With this guide to International telephone codes and Spain, you'll have an idea of where a call is coming from, even before answering. On the other hand, I will explain what they are and what was the reason why they began to be used.
Don't feel out of place when you want to identify a prefix by sight, because I will show you the most used, both outside and within Spanish territory.
Currently, mobiles have a pre-installed system, which relates its database with the incoming number that we do not have added to our contacts. This allows identify in a general way from where they call us, showing below the number the location by country. This database is very extensive, with more than 190 countries and in many cases some local provinces.
What are telephone prefixes and what are they used for?
It may seem obvious to many people, however, this is not always the case, so it is always important to start with the most basic, the question of what is a telephone prefix.
A telephone prefix is also known as Region Identifier Number, also named by its acronym as NIR. In a very simple way, we can say that it is a numerical sequence that must be used before a telephone number to carry out a kind of territorial zoning.
The imaginary demarcations, are designated based on geographic divisions telephone networks or some special services. This demarcation is not random, it requires planning, despite the fact that most of it has already been established, since it allows better planning of services, especially in large areas.
These prefixes are not something new, since the same inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, I propose this method to route to simple telephone exchanges. Let us remember that in its beginnings and until a few years ago, there was a need for operators in the power plants telephone companies, who attended to the redirection requirements of the calls. The prefixes allowed directing them between the ramifications of the networks.
Who does the prefixes depend on?
On whom or who the prefixes depend, this may be a concern of many people and the truth is that these are directly regulated by the International Telecommunications Union. This body only regulates the encoding of prefixes outside the countries, since internally each nation defines and distributes its prefixes based on geographical areas.
These regional zones obey development strategies, as well as the distribution of telephone networks that satisfy the inhabitants, studying the density of users by zone.
Regional prefixes are variable in both order and length. In countries like Austria and Germany, prefixes range from 2 to 5 numbers, while in Australia there is only one number as a prefix. Other countries, like Japan, Venezuela, Dominican Republic y United States, the prefixes always have 3 numbers.
At the international level, it is common to use the number 0 before entering the prefixes, this indicates to the network that we are dialing outside our area code, serving as a digital call. As for local calls, although it is still used, it is not always necessary to use 0 before the prefix, by dialing the area code, the call will be made.
Telephone codes of Spain
In Spanish territory, the prefixes are mainly defined by a geographic component, defined in this case by provinces, giving particular treatment to areas with a higher population density, such as Madrid and Barcelona.
The distribution of the prefixes is not random, sIt is assigned depending on the date on which the telephone line dates, where most begin with 8 or 9. All local phone numbers, regardless of location, have 9 digits, including the area code.
In most of the surrounding towns, have similar prefixes in their first two digits, changing regularly from the third. The current prefixes of the Spanish provinces are:
- Álava: 945/845
- Albacete: 967/867
- Alicante: 965 and 966/865
- Almeria: 950/850
- Asturias: 984 and 985/884
- Avila: 920/820
- Badajoz: 924/824
- Barcelona: 93/83
- Burgos: 947/847
- Cáceres: 927/827
- Cadiz: 956/856
- Cantabria: 942/842
- Castellón: 964/864
- Ceuta: 956
- Ciudad Real: 926/826
- Cordoba: 957/857
- La Coruña: 981/881
- Cuenca: 969/869
- Girona: 972/872
- Grenada: 958/858
- Guadalajara: 949/849
- Guipúzcoa: 943/843
- Huelva: 959/859
- Huesca: 974/874
- Balearic Islands: 971/871
- Jaén: 953/853
- Leon: 987/887
- Lleida: 973/873
- Lugo: 982/882
- Madrid: 91/81
- Malaga: 951 and 952 / 851 (shared with Melilla)
- Melilla: 95
- Murcia: 968/868
- Navarra: 948/848
- Orense: 988/888
- Palencia: 979/879
- Las Palmas: 928/828
- Pontevedra: 986/886
- La Rioja 941/841
- Salamanca: 923/823
- Segovia: 921/821
- Seville: 954 and 955/854
- Soria: 975/875
- Tarragona: 977/877
- Santa Cruz de Tenerife: 922/822
- Teruel: 978/878
- Toledo: 925/825
- Valencia: 960, 961, 962 and 963/860
- Valladolid: 983/883
- Vizcaya: 944 and 946/846
- Zamora: 980/880
- Zaragoza: 976/876
If you want to check the data of the Registry of Numbering and Telecommunications Operators, you can visit the website of the CNMC (National Commission for Markets and Competition), which is the entity in charge in Spain of the issue of prefixes.
