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Ever wondered why you dial +44 for the UK but +81 for Japan? These numbers weren’t picked out of a hat – they tell a fascinating story of how our world was connected, one rotary phone click at a time.
How Did We End Up With These Numbers?
Picture yourself in the 1950s. International calling is the next big thing, but engineers need a way to organize it. Their solution? Give faster-to-dial numbers to countries that are making lots of calls. Since everyone used rotary phones back then (those old phones where you had to spin a dial), lower numbers meant faster dialing. That’s why the US and Canada got the easiest number: +1.
The engineers also tried to keep things logical by grouping nearby countries together – like creating postal codes for the entire planet. Europe got +3 and +4, Africa got +2, and so on.
The World’s Hidden Phone Map
Map credit: World map of International Telephone Country Codes by Maximilian Dörrbecker
Take a look at this map. Those colors show how our world is split into nine phone zones, each with its own story:
The North American Family (+1): The US and Canada share this prime number, with Caribbean nations joining their club.
Africa’s Zone (+2): Almost an entire continent under one number, plus some surprising guests like Greenland (geography can be weird sometimes!).
Europe’s Double Space (+3 and +4): Europe needed two zones because, well, Europeans really like having their own countries – lots of them.
Hidden Patterns in Phone Codes
These numbers highlight some intriguing aspects of geography and history. Take a look at how countries connect through their codes – you’ll spot some unexpected relationships in the full list below.
Country
Phone Country Code
United States
1
Canada
1
Bahamas
1 (242)
Barbados
1 (246)
Anguilla
1 (264)
Antigua and Barbuda
1 (268)
British Virgin Islands
1 (284)
US Virgin Islands
1 (340)
Cayman Islands
1 (345)
Bermuda
1 (441)
Grenada
1 (473)
Turks and Caicos Islands
1 (649)
Montserrat
1 (664)
Northern Mariana Islands
1 (670)
Guam
1 (671)
American Samoa
1 (684)
Sint Maarten (Netherlands)
1 (721)
Saint Lucia
1 (758)
Dominica
1 (767)
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
1 (784)
Puerto Rico
1 (787, 939)
Wake Island, USA
1 (808)
Dominican Republic
1 (809, 829, 849)
Trinidad and Tobago
1 (868)
Nevis
1 (869)
Saint Kitts and Nevis
1 (869)
Jamaica
1 (658, 876)
Egypt
20
South Sudan
211
Morocco
212
Algeria
213
Tunisia
216
Libya
218
Gambia
220
Senegal
221
Mauritania
222
Mali
223
Guinea
224
Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire)
225
Burkina Faso
226
Niger
227
Togo
228
Benin
229
Mauritius
230
Liberia
231
Sierra Leone
232
Ghana
233
Nigeria
234
Chad
235
Central African Republic
236
Cameroon
237
Cape Verde
238
São Tomé and Príncipe
239
Equatorial Guinea
240
Gabon
241
Congo
242
Congo, Democratic Republic of the
243
Angola
244
Guinea-Bissau
245
British Indian Ocean Territory (Diego Garcia)
246
Ascension
247
Seychelles
248
Sudan
249
Rwanda
250
Ethiopia
251
Somalia
252
Djibouti
253
Kenya
254
Tanzania
255
Zanzibar
255 (24)
Uganda
256
Burundi
257
Mozambique
258
Zambia
260
Madagascar
261
Réunion
262
Mayotte
262 (269, 639)
Zimbabwe
263
Namibia
264
Malawi
265
Lesotho
266
Botswana
267
Eswatini
268
Comoros
269
South Africa
27
Saint Helena
290
Tristan da Cunha
290 (8)
Eritrea
291
Aruba
297
Faroe Islands
298
Greenland
299
Greece
30
Netherlands
31
Belgium
32
France
33
Spain
34
Gibraltar
350
Portugal
351
Luxembourg
352
Ireland
353
Iceland
354
Albania
355
Malta
356
Cyprus
357
Finland
358
Åland
358 (18)
Bulgaria
359
Hungary
36
Lithuania
370
Latvia
371
Estonia
372
Moldova
373
Transnistria
373 (2, 5)
Armenia
374
Belarus
375
Andorra
376
Monaco
377
San Marino
378
Ukraine
380
Serbia
381
Montenegro
382
Kosovo
383
Croatia
385
Slovenia
386
Bosnia and Herzegovina
387
North Macedonia
389
Italy
39
Vatican City State (Holy See)
39 (06698), assigned 379 (not in use)
