Area codes 540 and 826 explained

Image:Area code 540.png|right|400px|The area colored red indicates the northern region of Virginia served by area code 540poly 391 103 368 103 343 148 324 152 325 160 317 164 309 174 311 177 302 178 364 181 385 161 Area codes 757 and 948poly 394 103 364 103 339 86 325 57 310 58 306 53 308 34 306 20 301 15 293 0 345 0 369 82 395 83 Area codes 410 and 443poly 169 1 171 31 216 10 239 7 254 22 275 22 264 31 276 42 290 30 291 29 303 40 294 51 288 75 316 88 324 100 329 93 324 56 314 58 305 52 308 36 305 17 294 1 Area codes 240 and 301poly 95 0 71 22 67 17 52 28 48 38 53 48 45 51 42 43 34 42 24 74 11 77 11 93 31 127 38 132 42 127 66 143 72 136 92 147 95 141 125 143 132 130 124 124 135 98 153 98 174 63 195 63 213 22 246 34 262 27 263 32 275 24 253 21 238 8 216 9 171 30 170 0 Area codes 304 and 681poly 276 42 292 30 303 39 289 54 Area code 202poly 112 180 111 171 131 166 136 169 150 165 163 169 180 139 186 138 187 135 185 127 213 88 231 89 234 92 233 129 241 127 240 135 247 136 265 144 253 155 253 162 267 167 272 162 279 164 284 159 288 159 288 156 306 167 315 168 311 174 306 179 Area code 434poly 0 181 0 161 43 127 67 145 73 135 87 145 90 153 87 159 110 170 112 180 Area code 276

1. poly 273 38 264 44 266 58 276 58 279 67 285 69 283 77 291 84 252 108 230 86 214 87 184 127 188 136 184 140 177 140 162 168 149 165 136 170 126 166 111 171 87 158 88 152 85 144 93 147 93 141 123 143 131 131 124 125 135 98 155 98 175 62 195 62 214 22 247 34 261 28 265 32 Area code 540

poly 292 84 252 109 235 92 232 127 240 125 242 137 246 135 265 144 251 155 253 162 267 166 274 162 279 165 287 159 288 156 305 166 314 167 317 161 326 160 323 151 342 148 325 122 330 115 Area code 804poly 272 39 263 44 267 56 276 59 281 67 287 70 292 54 Area codes 571 and 703desc top-left

Area codes 540 and 826 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the U.S. State of Virginia. Areas included are the outer portions of Northern Virginia/D.C Area along with areas in or around the Shenandoah Valley, Blue Ridge Mountains, New River Valley, and the Roanoke metropolitan area. The Virginia State Corporation Commission authorized the addition of 826 to the numbering plan area for implementation in May 2022.

History

Area code 540 was established on July 15, 1995, when numbering plan area 703 was divided. The independent cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, and Manassas Park and the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, (Eastern) Loudon County and Prince William along with a very small portion of Fauquier County and Stafford County remained in the area code 703, while the rest of the area was reassigned to the area code 540.^[1]

Due to the continued growth of telecommunication services in the area, it was necessary to split 540 as well. On September 1, 2001, the farthest western region of Virginia was established as a separate numbering plan area with area code 276.

The pool of central office codes for the area code was projected to exhaust in 2022. For relief, the Virginia State Corporation Commission approved a plan in June 2020 to add area code 826 to form an all-services overlay, with an in-service date of May 14, 2022. This made ten-digit dialing mandatory in the overlay area.^[2]

Service area

The numbering plan area includes the communities ofBedford,Berryville,Blacksburg, Buchanan, Buena Vista, Cave Spring,Clifton Forge,Covington,Fincastle,Floyd,Fredericksburg,Front Royal,Greenville, Harrisonburg, Hot Springs,Lexington,Louisa,Luray,Madison,Mineral,Orange,Pulaski,Radford,Roanoke, Rocky Mount,Salem, Staunton,Warrenton, Little Washington,Waynesboro, andWinchester.

It serves the counties ofAlleghany,Augusta,Bath,Botetourt,Clarke, Craig,Culpeper, Fauquier, Floyd,Franklin,Frederick,Giles,Highland,King George,Louisa,Madison,Montgomery,Orange,Page,Pulaski,Rappahannock,Roanoke, Rockingham,Rockbridge, Shenandoah, Spotsylvania,Stafford, andWarren, as well as portions of Bedford County, and a small portion of Albemarle County consisting of Afton and Greenwood that is in a LATA served by Verizon landline service rather than CenturyLink.It also partially serves western Loudoun County, whereas most of the county is in the numbering plan area 703/571.

External links

• List of exchanges from AreaCodeDownload.com, 540 Area Code

Notes and References

1. "New '540' Area Code Announced". Associated Press. The Daily News Leader (Staunton, Virginia). July 7, 1994. p. A3.
2. Web site: Hammack. Laurence. Coming soon: New area code for Southwest Virginia. 2020-06-19. Roanoke Times. 17 June 2020 . en.