202 is the North American telephone area code for Washington, D.C. It was one of the area codes originally assigned in October 1947.
As of 2010, there are no plans to overlay the area code, as the North American Numbering Plan Administration estimates the current supply of 202 numbers is sufficient at least to the year 2018.[1] For a local call between two telephones in the District, 7-digit dialing is permitted, although the call will be connected if the area code is dialed. There is, of course, no provision for long-distance calls within the area code.[2]
Originally, area code 202 was an unpublished alternate area code for the nearby suburbs in Maryland and Virginia, which were officially in area codes 301 and 703, respectively. That arrangement allowed local calls throughout the metropolitan area to be dialed using only seven digits. For example, a telephone number in Kensington, Maryland, that was officially 301-949-xxxx could be dialed as 202-949-xxxx as well. However, on October 1, 1990, due to pending number exhaustion, the ability to dial the suburbs using area code 202 ended (to start allowing previously-impossible prefix duplications), and local calls between area codes required 10-digit dialing (area code + number, leading "1" is not required and is usually not allowed).
Phone numbers for offices in Congress begin with 202-224, 202-225, or 202-226.
| District of Columbia area codes: 202 | ||
|---|---|---|
| North: 240/301 | ||
| West: 571/703 | area code 202 | East: 240/301 |
| South: 571/703 | ||
| Maryland area codes: 240, 301, 410, 443 | ||
| Virginia area codes: 276, 434, 540, 571, 703, 757, 804 | ||
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