On this page
- What is the North American Numbering Plan (NANP)?
- NANP country code
- How NANP numbers work
- Calling within an NANP region
- Calling from one NANP region to another
- Calling to an NANP region from outside of the NANP
- Calling from the NANP to a region outside of the NANP
- How is the NANP administered?
- NANP regions
What is the North American Numbering Plan (NANP)?
The NANP is a shared numbing system used by Canada, the United States, a majority of Caribbean regions, and U.S. territories in the Pacific.
NANP country codes
All NANP regions share country code “+1”.
Within country code “+1”, 3 digit area codes designate the region that the call is being placed to.
This area code can be used to call to a specific region or a country within the NANP.
How NANP phone numbers work
NANP phone numbers are 10 digits.
The first 3 digits represent an area code, while the remaining 7 digits represent the local phone number within the area code.
The 3 digits of the area code can also represent different countries – area code 242 represents the Bahamas, while area code 473 represents Grenada.
Calling within an NANP region
10 digit method
|three digit number||seven digit number|
|area / regional code||local phone number|
7 digit method
|seven digit number|
|local phone number|
A local phone call can be made by dialing either a 7 or 10 digit (7 digits plus 3 for the area code). In some cases (high density areas and regions with overlapping area codes), the 10 digit number has to be dialed.
Long distance calling
|1||three digits||seven digit number|
|long distance trunk code||area / regional code||local phone number|
A long distance phone call can be dialed by dialing 1 + three digit area code + seven digit local number.
Calling from one NANP region to another
|1||three digits||seven digits|
|NANP trunk number||area / regional code||local phone number|
Calling between two NANP countries is done the same way as dialing a long distance call in Canada or the United States – 1 + three digit area code + seven digit local number.
It is important to note that international rates will be billed when calling to an area code assigned to a different country. For many users in Canada and the United States, rates between these two countries are often very competitive, however when calling to the Caribbean or U.S. territories in the Pacific, rates can be very expensive.
Calling to an NANP region from outside of the NANP
|exit code||1||three digit number||seven digit number|
|International dialing code of the country you are dialing from||NANP country code||area / region code within the NANP||local phone number within the area code|
When calling to an NANP region from a region outside of the NANP, first dial your region’s international dialing code, followed by the country code ‘1’ followed by the 10 digits of the local phone number.
Calling from an NANP region to outside of the NANP
|011||one to three digits||local number|
|NANP exit code||destination country code||phone number within the destination region|
When calling from the NANP, first dial ‘011’ as the exit code, followed by the destination country code and the local phone number.
How is the NANP administered?
The NANP is administered by NANPA (North American Numbering Plan Administration).
NANPA administers NANP numbering resources, and individual country regulatory authorities manage those resources within their jurisdictions.
The NANPA administration is assigned through the U.S.’s FCC, and is managed through a private contractor.
More on how the NANP is administered can be found on the NANPA website on “about NANPA”
Regions of the NANP
- United States
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Cayman Islands
- Domincan Republic
- Puerto Rico
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Sint Maarten
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- Virgin Islands (United States)
- Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
- American Samoa
- Northern Mariana Islands