Telephone numbers in Europe
Telephone numbers in Europe are managed by the national telecommunications authorities of each country. The country calling codes start primarily with 3 and 4, however, some countries that by the Copenhagen criteria are considered part of Europe have country codes from the Asia range, starting with 9.
The international access code (dial out code) has been standardized as 00, as recommended by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
European Economic Area
| Country | Country calling code | National number length | Dialing plan* | International call prefix | National trunk prefix | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 43 | 4 to 13 | variable | 00 | 0 | ||
| Belgium | 32 | 8 to 10 | fixed with 0 | 00 | 0 | ||
| Bulgaria | 359 | 7 to 9 | variable | 00 | 0 | ||
| Croatia | 385 | 8 or 9 (some mobile) | variable | 00 | 0 | ||
| Cyprus | 357 | 8 | fixed | 00 | none | ||
| Czech Republic | 420 | 9 | fixed | 00 | none | ||
| Denmark | 45 | 8 | fixed | 00 | none | ||
| Estonia | 372 | 7 (fixed or mobile), 8 (mobile) | fixed | 00 | none | ||
| Finland | 358 | 5 to 12 | variable | 00 | 0 | ||
| France | 33 | 9 | fixed with 0 | 00 | 0 | ||
| Germany | 49 | 3 to 12 | variable | 00 | 0 | ||
| Greece | 30 | 4 to 5 (company numbers) 10 (fixed and mobile) | fixed | 00 | none | ||
| Hungary | 36 | 8 (landline) or 9 (mobile) | variable | 00 | 06 | ||
| Iceland | 354 | 7 (mobile and landline) or 9 (for 3xxxxxxxx) | fixed | 00 | none | ||
| Ireland | 353 | 7 to 9; 10 (mobile voicemail and Northern Ireland) | variable | 00 | 0 | ||
| Italy | 39 | 6 to 12 | fixed | 00 | none | ||
| Latvia | 371 | 8 | fixed | 00 | none | ||
| Liechtenstein | 423 | up to 12 (generally is 7) | fixed | 00 | none | ||
| Lithuania | 370 | 8 | variable | 00 | 8 | ||
| Luxembourg | 352 | 8 (fixed new numbering plan); 9 (mobile); 12 (mobile telematic); 4-11 (historic numbers still active) [1] | fixed | 00 | none | ||
| Malta | 356 | 8 | fixed | 00 | none | ||
| Netherlands | 31 | 9 | variable | 00 | 0 | ||
| Norway | 47 | 4-12 (generally 8) | fixed | 00 | none | ||
| Poland | 48 | 9 | fixed | 00 | none | ||
| Portugal | 351 | 9 | fixed | 00 | none | ||
| Romania | 40 | 9 | fixed with 0 | 00 | 0 | ||
| Slovakia | 421 | 9 | variable | 00 | 0 | ||
| Slovenia | 386 | 8 | variable | 00 | 0 | ||
| Spain | 34 | 9 (3 for emergency services, 4 for phone companies, 5 and starting with 118 for telephonic information, 6 and starting with 116 for social interest and 5 or 6 with starting with other numbers that are not listed before for premium services) | fixed | 00 | none | ||
| Sweden | 46 | 6 to 9 | 00 | 0 | |||
| All European Economic Area member states apply the European Union roaming regulations. The regulation eventually led to the abolition of all roaming charges for temporary roaming when traveling within the EEA as of June 15, 2017. The European Union international calls regulations regulate prices of calls (and text messages) when calling from your home country to another EEA country. | |||||||
Other European countries/territories
| Country | Country calling code | National number length | Dialing plan | International call prefix | National trunk prefix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abkhazia † | 995 44 or 7 840 (landline) / 7 940 (mobile) | 7 | variable | 00 or 8~10 | 8 |
| Albania | 355 | 8 (fixed), 9 (mobile) | variable | 00 | 0 |
| Andorra | 376 | 6 or 9 (in special cases) | fixed | 00 | none |
| Armenia | 374 | 8 | variable | 00 (was 8~10) | 0 |
| Belarus | 375 | 9 | variable | 00 (was 8~10) | 0 (was 80) |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 387 | 8 to 9 | variable | 00 | 0 |
| Faroe Islands | 298 | 6 | fixed | 00 | none |
| Georgia | 995 | 9 | variable | 00 (was 8~10) | 0 |
| Gibraltar | 350 | 8 | fixed | 00 | none |
| Kosovo† | 383 | 8 | variable | 00 | 0 |
| North Macedonia | 389 | 8 | variable | 00 | 0 |
| Moldova | 373 | 8 | fixed with 0[2] | 00 (was 8~10) | 0 |
| Monaco | 377 | 8 to 9 | fixed (?) | 00 | none |
| Montenegro | 382 | 8 | fixed | 00 | 0 |
| Nagorno-Karabakh † | 374 47 (landline) / 374 97 (mobile) | 5 | variable | 00 (was 8~10) | ? |
| Russia | 7 (shares with Kazakhstan) | 10 | variable | 8~10 | 0 |
| San Marino | 378 | 6 to 12 | fixed | 00 | none |
| Serbia | 381 | 8 to 10 | variable | 00 | 0 |
| South Ossetia † | 995 34 or 7 99534 / 7 997 / 7 929 (mobile) | 5 to 7 | variable | 00 or 8~10 | ? |
| Switzerland | 41 | 9 | fixed with 0 | 00 | 0 |
| Transnistria † | 373 5 / 373 2 (Moldova codes used) | 7 | variable | 00 | ? |
| Turkey | 90 | 10 | fixed | 00 | 0 |
| Northern Cyprus † | 90 392 (landline), 90 533 / 90 542 (mobile) | 7 | fixed | 00 | 0 |
| United Kingdom | 44 | 9 or 10 digits (geographic); 7, 9 or 10 (non-geographic) | variable | 00 | 0 |
| Ukraine[a] | 380 | 9 | variable | 00 (was 8~10) | 0 |
| Vatican City | 379 (never activated) |
† = Disputed state, may not be recognized as an independent state by some or all European Union members.
