Area Codes in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean

Locate area codes in the USA, Canada, Bermuda and most Caribbean islands, all regulated by the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA). Use the top menu for area code lists, city/phone number searches, area code news and more.

About the North American Numbering Plan

The NANP is a unified telephone numbering plan used by the United States and its unincorporated territories, Canada, Bermuda and most Caribbean islands. All telephone numbers within the NANP have the same dialing format: NPA-NXX-XXXX.

NPA (Numbering Plan Area) is the commonly known "area code". The initial digit (N) is in the range 2 through 9, the second digit 0 through 8 and the third can be any digit.

NXX is the so called Central Office Code and together with the final 4 digits comprise the local number. Again, N is in the range 2-9 and the second and third digits can be any digit. Combinations not allowed: N11 and 988 (the latter is a short code reserved for the National Suicide Hotline).

NANP members

The main two countries using NANP area codes are the United States and Canada. Other countries, territories and municipalities using this numbering system are: American Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guam, Jamaica, Montserrat, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, Sint Maarten, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos, US Virgin Islands.

Dialing inside member countries

Calls can be either local or long distance (toll calls). Calls between neighboring areas served by different area codes are often local calls, while calls within one NPA's borders can sometimes be long distance calls.

There are 3 ways to dial a call within a NANP country's borders:

• NXX XXXX - dialing just the local number is generally allowed in areas where only one NPA is used (there are some new exceptions)
• NPA NXX XXXX - in areas where two or more area codes overlay (cover the same geographic region) dialing the area code first is required for local calls and for some toll calls
• 1 NPA NXX XXXX - this dialing method is required for all toll and some local calls between different area codes, and also for some toll calls inside the same area code

Dialing between 2 NANP countries

Since this is a unified numbering plan, calls between NANP member countries have the same dialing format: 1 NPA NXX XXXX. The initial 1 (one) here is not a country code, but a trunk code used to dial long distance calls. There is no need to add + or 011 (the IDD code used by NANP members to dial internationally). However, calls between different countries are international calls and charged accordingly.

For example, to dial the Bahamas from the USA or from any other NANP location you would use the following: 1 242 NXX XXXX, while a call from California to New York City looks very similar: 1 212 NXX XXXX (242 and 212 are area codes serving the Bahamas and New York City respectively).

Dialing to any NANP country from the rest of the world

All members of the North American Numbering Plan use country code 1. To dial or text to any of these countries/territories use: +1 NPA NXX XXXX. The initial plus sign can be either dialed (with most wireless devices) or replaced with your country's IDD (International Direct Dialing) code.

Top