Telephone numbers in Europe

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Calling codes in Europe Country Calling Codes of Europe.png
Calling codes in Europe

Telephone numbers in Europe are managed by the national telecommunications authorities of each country. Most country codes start with 3 and 4, but some countries that by the Copenhagen criteria are considered part of Europe have country codes starting on numbers most common outside of Europe (e.g. Faroe Islands of Denmark have a code starting on number 2, which is most common in Africa).

Contents

The international access code (dial out code) has been standardized as 00, as recommended by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

European Economic Area

CountryCountry codeNational number length Dialing plan * International access code National trunk prefix
Flag of Austria.svg Austria 434 to 13variable000
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium 328 to 10fixed with 0000
Flag of Bulgaria.svg Bulgaria 3597 to 9variable000
Flag of Croatia.svg Croatia 3858 or 9 (some mobile)variable000
Flag of Cyprus.svg Cyprus 3578fixed00
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic 4209fixed00
Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark 458fixed00
Flag of Estonia.svg Estonia 3727 (fixed or mobile), 8 (mobile)fixed00
Flag of Finland.svg Finland 3585 to 12variable000
Flag of France.svg France 339fixed with 0000
Flag of Germany.svg Germany 493 to 12variable000
Flag of Greece.svg Greece 304 to 5 (company numbers) 10 (fixed and mobile)fixed00
Flag of Hungary.svg Hungary 368 (landline) or 9 (mobile)variable0006
Flag of Iceland.svg Iceland 3547 (mobile and landline) or 9 (for 3xxxxxxxx)fixed00
Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland 3537 to 9; 10 (mobile voicemail and Northern Ireland)variable000
Flag of Italy.svg Italy 396 to 12 (generally 10)fixed00
Flag of Latvia.svg Latvia 3718fixed00
Flag of Liechtenstein.svg Liechtenstein 423up to 12 (generally is 7)fixed00
Flag of Lithuania.svg Lithuania 3708variable000
Flag of Luxembourg.svg Luxembourg 3528 (fixed new numbering plan); 9 (mobile); 12 (mobile telematic); 4-11 (historic numbers still active) [1] fixed00
Flag of Malta.svg Malta 3568fixed00
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands 319variable000
Flag of Norway.svg Norway 474-12 (generally 8)fixed00
Flag of Poland.svg Poland 489fixed00
Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal 3519fixed00
Flag of Romania.svg Romania 409fixed with 0000
Flag of Slovakia.svg Slovakia 4219variable000
Flag of Slovenia.svg Slovenia 3868variable000
Flag of Spain.svg Spain 349 (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)fixed00
Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden 466 to 9000
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

CountryCountry codeNational number lengthDialing planInternational access codeNational trunk prefix
Flag of the Republic of Abkhazia.svg Abkhazia7 840 (landline) / 7 940 (mobile)7variable8~108
Flag of Albania.svg Albania 3558 (fixed), 9 (mobile)variable000
Flag of Andorra.svg Andorra 3766 or 9 (in special cases)fixed00
Flag of Armenia.svg Armenia 3748variable000
Flag of Belarus.svg Belarus 3759variable000
Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg Bosnia and Herzegovina 3878 to 9variable000
Flag of the Faroe Islands.svg Faroe Islands 2986fixed00
Flag of Georgia.svg Georgia 9959variable000
Flag of Gibraltar.svg Gibraltar 3508fixed00
Flag of Kosovo.svg Kosovo3838variable000
Flag of North Macedonia.svg North Macedonia 3898variable000
Flag of Moldova.svg Moldova 3738fixed with 0 [2] 000
Flag of Monaco.svg Monaco 3778 to 9fixed (?)00
Flag of Montenegro.svg Montenegro 3828fixed000
Flag of Russia.svg Russia 7 (shared with Kazakhstan)10variable8~108
Flag of San Marino.svg San Marino 3786 to 12fixed00
Flag of Serbia.svg Serbia 3818 to 10variable000
Flag of South Ossetia.svg South Ossetia7 850 (fixed), 7 929 (mobile)5 to 7variable8~108
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Switzerland 419fixed with 0000
Flag of Transnistria (state).svg Transnistria373 5 / 373 2 (Moldova codes used)7variable000
Flag of Turkey.svg Turkey 9010fixed000
Flag of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.svg Northern Cyprus90 392 (fixed), 90 533 / 90 542 (mobile)7fixed000
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom 449 or 10 digits (geographic); 7, 9 or 10 (non-geographic)variable000
Flag of Ukraine.svg Ukraine [lower-alpha 1] 3809variable000
Flag of Vatican City (2023-present).svg Vatican City 379 (not 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 telephone number must be prefixed with the destination area code. A fixed dialing plan requires to dial all digits of the complete telephone number, including any area codes.

Harmonized service numbers

The following service numbers are harmonized across the European Union:

Single numbering plan (1996 proposal)

In 1996, the European Commission proposed the introduction of a single telephone numbering plan, in which all European Union member states would use the country code 3. Calls between member states would no longer require the international access code 00. Instead the digit 1 was proposed for these calls, replaced by the country code 3 for calls from outside the EU. Each country would have a two-digit country code after the 1 or the 3. Calls within each country would not be affected.

This proposal would have required states such as Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark and others, whose country codes began with the digit '4', to return these to the International Telecommunication Union.

A Green Paper on the proposal was published, but the disruption and inconvenience of the change was deemed to 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), which uses the country code 388, and was intended to complement, rather than replace, existing national numbering plans.

See also

Notes

  1. Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian-backed separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk have been serviced with the Russian country code (7). [3] [4]

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References

  1. "E.164 Number Ranges in use in Luxembourg" (PDF). Institut Luxembourgeois de Régulation. October 2017.
  2. "Moldova Switches over to "Closed" Type Numbering Plan for Fixed Telephone Subscribers | ANRCETI".
  3. "Абонентам ДНР и ЛНР выделен телефонный код российской системы нумерации". Rossiyskaya Gazeta (in Russian). 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  4. 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.
  5. "112 – The European emergency number". European Commission – Information Society. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
  6. "SOS 112 Europe" . Retrieved 31 January 2011.