Texting knows no borders, but how do you find the country code for the person you're trying to reach? In this article, you'll find the most commonly used international dialing codes by destination.

International dialing codes: how to contact people abroad

International calls follow a few very simple rules. Most importantly, you need the recipient's country code—essential information to have before calling a number outside of your current country. A country code is a numerical prefix used to identify the destination of a call. Naturally, this must be dialed to place a call outside of your own country.

For example, let's look at a call between France and Belgium. Their respective country codes are 33 for France and 32 for Belgium. To make an international call, you must add a double zero before these numbers to indicate an international connection. So, if you want to call Belgium, you need to dial 0032… And to call France from Belgium, you dial 0033…

This rule applies to most countries in Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Australia.

For countries like the United States or Canada, the dialing codes are different. These countries are part of the North American Numbering Plan. That is why, for these destinations, you must dial 0011 + the phone number. There is an exception for Canada or other countries within the North American Numbering Plan, where you simply dial 1.

You can also look up dialing codes in the lists available on many websites that provide this service for your calls.

International prefixes:

There are websites that allow you to find the dialing code you need to reach a specific location. Simply enter the code you are looking for or the full phone number.

These sites also allow you to find numbers by region and identify the corresponding department for a landline number.

List of dialing codes by destination

The most commonly used codes for calling or sending a text are as follows:

France: 33
Germany: 49
England: 44
Spain: 34
Italy: 39
Switzerland: 41
Portugal: 351
Netherlands: 31
Belgium: 32
Morocco: 212
Tunisia: 216
Algeria: 213
Ireland: 353
Ivory Coast: 225
Mali: 223
Denmark: 45
Russia: 7
China: 86
Mexico: 52
Moldova: 373
Malta: 356
Luxembourg: 352
Bosnia: 387
Belarus: 375
Norway: 47
Bulgaria: 359
Ukraine: 380
Slovakia: 421

International dialing codes

The codes you need to communicate (to call or send text messages) are categorized by zone:

• Zone 1: Zone 1 covers Canada and the USA (and their territories: Anguilla, Bahamas, Bermuda, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Dominican Republic), as well as parts of the Caribbean. Almost all other parts of the USA are in Zone 1 (except for Greenland and Aruba, which are in Zone 2).
• Zone 2: Zone 2 covers the entire African continent, Arab countries (Zambia, Zimbabwe, Benin, Burkina Faso, Botswana, Sierra Leone, Comoros, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Somalia, Tanzania, Chad, Sudan, Guinea, Lesotho, Libya, Liberia, Malawi, Morocco, Mauritania, Eswatini, Mayotte, Namibia, Uganda, Rwanda, Equatorial Guinea, Togo, Sao Tome and Principe), and certain islands in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans (Reunion, Mauritius, Seychelles).
• Zones 3 and 4: These cover almost all of Europe (Albania, Vatican City, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Latvia, Sweden, Switzerland, Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, Denmark, Spain, Estonia, Hungary, Romania, Iceland, Georgia, Jordan, Lithuania, Italy, Malta, Gibraltar, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Poland, Netherlands, Greece, Slovenia, with the exception of the Faroe Islands in Zone 2).
• Zone 5: Zone 5 covers almost all other locations in the Americas not included in the North American Numbering Plan (Uruguay, Belize, Venezuela, Argentina, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Panama, Paraguay, El Salvador, Peru, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Nicaragua, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana, French Guiana, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, etc.).
• Zone 6: Zone 6 covers the South Pacific and Oceania (Vanuatu, Samoa, Brunei, Indonesia, Kiribati, Laos, Malaysia, Nauru, Philippines, Singapore, Tuvalu, Marshall Islands, etc.).
• Zone 7: Zone 7 covers Russia and Kazakhstan.
• Zone 8: Zone 8 covers the Far East (Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Macau, Japan, Thailand) and is also used for all special services.
• Zone 9: Zone 9 covers almost all of Asia: the Near and Middle East (Afghanistan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, India, Iran, Lebanon, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Qatar, UAE, Tajikistan), as well as Central and South Asia.

French telephone prefixes

These can refer to both the first two digits of a number (from 01 to 09) and to accessing certain tools before dialing a number. This may vary depending on the service provider.

A distinction is made between regional codes (01 to 05) and prefixes for mobile and special phones (06 to 09).

01: Paris Region (Île-de-France)

02: Northwest – Lower Normandy, Brittany, Centre-Val de Loire, Upper Normandy, Pays de la Loire

03: Northeast – Alsace, Burgundy, Champagne-Ardenne, Franche-Comté, Lorraine, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Picardy

04: Southeast – Auvergne, Corsica, Languedoc-Roussillon, PACA, Rhône-Alpes

05: Southwest – Aquitaine, Limousin, Midi-Pyrénées, Poitou-Charentes

Sending and receiving international text messages

You can send and receive international SMS with your mobile plan or through various online solutions that are on the rise: messaging platforms, websites, mobile apps, and more.

You can take advantage of preferential rates for sending and receiving SMS or MMS to mobile phones around the world.

However, whether you use an iPhone or an Android, and even though most providers offer cost-effective texting plans, using mobile apps to send SMS can lead to significant savings.

Calling and texting with a mobile app

There are many mobile apps, most of which are free, that allow you to send SMS or call your contacts without limits and without needing to enter their country code:

• MilliTalk: An app that enhances your mobile experience by generating a special number. It allows you to send SMS and make calls at budget-friendly rates.
• TextNow + Voice: An app for unlimited calls and texts. This app creates a dedicated phone number and voicemail for you.
• iMessage: Allows you to send unlimited messages via Wi-Fi when messaging other iPhone users who also have the app.
• Viber: An app that uses Wi-Fi to send texts and make unlimited calls anywhere in the world.
• WhatsApp: Like Viber, this app uses Wi-Fi to send SMS and make unlimited calls.

Sending SMS abroad with Octopush

Octopush is a professional SMS messaging platform for reaching recipients whether they are in French-speaking countries or anywhere else in the world. Simple, accessible, and intuitive, you can send messages to any of your contacts' mobile phones in just a few clicks.

The services and features of the Octopush platform allow you to send your texts immediately or schedule them for later, send messages directly from your email address, import or export your customer number files, and more.

After signing up on the site, Octopush gives you 5 free texts so you can test the platform's effectiveness. Several SMS packs are available at sliding-scale rates based on your needs and the destination you wish to send your texts to, regardless of the number.