since there's no objection, I'll go ahead and post it.Hathawayc 20:12, 8 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

accuracy

NANP country code is 1. But there are several countries sharing this NANP country code, namely 1 and only 1. To reach those countries, the NANP area code must be dialed. This page creates non-existing country codes for most of the NANP countries, that's not correct. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.228.1.81 (talk) 14:10, 24 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

North Korean International vs. Local Numbers

I read that in order to call to the British embassy in North Korea, it's necessary to call the "381" number, while when calling locally it's necessary to call a "382" number.[1] The page states that it is not possible to call a 381 number from a 382 number, or vice-versa. What does this mean? What is the difference between these numbers? mdkarazim (talk) 21:10, 18 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It doesnt say that. It doesnt say anything like that about Korea. ? AreTeeGee (talk) 00:40, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Structure is awful

Pardon me, I havent really read any content on this page and am sure it has a lot of correct info about international dialling codes but I came looking for the info and it was all letters and numbers that the average Joe will not understand. It may seem to me that someone with a great knowledge has put it together in a way that they would find it in a book for experts but I propose that I will at least come back here and re arrange the lists so that the humanly understandable alpha beta comes first and the expert letter number data come last.

Proposal:

1. Alphabet
2. Numbered list (Entitled:Zones)
3. "At a glance" computerised numberish data (ie: numberish data is unlikely to provide some foreign dial code "at a glance" so the expert providing the data sheet should name it correctly too and the alphabetic style should be labelled at a glance)

Anyway, it doesnt look like a flood of people will respond to this but I'll leave it here a couple of days and then go changing the list so that it is easy to reference.

Suggestion:
- That the "history" come further up the list possibly subcategoried under "In depth". AreTeeGee (talk) 00:36, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

the number of the

+999 – reserved for future global service WTF kind of satanic BS is that, it's the only such number reserved and I guess they couldn't make it 666 now could they? Aether22 (talk) 02:11, 14 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Liechtenstein part of Czechoslovakia?

Does anybody know why Liechtenstein has the code starting with +42x (i.e. former Czechoslovakia)? Naturally, +420 and +421 are used by both, the Czech and Slovak republics, but Liechtenstein was existing before the breakup of CS. What did they use before and why did it change?