Area code 206
Encyclopedia
206 is the North American
telephone
area code
in the U.S. state
of Washington for Seattle, the islands of Mercer
, Bainbridge
and Vashon
, and portions of metropolitan Seattle from Des Moines
to Woodway
.
Area code 206 was one of the original area codes created in 1947; at first, it covered all of Washington state. In 1957, area code 509
was created for the area east of the Cascades in a flash-cut
. From January 1, 1957, to January 15, 1995, 206 covered all of western Washington state. It split to form area code 360 (one of the first two area codes not of N0X/N1X form) in 1995, and underwent a three-way split in 1997 to form area codes 253 and 425.
North American
North American generally refers to an entity, people, group, or attribute of North America, especially of the United States and Canada together.-Culture:*North American English, a collective term used to describe American English and Canadian English...
telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
area code
Telephone numbering plan
A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunications to allocate telephone numbers to subscribers and to route telephone calls in a telephone network. A closed numbering plan, such as found in North America, imposes a fixed total length to numbers...
in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Washington for Seattle, the islands of Mercer
Mercer Island, Washington
Mercer Island is a city in King County, Washington, United States and the name of the island in Lake Washington on which the city sits. The population was 22,699 at the 2010 census....
, Bainbridge
Bainbridge Island, Washington
Bainbridge Island is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States, and the name of the island in Puget Sound on which the city is situated...
and Vashon
Vashon Island
Vashon is a census-designated place in King County, Washington, United States. It covers an island alternately called Vashon Island or Vashon-Maury Island, the largest island in Puget Sound south of Admiralty Inlet. The population was 10,624 at the 2010 census. At , it is about 60 percent larger...
, and portions of metropolitan Seattle from Des Moines
Des Moines, Washington
Des Moines is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 29,673 at the 2010 census. Property within the city has been the subject of land buyouts because of noise from aircraft landing or taking off from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport two miles to the north of...
to Woodway
Woodway, Washington
Woodway is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,307 at the 2010 census.Based on per capita income, one of the more reliable measures of affluence, Woodway ranks 9th of 522 areas in the state of Washington to be ranked...
.
Area code 206 was one of the original area codes created in 1947; at first, it covered all of Washington state. In 1957, area code 509
Area code 509
North American area code 509 is a state of Washington telephone area code. 509 covers central and eastern Washington, including Spokane, the Tri-Cities, Yakima, Walla Walla, and Wenatchee...
was created for the area east of the Cascades in a flash-cut
Flash-cut
A flash-cut, also called flash-cutover, is an immediate change in a complex system, with no phase-in period.Some telephone area codes were split immediately, rather than being phased in with a permissive dialing period. An example is telephone area code 213, which was split into 213 and 714 all at...
. From January 1, 1957, to January 15, 1995, 206 covered all of western Washington state. It split to form area code 360 (one of the first two area codes not of N0X/N1X form) in 1995, and underwent a three-way split in 1997 to form area codes 253 and 425.