Romania
40
Switzerland
41
Czech Republic
420
Slovakia
421
Liechtenstein
423
Austria
43
United Kingdom
44
Guernsey
44 (1481, 7781, 7839, 7911)
Jersey
44 (1534)
Isle of Man
44 (1624, 7524, 7624, 7924)
Northern Ireland
44 (28)
Denmark
45
Sweden
46
Norway
47
Jan Mayen
47 (79)
Svalbard
47 (79)
Poland
48
Germany
49
Falkland Islands
500
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
500
Belize
501
Guatemala
502
El Salvador
503
Honduras
504
Nicaragua
505
Costa Rica
506
Panama
507
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
508
Haiti
509
Peru
51
Mexico
52
Cuba
53
Argentina
54
Brazil
55
Chile
56
Easter Island
56
Colombia
57
Venezuela
58
Guadeloupe
590
Saint Barthélemy
590
Saint Martin (France)
590
Bolivia
591
Guyana
592
Ecuador
593
French Guiana
594
Paraguay
595
French Antilles
596
Martinique
596
Suriname
597
Uruguay
598
Caribbean Netherlands
599 (3, 4, 7)
Sint Eustatius
599 (3)
Saba
599 (4)
Bonaire
599 (7)
Curaçao
599 (9)
Malaysia
60
Australia
61
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
61 (89162)
Christmas Island
61 (89164)
Indonesia
62
Philippines
63
New Zealand
64
Pitcairn Islands
64
Singapore
65
Thailand
66
East Timor (Timor-Leste)
670
Norfolk Island
672 (3)
Brunei Darussalam
673
Nauru
674
Papua New Guinea
675
Tonga
676
Solomon Islands
677
Vanuatu
678
Fiji
679
Palau
680
Wallis and Futuna
681
Cook Islands
682
Niue
683
Samoa
685
Kiribati
686
New Caledonia
687
Tuvalu
688
French Polynesia
689
Tokelau
690
Micronesia, Federated States of
691
Marshall Islands
692
Russia
7
Kazakhstan
7 (6, 7) (997 assigned but now abandoned)
Abkhazia
7 (840, 940)
South Ossetia
7 (850, 929)
International Freephone Service (UIFN)
800
International Shared Cost Service (ISCS)
808
Japan
81
Korea, South
82
Vietnam
84
Korea, North
850
Hong Kong
852
Macau
853
Cambodia
855
Laos
856
China
86
Inmarsat SNAC
870
Bangladesh
880
Global Mobile Satellite System (GMSS)
881
ICO Global (Mobile Satellite Service)
881 (0, 1)
Ellipso (Mobile Satellite service)
881 (2, 3)
Iridium (Mobile Satellite service)
881 (6, 7)
Globalstar (Mobile Satellite Service)
881 (8, 9)
International Networks
882, 883
EMSAT (Mobile Satellite service)
882 (13)
Thuraya (Mobile Satellite service)
882 (16)
Taiwan
886
Turkey
90
Northern Cyprus
90 (392)
India
91
Pakistan
92
Afghanistan
93
Sri Lanka
94
Myanmar
95
Maldives
960
Lebanon
961
Jordan
962
Syria
963
Iraq
964
Kuwait
965
Saudi Arabia
966
Yemen
967
Oman
968
Palestine
970
United Arab Emirates
971
Israel
972
Bahrain
973
Qatar
974
Bhutan
975
Mongolia
976
Nepal
977
International Premium Rate Service
979
Iran
98
Tajikistan
992
Turkmenistan
993
Azerbaijan
994
Georgia
995
Kyrgyzstan
996
Uzbekistan
998
A few interesting patterns jump out from this list:
Kazakhstan kept Russia’s +7 after the Soviet Union split up – a phone number that outlived an empire
The Vatican decided not to bother with its own code, just borrowing Italy’s +39 instead
Most Caribbean islands use North America’s +1, showing old connections that still shape modern communications
Tiny territories like Diego Garcia got their own codes (+246), while some major regions share numbers
The really interesting part? These oddities often trace back to politics, technology limitations, or just practical choices made decades ago. Even today’s new nations have to fit into this system – South Sudan took code +211 when it became independent in 2011.
Do These Codes Still Matter?
You might think, “Who cares about country codes when we have WhatsApp?” But these numbers are still quietly running the show behind the scenes. Every time you make an emergency call abroad, dial a business overseas, or use your phone in another country, you’re using this invisible map.
If you’re fascinated by geography, here are some beautiful world maps available on Amazon:
What’s your local phone code story? Drop a comment below – I’d love to hear how these invisible lines connect your corner of the world to the rest of us.
