Calling and Area Codes

Telephone country codes never begin with zero.

Country code +43, dialed as 00 43 from many places, is Austria.

Country code +3, dialed as 004 3 from many places, is an incomplete code somewhere in Europe. You need one or two more digits to specify the country.

To avoid confusion, it is best to write an international telephone number in correct international format, beginning with the plus symbol and the correct telephone country code (e.g., +43 or +372), omitting any dialing prefix.

(The plus signmeans "insert your international access prefix here." From a GSM mobile phone, you can enter the number in full international format, starting with the plus sign. The most common prefix is 00, but North America (USA, Canada, etc.) uses 011, Japan uses 010, Australia uses 0011, and many other countries use different prefixes.)

There are two possibilities:

• Your phone is trying to display an international number. For example, something showing what looks like area code 593 (no such code) might actually be telephone country code +593 (Ecuador).
• The person calling you is "spoofing" their Caller ID. Unfortunately, it is very easy for anyone with a PBX (business phone system) to send whatever number they please instead of valid Caller ID data.

Spain is telephone country code +34, and all numbers in Spain have 9 digits after the country code.

Calling a Spanish number from a mobile phone, just enter it in full international format, beginning with the plus symbol. For example, +34 xxx xxx xxx.

If you are calling Spain from a UK landline, substitute the prefix 00 for the plus symbol.

(The plus sign means "insert your international access prefix here." From a GSM mobile phone, you can enter the number in full international format, starting with the plus sign. The most common prefix is 00, but North America (USA, Canada, etc.) uses 011, Japan uses 010, Australia uses 0011, and many other countries use different prefixes.)

Use the country code for the United Kingdom, which is 44

From Los Angeles, this means dialling:

• 011 - to make an outbound international call from the USA
• 44 - the country code for the UK
• The full UK phone number, minus any leading zero

For example, the London number (020) 7946 0018 would be dialled from the USA as: 011 44 20 7946 0018.

Where only the eight-digit local London number is known, this should be prefixed with the London area code, [0]20. The number London 79460018 would become: 011 44 20 7946 0018.

San Pedro is in area code 049 (Laguna province), which is +63 49 from outside the Philippines. Parts of San Pedro are also in area code 02 (metro Manila), which is +63 2 in international format.

(The plus sign means "insert your international access prefix here." From a GSM mobile phone, you can enter the number in full international format, starting with the plus sign. The most common prefix is 00, but North America (USA, Canada, etc.) uses 011, and many other countries use different prefixes.)

Somolu, Lagos, is in the same telephone area code as the city of Lagos, 01 within Nigeria or +234 1 in international format.

(The plus sign means "insert your international access prefix here." From a GSM mobile phone, you can enter the number in full international format, starting with the plus sign. The most common prefix is 00, but North America (USA, Canada, etc.) uses 011, Japan uses 010, Australia uses 0011, and many other countries use different prefixes.)