View source for Area code 360

{{short description|Telephone area code for western Washington, United States}}
[[file:NANP-US-WA-NPA360-564_2023.png|thumb|Washington state area codes]]

'''Area code 360''' is a telephone [[area code]] in the [[North American Numbering Plan]] (NANP) for western [[Washington (state)|Washington]] state outside metropolitan [[Seattle]] and west of the [[Cascade Mountains]]. Its numbering plan area (NPA) comprises all of western Washington outside urban [[King County, Washington|King]], [[Pierce County, Washington|Pierce]], and [[Snohomish County, Washington|Snohomish]] counties and [[Bainbridge Island, Washington|Bainbridge Island]], Until January 15, 1995, when the area code commenced service, the numbering plan area (NPA) was served by [[area code 206]], Washington's original area code since 1947.

Since 2017, area code 360 has been an overlay area code, from the addition of [[area code 564]] to the same numbering plan area. Area code 564 is slated for overlay onto additional NPAs in the region, when numbering shortages demand relief.

==History==
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 the western part of the state, west of the [[Cascade Mountains]], dividing the state into two calling areas. This configuration remained in place until 1995, when resource pressure from the proliferation of cell phones, fax machines, and pagers, required additional central office prefixes and telephone numbers. Most 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 consists of two sections that are the result of numbering disputes in the community. The configuration arose when residents of several Seattle exurbs protested the loss of area code 206 and changing to 360.<ref>{{cite news |title=Area code 206 is shrinking once more|date=August 1, 1996|agency=Associated Press|work=Kitsap Sun|url=http://web.kitsapsun.com/archive/1996/08-01/351286_area_code_206_is_shrinking_once.html}}</ref> In response, [[US West]] reassigned some central offices back to 206. However, 206 was under numbering pool pressure even after the creation of 360 and the restoration of these exurbs forced the [[Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission|Washington Public Utilities Commission]] to switch most of Seattle's suburban ring into areas [[area code 253|253]] and [[area code 425|425]] in 1998, sooner than originally planned.

This made 360 one of the few NPAs in the North American Numbering Plan without a continuous land border;{{efn|The eastern and western portions of 360 are connected in a legal sense because Snohomish, Island, Kitsap and Jefferson counties join in mid-Sound.<ref>{{cite map|title=Map of the Puget Sound Basin county boundaries, Washington.|work=Description of Existing Data for Integrated Landscape Monitoring in the Puget Sound Basin, Washington|author=Danielle P. Aiello|author2=Alicia Torregrosa|author3=Allyson L. Jason|author4=Tracy L. Fuentes|author5=Edward G. Josberger|name-list-style=amp|year=2008|id=Open-File Report 2008-1308|publisher=United States Geological Survey|page=18|url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1308/}}</ref>}} others include [[area code 706|706]] in Georgia, [[area code 423|423]] in Tennessee and [[area code 386|386]] in Florida. Each case results from a split that removed the middle from a formerly contiguous area.

In 1999, the [[Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission]] intended to overlay 360 with an additional area code, but the implementation was delayed indefinitely. A 2016 report forecasted exhaustion in 2018.<ref>{{citation|title=Washington State Area Codes and Numbering Issues|newspaper=Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission|date=March 2016|url=https://www.utc.wa.gov/regulatedIndustries/utilities/telcom/Pages/areaCodes.aspx|access-date=2016-12-30}}</ref> The change was finally approved in May 2016.<ref>{{cite press release |date=May 19, 2016 |title=New area code coming to western Washington |url=http://www.utc.wa.gov/aboutUs/Lists/News/DispForm.aspx?ID=395 |publisher=[[Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission]] |access-date=May 19, 2016}}</ref> On August 28, 2017 numbering plan area 360 was assigned the second area code, 564, to form an [[overlay plan|overlay numbering plan]].<ref name="pl492">{{cite web
|url=https://nationalnanpa.com/pdf/PL-492.pdf
|publisher=NANPA
|title=Planning Letter PL-492: NPA 564 to Overlay NPA 360 (Washington)
|date=2016-06-28
|access-date=2023-05-20
}}</ref>  Area code 564 is intended to eventually overlay other western Washington NPAs (206, 253, and 425) when demand requires numbering relief action.<ref name="pl492" />  Beginning July 29, 2017 all calls in western Washington required [[ten-digit dialing]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Brynelson |first=Troy |date=July 17, 2017 |title=Couple mistakenly blamed for telemarketing calls |url=https://www.columbian.com/news/2017/jul/17/clark-county-couple-mistakenly-blamed-telemarketing-calls-10-digit-dialing/ |work=[[The Columbian]] |accessdate=November 22, 2022}}</ref> the first 564 prefix was assigned in 2021<ref>{{cite news |last=Brown |first=Andrea |date=March 23, 2021 |title=Meet area code 564: The new kid in town is gaining ground |url=https://www.heraldnet.com/news/meet-area-code-564-the-new-kid-in-town-is-gaining-ground/ |work=The Everett Herald |accessdate=November 22, 2022}}</ref><ref name="wnutlzd" />{{Disputed inline|for=Conflict between sources used|date=July 2024}} and the final<ref name="wnavail">{{cite web |url=https://www.nationalnanpa.com/nanp1/wnavail.zip |format=ZIP |title=available codes |publisher=[[NANPA]] |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240726015132/https://www.nationalnanpa.com/nanp1/wnavail.zip |archivedate=2024-07-26 |accessdate=2024-07-26 }}</ref> 360 prefix was assigned on October 22, 2021.<ref name="wnutlzd">{{cite web |url=https://www.nationalnanpa.com/nanp1/wnutlzd.zip |format=ZIP |title=utilized codes  |publisher=[[NANPA]] |accessdate=2024-07-26 }}</ref>

