Area codes 760 and 442 facts for kids
Have you ever wondered about the numbers you dial before a phone number? Those are called area codes! In California, two important area codes are 760 and 442. They cover a huge part of southeastern and southernmost California. This includes places like Imperial, Inyo, and Mono counties. You'll also find them in parts of San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, and Kern counties.
Contents
How Area Codes 760 and 442 Began
Area codes help phone companies organize phone numbers. The 760 area code was created on March 22, 1997. It was "split" from an older area code, 619. This means that some areas that used to have 619 numbers were given new 760 numbers.
Why 442 Was Added
Just ten years after 760 was created, many more people started using cell phones and pagers. This meant there weren't enough phone numbers to go around in the 760 area. A new area code was needed!
At first, the plan was to split the 760 area again. Parts of San Diego and Imperial counties would get a new 442 area code. But businesses didn't like this idea. They had just changed their numbers when 760 was created. They didn't want to change them again so soon!
So, the California Public Utilities Commission decided on a different plan. Instead of splitting the area, they added 442 as an "overlay" to 760. An overlay means that new phone numbers in the same area can start with either 760 or 442. This started on November 21, 2009.
Dialing All Ten Digits
Because of the overlay, everyone in the 760/442 area must now dial all ten digits for local calls. This means you dial the area code (like 760 or 442) plus the seven-digit phone number. Before the overlay, you could often just dial the seven-digit number for local calls.
California's Largest Area Code
The area covered by 760 and 442 is very large. It spans about 46,666 square miles (120,860 km2). This makes it the biggest area code in California! About 29% of the entire state uses these two area codes.
See Also
- List of California area codes
