Area code 360

Map of Washington's area codes

Area code 360 is the telephone area code for western Washington state outside metropolitan Seattle. It began service on January 15, 1995. The area, which encompasses all of western Washington outside urban King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties and Bainbridge Island, was previously part of area code 206. Area codes 360 and 334 (Alabama), which began service on the same day, were the first two area codes in the North American Numbering Plan with a middle digit other than 0 or 1.[1]

The area served currently consists of two disconnected sections. The larger, southern portion stretches from the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the Oregon border, while the northern portion stretches from the border with British Columbia, Canada almost to Everett. This unusual configuration came when residents of several Seattle exurbs complained about no longer being associated with 206. In response, US West put them back in 206, a move that hastened the split that put most of Seattle's suburban ring into areas 253 and 425 two years later. It is one of the few non-contiguous areas in NANPA; others include 706 in Georgia, 423 in Tennessee and 386 in Florida. Each case results from a split that removed the middle from a formerly contiguous area.

Cities and towns in area code 360 include:

ᵃ Until 1988, Point Roberts was served by BC Tel, with Canadian area code 604; calls from elsewhere in the United States were billed as calls to a suburb of Vancouver, British Columbia, even though the city is legally within the State of Washington and thus the United States. On January 1, 1988, Point Roberts telephone service was sold to Whidbey Telephone Company and was moved to 206 area code (subsequently split to 360) and such calls became domestic, at the expense of Point Roberts subscribers' losing the ability to make local calls outside their own exchange.

In 1999, the entire 360 area was to be overlaid by 564, but the implementation has been delayed indefinitely by order of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, which currently forecasts that supply of 360 numbers will be exhausted in 2017.[2] The change was approved in May 2016, with implementation of the new area code scheduled for 2017.[3]

See also

References

External links

Washington area codes: 206, 253, 360, 425, 509
North: 236/778, 250, 604
West: Pacific Ocean, 236/778, 250 Area Code 360

(This area code practically surrounds Area Codes 206, 253, and 425)

 East: 509
South: 503/971
British Columbia area codes: 236, 250, 604, 778
Oregon area codes: 458, 503, 541, 971

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