Area code 831 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 ...

for a small region of the U.S. state of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The numbering plan area (NPA) comprises Monterey County, San Benito County, and Santa Cruz County. The area code was created in 1998 in an area code split of area code 408.

History

In 1947, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) devised the first nationwide telephone numbering plan and assigned the original North American area codes. The state of California was divided into three numbering plan areas (NPAs) with distinct area codes: 213, 415, and 916, for the southern, central, and northern parts of the state, respectively. California area codes were reorganized geographically in 1950, so that 916 was assigned to a numbering plan area that comprised only the northeastern part from the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

to the Central Valley. The coastal area to the west was assigned area code 415. Area code 408 was split from numbering plan area 415 on March 1, 1959. The new numbering plan area included most of Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito Counties. In 1997, the California/Nevada Code Administrator (C/NCA) advised the North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA) of the need for area code relief in the 408 numbering plan area. A geographic area code split had been approved by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) which would install area code 831 for a new numbering plan area comprising the communities of Santa Cruz, Salinas, Monterey, and Hollister. Area code 408 would be retained in Sunnyvale, San Jose, Los Gatos, and Gilroy. The area code split became effictive on July 11, 1998, with a permissive dialing period ending on February 20, 1999. Due to the relatively small size of the area (in both area and population), exhaustion of 831 is unlikely for the foreseeable future.

Service area

The service area of NPA 831 includes Big Sur,

Monterey Bay Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by about 75 miles (120 km), accessible via California S ...

, the Salinas Valley, and the southwestern Santa Cruz Mountains. Major cities in the area are Salinas, Hollister, Monterey, Santa Cruz and places in the northern Central Coast.

Monterey County

* Aromas * Big Sur * Boronda * Carmel Highlands * Carmel Valley Village * Carmel-by-the-Sea * Castroville * Chualar * Del Monte Forest * Del Rey Oaks * Elkhorn * Gonzales * Gorda * Greenfield * Jolon * King City * Las Lomas * Lockwood *

Marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...

* Monterey * Moss Landing * Pacific Grove * Pajaro * Pebble Beach * Prunedale * Salinas * San Ardo * San Lucas * Sand City * Seaside * Soledad * Spreckels

San Benito County

* Aromas * Hollister * New Idria * Paicines * Panoche * Ridgemark * San Juan Bautista * Tres Pinos

Santa Cruz County

* Amesti * Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley * Aptos * Ben Lomond * Bonny Doon * Boulder Creek * Brookdale * Capitola * Corralitos * Davenport * Day Valley * Felton *

Freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

* Interlaken * Live Oak * Lompico * Mount Hermon * Opal Cliffs * Pasatiempo * Rio del Mar * Santa Cruz * Scotts Valley * Soquel *

Summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

* Swanton * Twin Lakes * Watsonville

References

External links

{{coord, 36.9, -121.8, region:US-CA, display=title

831 __NOTOC__ Year 831 (Roman numerals, DCCCXXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Abbasid Empire and Byzantine Empire * Byzantine–Arab wars (780–1180)#Period of 780–842, Byzantine–Arab W ...

Monterey County, California San Benito County, California Santa Cruz County, California Salinas Valley Santa Cruz Mountains