Area code 865

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Area Code 865 is an area code in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It consists of Knox County and the other eight central East Tennessee counties that border it (Anderson, Blount, Grainger, Jefferson, Loudon, Roane, Sevier, and Union). The area code region incorporates most of the region defined as the Knoxville-Sevierville-La Follette Combined Statistical Area. Cities in the 865 area code include Knoxville, Gatlinburg, Harriman, Jefferson City, Lenoir City, Maryville, Maynardville, Oak Ridge, Rockwood, Rutledge, and Sevierville.

The 865 area code region was split from area code 423 in 1999. The change from 423 to 865 occurred only four years after the previous change, from area code 615, which had been in use for nearly 40 years before.

On a standard telephone keypad, the numbers 865 correspond to the letters VOL, the commonly used short version of Volunteers, which is the formal nickname of the sports teams at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The Tennessee Regulatory Authority requested that the 865/VOL area code be assigned to Knoxville and surrounding counties when the local area code was changed from 423.^[1]

The area code is referenced in the Mr. Mack rap song Where You From (Da 865), which is about the greater Knoxville area.^[2]