Area code 721 is the telephone

area code A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, rea ...

in the

North American Numbering Plan The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) is a telephone numbering plan for twenty-five regions in twenty countries, primarily in North America and the Caribbean. This group is historically known as World Zone 1 and has the international callin ...

(NANP) for

Sint Maarten Sint Maarten () is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. With a population of 41,486 as of January 2019 on an area of , it encompasses the southern 44% of the divided island of Saint Martin, while the north ...

, a constituent country of the

Kingdom of the Netherlands , national_anthem = ) , image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg , map_width = 250px , image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png , map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale , capital = ...

in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. The area code was assigned in 2011 after membership of the country in the NANP became effective.

History

Sint Maarten became a NANP territory on 30 September 2011, after having been approved for membership in 2009. Previously, Sint Maarten used the country code 599, originally assigned to the now- dissolved

Netherlands Antilles nl, In vrijheid verenigd"Unified by freedom" , national_anthem = , common_languages = Dutch English Papiamento , demonym = Netherlands Antillean , capital = Willemstad , year_start = 1954 , year_end = 2010 , date_start = 15 December , ...

, and still in use by

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...

and the

Caribbean Netherlands ) , image_map = BES islands location map.svg , map_caption = Location of the Caribbean Netherlands (green and circled). From left to right: Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius , elevation_max_m = 887 , elevation_max_footnotes = , demographics ...

(Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba). The northern French side of the

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

, known as Saint-Martin, is not within the North American Numbering Plan, and has the country code +590, shared with

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...

and

Saint Barthélemy Saint Barthélemy (french: Saint-Barthélemy, ), officially the Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Barthélemy, is an overseas collectivity of France in the Caribbean. It is often abbreviated to St. Barth in French, and St. Barts in English ...

. Calls between the two parts of the island are international calls. On July 27, 2011, the North American Numbering Plan Administrator granted the issuance of the area code to Sint Maarten. Implementation dates were set for September 30, 2011 when a permissive dialing period commenced until September 30, 2012, when mandatory dialing became effective.TelEm Group educating the public about use of 1-721 area code for St. Maarten
October 5th, 2012

Calling procedure

Callers from outside the NANP (country code +1), including callers from the French side of the island, must dial an

international access code The following is a list of different International call prefix, international call prefixes that need to be dialled when placing an international call, international telephone call from different countries. Countries by international prefix C ...

(often 00) followed by 1 721. Callers within the NANP dial 1 721 and the seven-digit telephone number.

Previous country code

The remaining portions of the former Netherlands Antilles (Curaçao and the Caribbean Netherlands) have retained country code +599.

References

External links

North American Numbering Plan AdministratorIntroduction of NPA 721 (Sint Maarten)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Area Code 721

721 __NOTOC__ Year 721 (Roman numerals, DCCXXI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 721 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno ...

Communications in Sint Maarten

History

Calling procedure

Previous country code

See also

References

External links