Area code 360

Area code 360 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the part of Washington state outside metropolitan Seattle and west of the Cascade Mountains. The numbering plan area (NPA) serves all of western Washington outside urban King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties and Bainbridge Island, The area code was newly assigned in 1995 in an area code split of 206, Washington's original area code since 1947. Since 2017, the numbering plan area has been part of an overlay complex with area code 564, which also overlays 206. From 1947 to 1957, all of Washington state was assigned area code 206 for routing long-distance telephone calls in Operator Toll Dialing. In 1957, the numbering plan area (NPA) was reduced to just Western Washington, with most of Eastern Washington (east of the Cascade Mountains) receiving area code 509. Washington remained with two NPAs for 38 years. This configuration was unchanged even with western Washington's explosive growth in the second half of the 20th century and the proliferation of cell phones, fax machines, and pagers. By the early 1990s, the ensuing resource pressure meant that the need for additional central office prefixes and telephone numbers could no longer be staved off. Accordingly, of the region outside the Seattle and Tacoma areas was split from 206 to form a new numbering plan area with area code 360. Numbering plan area 360 comprises two sections that resulted from numbering disputes in the community.