Telephone codes of the world
This is a list with the international phone codes. Remember that there are some with several digits and some others with only one:
- Afghanistan: 93
- Albania: 355
- Germany: 49
- Angola: 244
- eel: 1
- Antigua and Barbuda :1
- Netherlands Antilles: 599
- Saudi Arabia: 966
- Algeria: 213
- Argentina: 54
- Armenian: 374
- Aruba: 297
- Australia: 61
- Austria: 43
- Azerbaijan: 994
- Bahamas: 1
- Bangladesh: 880
- Barbados: 1
- Belgium: 32
- Belize: 501
- Benin: 229
- Bermuda: 1
- Belarus: 375
- Bolivia: 591
- Bosnia and Herzegovina: 387
- Botswana: 267
- Brazil: 55
- Brunei: 673
- Bulgarian: 359
- Burkina Faso: 226
- Burundi: 257
- Bhutan: 975
- Cape Verde: 238
- Cambodia: 855
- Cameroon: 237
- Canada: 1
- Qatar: 974
- Chad: 235
- Czechia: 420
- C
- China: 86
- Cyprus: 357
- Colombia: 57
- Comoros: 269
- Congo: 242
- Korea : 82
- North Korea: 850
- Ivory Coast: 225
- Costa Rica: 506
- Croatia: 385
- Cuba: 53
- Diego Garcia: 246
- Denmark: 45
- Dominican: 1
- Ecuador: 593
- Egypt: 20
- El Salvador: 503
- United Arab Emirates: 971
- Eritrea: 291
- Scotland: 44
- Slovakia: 421
- Slovenia: 386
- S
- Estonian: 372
- Ethiopia: 251
- Russian Federation: 7
- Philippines: 63
- Finland: 358
- Fiji: 679
- France: 33
- Gabon: 241
- Wales: 44
- Gambia: 220
- Georgia: 995
- Ghana: 233
- Gibraltar: 350
- Grenade: 1
- Greece: 30
- Greenland: 299
- Guadeloupe: 590
- Guam: 1
- Guatemala: 502
- French Guiana: 594
- Guinean: 224
- Equatorial Guinea: 240
- Guinea-Bissau: 245
- Guyana: 592
- Haiti: 509
- Netherlands: 31
- Honduras: 504
- Hong Kong: 852
- Hungary: 36
- India: 91
- Indonesia: 62
- England: 44
- Iraq: 964
- Iran: 98
- Ireland: 353
- Northern Ireland: 44
- Ascension Island: 247
- Norfolk Island: 6723
- Iceland: 354
- Cayman Islands: 1
- Cook Islands: 682
- Faroe Islands: 298
- Falkland Islands: 500
- Northern Mariana Islands: 1
- Marshall Islands: 692
- Solomon Islands: 677
- Turks and Caicos Islands: 1
- British Virgin Islands: 1
- US Virgin Islands: 1
- Israel: 972
- Italy: 39
- Jamaican: 1
- Japan: 81
- Jordan: 962
- Kazakhstan: 7
- Kenya: 254
- Kyrgyzstan: 996
- Kiribati: 686
- Kuwait: 965
- Laos: 856
- Lesotho: 266
- Latvia: 371
- Lebanon: 961
- Liberia: 231
- Libya: 218
- Liechtenstein: 423
- Lithuania: 370
- Luxembourg: 352
- Macau: 853
- Macedonia: 389
- Madagascar: 261
- Malaysia: 60
- Malawi: 265
- Maldives: 960
- Mali: 223
- Malt: 356
- Morocco: 212
- Martinique: 596
- Mauritius: 230
- Mauritania: 222
- Mayotte: 262
- Mexico: 52
- Micronesia: 691
- Moldova: 373
- Monaco: 377
- Mongolia: 976
- Montenegro: 382
- Montserrat: 1
- Mozambique: 258
- Burma: 95
- Namibia: 264
- Nauru: 674
- Nepal: 977
- Nicaraguan: 505
- Niger: 227
- Nigeria: 234
- Niue: 683
- Norway: 47
- New Caledonia: 687
- New Zealand: 64
- Oman: 968
- Pakistan: 92
- Palau: 680
- Palestine: 970
- Panama: 507
- Papua New Guinea: 675
- Paraguay: 595
- Peru: 51
- French Polynesia: 689
- Poland: 48
- Portugal: 351
- Principality of Andorra: 376
- Puerto Rico: 1
- Kingdom of Bahrain: 973
- Dominican Republic: 1
- Central African Republic: 236
- Democratic Republic of the Congo: 243
- Meeting: 262
- Rwanda: 250
- Romania: 40
- Western Sahara: 212
- Samoa: 685
- American Samoa: 1
- Saint Barthélemy: 590
- Saint Kitts and Nevis: 1
- San Marino: 378
- Saint Martin: 590
- Saint Pierre and Miquelon: 508
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: 1
- Saint Helena: 290
- Saint Lucia: 1
- Sao Tome and Principe: 239
- Senegalese: 221
- Serbia: 381
- Seychellois: 248
- Sierra Leone: 232
- Singapore: 65
- Saint Maarten: 1
- Syria: 963
- Somalia: 252
- Sri Lankan: 94
- Swaziland: 268
- South Africa: 27
- Sudan: 249
- South Sudan: 211
- Sweden: 46
- Switzerland: 41
- Suriname: 597
- Thailand: 66
- Taiwan: 886
- Tanzania: 255
- Tajikistan: 992
- East Timor: 670
- Togo: 228
- Tokelau: 690
- Tonga: 676
- Trinidad and Tobago: 1
- Tunisia: 216
- Turkmenistan: 993
- Türkiye: 90
- Tuvalu: 688
- Ukraine: 380
- Ugandan: 256
- Uruguay: 598
- USA: 1
- Uzbekistan: 998
- Vanuatu: 678
- Vatican: 39
- Venezuela: 58
- Vietnam: 84
- Wallis and Futuna: 681
- Yemen: 967
- Djibouti: 253
- Zambia: 260
- Zimbabwe: 263
International special or reserved prefixes
La International Telecommunications Union created a list of unique prefixes that are considered reserved or special. Here is a list with the best known.
- International global code created by the International Telecommunications Union: 883
- International Networks: 882
- International Premium Rate Service: 979
- International Telecommunications Public Correspondence Service trial: 991
- International toll-free line: 800
- Reserved for cost sharing services: 808
- Reserved for mobile maritime services: 875
- Reserved for mobile maritime services: 876
- Reserved for mobile maritime services: 877
- Reserved for national mobile/maritime uses: 879
- Inmarsat service: 870
- Universal personal telecommunications service: 878
- Mobile satellite system: 881
- Thuraya: 882-16
I hope you have enjoyed this tour of the international and Spanish telephone codes and have resolved some doubts about it. We will read in a next opportunity.