International dialing codes

Since the 1970s, when the International Direct Dial (IDD) system was put into place, it has been possible to pick up a telephone almost anywhere in the world and be in contact with another phone anywhere else in just seconds. Initially only a few countries participated, but now the system is universal.

Before IDD, international calls were made through human operators. You would dial the operator, speak the name of the country you wished to call, and they would handle the rest. But now, all that has to be done using the phone's dialing mechanism, so it became necessary to assign numbers for each country.

Country code assignments are managed by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a United Nations body that brings together the telecommunications authorities from each of the world's governments. For details, please see the E.164 standards document at the ITU site.

About this site

Phone Code Genius is here to make it as easy as possible for you to navigate the confusing maze of codes and numbers that get your call through from the phone in your hand to a colleague, client, or loved one on the other side of the planet.

We constantly monitor technical and political developments to make sure you can always come here for the most up-to-date information about international telephone codes.