To get your phone call into another country, you first have to "exit" your own. That's the purpose of the exit code--or, more formally, the International Direct Dialing (IDD) code, the first numbers you dial when making an international call. The IDD code tells your phone company's computers that you are placing a call outside the country, which will affect how it interprets the numbers that follow. In the United States and Canada, the IDD is "011." In most other countries, it's "00." In a few countries, such as Brazil, the exit code varies by phone company.
Once you've signaled that you're making an international call, the next step is to indicate where it's going. For that, you enter the country code, a one- to three-digit number that routes your call to the proper place. The countries on the North American Numbering Plan--the United States, Canada and about 15 Caribbean nations--share the country code "1." Russia and Kazakhstan share the only other one-digit code: "7." Other common calling destinations include Egypt, "20"; France, "33"; Britain, "44"; Mexico, "52"; China, "86"; Hong Kong, "852"; and Israel, "972." The highest country code: Uzbekistan, "998."
When placing a long-distance call from a land-line phone in the U.S., you start by dialing a "1." That "1" is called a trunk code, and it's kind of like an exit code for your local area: It tells the phone company's computers that the number to follow will be a long distance call. In other countries that use trunk codes, the code is usually "0." Either way, when placing an international call, you must drop the trunk code. Using it will cause your call to be routed incorrectly.
Once you've entered the IDD and country codes, all that's left is to dial the area code (if there is one) and the local number. In other countries, area codes are frequently referred to as city codes, but they serve the same function. Be aware that most other countries do not share the 10-digit numbering style used in the U.S. and Canada.
