Metropolitan Minneapolis area codes with 612 in yellow Area code 612 is a 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 an integrated 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, World Numbering Zone ...

(NANP) in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. The numbering plan area comprises the city of

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

and a few surrounding municipalities such as Fort Snelling, St. Anthony, and Richfield. Geographically, it is the smallest area code in the state of Minnesota. The area code is one of the two original area codes in the 1947 nationwide numbering plan for the state, when it was assigned to a much larger area, including the entire

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

region and a wide area surrounding it.

History

A map of Minnesota area codes When the

American Telephone and Telegraph Company AT&T Corporation, an abbreviation for its former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, was an American telecommunications company that provided voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to busi ...

(AT&T) created the first nationwide

telephone numbering plan 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, reach ...

in 1947, Minnesota was divided into two numbering plan areas (NPAs), which were identified with area codes 612 and

218 Year 218 ( CCXVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Adventus (or, less frequently, year 971 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 218 for th ...

. According to historical maps, 612 comprised roughly the southeastern third of Minnesota. The rest of the state received area code 218, which formed an ''r''-shaped region around the 612 NPA. The separating line extended westward from

Duluth Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

to the center of the state, then south through the center. In 1954, the state's area code boundaries were redrawn and the state was divided into three numbering plan areas. 612 was rotated to cover most of the central portion of Minnesota, stretching border to border from

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

through the Twin Cities to

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

. In the process, it absorbed some of 218's southern portion, including St. Cloud and

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

. Part of the southern portion of the original 612 territory, including Rochester and

Mankato Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is the county seat of Blue Earth County, Minnesota. The population was 44,488 at the 2020 census, making it the 21st-largest city in Mi ...

, was combined with the southwestern portion of 218 to form the new

area code 507 Area codes 507 and 924 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan for the southern fifth of Minnesota, including cities such as Rochester, Mankato, Worthington, Fairmont, Albert Lea, Northfield, and Austin. The original a ...

. The 218 region was reshaped to be more square, absorbing much of the old 612's northeastern portion, and now consisted of roughly the northern half of the state. This configuration remained in place for 42 years. In 1996, the northern and western portion of 612, including almost all of its territory outside of the Twin Cities, became

area code 320 Area code 320 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan for most of the central part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The numbering plan area (NPA) excludes the Twin Cities metro region. The area code was created in 1996 in a s ...

. This was intended as a long-term solution. However, the continued growth of the Twin Cities and the proliferation of cell phone and pager services pushed 612 back to the brink of exhaustion within a year. In 1998, the 612 region was roughly split in half, mostly following the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. Minneapolis and the area west of the Mississippi retained the old code, while most of the area east of the Mississippi, including St. Paul, became the new

area code 651 Area code 651 is the telephone numbering plan code for Saint Paul, Minnesota, and the eastern suburbs of the Twin Cities. A dogleg portion also extends to the southeast along the Mississippi River to include cities such as Hastings. The region ...

. Within another year, however, it became apparent that the creation of 651 would not free up enough numbers in the western Twin Cities to meet demand. The Twin Cities are home to most of the state's landlines, pagers, and cell phones, and their continued proliferation forced a three-way split of 612 that took effect in 2000. Minneapolis and a few suburbs to the north and south kept 612. The northwest suburbs ( Brooklyn Park, Coon Rapids, Maple Grove) became

area code 763 350px, Metropolitan area codes with 763 in orange. 350px, Minnesota area codes. Area code 763 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan for the northwestern suburbs of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, including cities such as ...

while the southwest suburbs ( Bloomington,

Eden Prairie Eden Prairie is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. It had a population of 64,198 at the 2020 census, making it the 16th-largest city in Minnesota. The city is adjacent to the north bank of the Minnesota River, upstream from ...

, Minnetonka. St. Louis Park) got area code 952. The eastern half of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus, in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights, is an exception to the regional numbering plan. Because of an integrated telephone system linking both campuses, the Falcon Heights campus remained in 612 after the 1998 split. 612 is one of the few urbanized area codes without an area code overlay, making Minneapolis one of the few major cities where seven-digit dialing is still possible. Under current projections, it will stay that way until at least 2039. The area code splits in the Twin Cities are unusual because they split along municipal, rather than exchange area boundaries. This led to a division of numerous exchange areas between the two area codes, and a few being divided among three. Even with the split into four area codes, most of the Twin Cities region is still a single rate center. The four Twin Cities area codes comprise one of the largest local calling areas in the United States; with a few exceptions, no long-distance charges are applied from one part of the Twin Cities to another. Portions of area codes 320 and 507 are local calls from the Twin Cities as well.

Service area

* City of Minneapolis * Richfield * St. Anthony * Fort Snelling * University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Area Code 612 612 612 Telecommunications-related introductions in 1947

History

Service area

See also

References

External links