*A variable dialing plan has different dialing procedures for local and long-distance telephone calls. A call within the same city or within an area is dialed only by the subscriber number, while for calls outside the area, the number must be prefixed with the destination area code. For fixed dialing plan it is always required to dial all digits of the complete telephone number, including any area codes, if implemented.
Asian regions with European history or heritage
Despite fulfilling the Copenhagen criteria for being part of Europe the following countries are in the Asian numbering group, having a country code starting with 9:
One country that is geographically in Asia but is considered part of Europe for cultural and historical reasons, belong to the European group 3:
Harmonized service numbers
The following service numbers are harmonized across the European Union:
- 112 for emergency services[5][6]
- 116xxx for (other) harmonized services of social value
Single numbering plan (1996 proposal)
Proposed Country Code: 3
In 1996, the European Commission proposed the introduction of a single telephone numbering plan, in which all European Union member states would use the code '3'. Calls between member states would no longer require the use of the international access code '00'. Instead the digit 1 was proposed for these calls, replaced by +3 for call from outside the EU. Each country would have a two-digit country code after the 1 or the +3. Calls inside each country would not be affected.
Option 3 : Creation, in addition to providing numbers for special services, of a clear European numbering identity (three digit numbering codes) by using the number "3" to proceed current national country codes (e.g. "333" for France or "344" for the UK). This would liberate up to 50 new country codes within Europe and allow the current codes starting with number "4" to be recycled within the world-wide numbering plan. [1]
This proposal would have required states like Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark and others, whose country codes began with the digit '4', to return these to the International Telecommunication Union.
This would create four different ways of calling someone. For example, to call a number in Berlin, in Germany:
xxxx xxxx (within Berlin) 030 xxxx xxxx (within Germany) 1 49 30 xxxx xxxx (within the EU) +3 49 30 xxxx xxxx (outside the EU) +49 30 xxxx xxxx (current system)
Such a scheme would also have affected Spain which uses +34. For example, to call someone in Barcelona:
93x xxxxxx (within Spain) 1 34 93x xxxxxx (within the EU) +3 34 93x xxxxxx (outside the EU) +34 93x xxxxxx (current system)
States like Ireland, Portugal, Cyprus and Finland, which used codes in the '35x' range, would adopt a different format. For example, to call a number in Dublin, Ireland:
xxx xxxx (within Dublin) 01 xxx xxxx (within Ireland) 1 53 1 xxx xxxx (within the EU) +3 53 1 xxx xxxx (outside the EU) +353 1 xxx xxxx (current system)
A Green Paper on the proposal was published, but it was felt by many in the industry that the disruption and inconvenience of such a scheme would outweigh any advantages.
A disadvantage would have been that every local number beginning with "1" would have had to be changed (except emergency number which would be kept).
Another disadvantage would be that people wanting to call France (e.g. Southeast France using +33 4...) using an old number would connect another country like Spain, or people wanting to call Spain (e.g. +34 9...) would end up in e.g. Germany if they use an old number.
The EU proposal should not be confused with the European Telephony Numbering Space (ETNS) scheme, which uses the country code +388, and was intended to complement, rather than replace, existing national numbering plans.
See also
Notes
References
- ^ "E.164 Number Ranges in use in Luxembourg" (PDF). Institut Luxembourgeois de Régulation. October 2017.
- ^ "Moldova Switches over to "Closed" Type Numbering Plan for Fixed Telephone Subscribers | ANRCETI".
- ^ "Абонентам ДНР и ЛНР выделен телефонный код российской системы нумерации". Rossiyskaya Gazeta (in Russian). 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
- ^ Petrenko, Roman (7 May 2022). "Russia switches mobile operators of certain areas of occupied territories to its +7 telephone code". Ukrayinska Pravda. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
- ^ "112 – The European emergency number". European Commission – Information Society. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
- ^ "SOS 112 Europe". Retrieved 31 January 2011.
External links
- World Telephone Numbering Guide