Area codes 360 and [[area code 334|334]] (Alabama), which began service on the same day, were the first two area codes in the [[North American Numbering Plan]] with a middle digit other than 0 or 1.<ref>{{cite news |first=Jon |last=Van |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |title=Area-code explosion rings up new cost |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/24156343.html |page=B1 |date=April 25, 1994}}{{dead link|date=July 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

==Service area==
The larger, western portion stretches from the [[Strait of Juan de Fuca]] through the Olympic Peninsula and [[Southwest Washington]] to the [[Oregon]] border, while the portion on the east shore of Puget Sound stretches from the border with [[British Columbia]], Canada, almost to [[Everett, Washington|Everett]]. [[Whidbey Island]] in Puget Sound is also included.

Cities and towns in the numbering plan area include:
{{div col|colwidth=10em}}
* [[Aberdeen, Washington|Aberdeen]]
* [[Anacortes, Washington|Anacortes]]
* [[Arlington, Washington|Arlington]]
* [[Battle Ground, Washington|Battle Ground]]
* [[Bellingham, Washington|Bellingham]]
* [[Bremerton, Washington|Bremerton]]
* [[Burlington, Washington|Burlington]]
* [[Camas, Washington|Camas]]
* [[Centralia, Washington|Centralia]]
* [[Chehalis, Washington|Chehalis]]
* [[Enumclaw, Washington|Enumclaw]]
* [[Ferndale, Washington|Ferndale]]
* [[Forks, Washington|Forks]]
* [[Kelso, Washington|Kelso]]
* [[Longview, Washington|Longview]]
* [[Marysville, Washington|Marysville]]
* [[Mount Vernon, Washington|Mount Vernon]]
* [[Oak Harbor, Washington|Oak Harbor]]
* [[Olympia, Washington|Olympia]]
* [[Point Roberts, Washington|Point Roberts]]{{efn|Until 1988, Point Roberts was served by [[BC Tel]], with Canadian area code [[Area code 604|604]]; calls from elsewhere in the United States were billed as calls to a suburb of [[Vancouver]], British Columbia, even though the city is legally within the State of Washington and thus the United States.  On January 1, 1988, Point Roberts telephone service was sold to [[Whidbey Telecom|Whidbey Telephone Company]] and was moved to 206 area code (subsequently split to 360) and such calls became domestic, at the expense of Point Roberts subscribers losing the ability to make local calls to the surrounding [[Lower Mainland]] area.<ref>{{citation|title=Whidbey Tel planning service upgrades|newspaper=All Point Bulletin|location=Point Roberts, Washington |quote='Economically and socially we’re part of the lower mainland. Governmentally, we’re part of Whatcom County. Our schools are in Blaine. None of it is a local call'|date=May 29, 2015|url=http://www.allpointbulletin.com/2015/05/29/whidbey-tel-planning-service-upgrades/}}</ref>}}
* [[Port Angeles, Washington|Port Angeles]]
* [[Port Orchard, Washington|Port Orchard]]
* [[Port Townsend, Washington|Port Townsend]]
* [[Poulsbo, Washington|Poulsbo]]
* [[Raymond, Washington|Raymond]]
* [[Sequim, Washington|Sequim]]
* [[Shelton, Washington|Shelton]]
* [[Silverdale, Washington|Silverdale]]
* [[Snohomish, Washington|Snohomish]]
* [[South Bend, Washington|South Bend]]
* [[Stanwood, Washington|Stanwood]]
* [[Vancouver, Washington|Vancouver]]
* [[Washougal, Washington|Washougal]]
* [[Woodland, Washington|Woodland]]
* [[Yelm, Washington|Yelm]]
{{div col end}}

==See also==
*[[List of Washington (state) area codes]]
*[[List of North American Numbering Plan area codes]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [https://www.zipdatamaps.com/area-codes/map-of-all-washington-area-codes NANPA Washington area code map] 
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090325100800/http://www.areacodedownload.com/360/index.html List of exchanges from AreaCodeDownload.com, 360 Area Code]

{{Area code box | State = WA | This = Area code 360 / [[area code 564|564]]<br>([[Area code 206|206]], [[Area code 253|253]], [[Area code 425|425]])
| N = [[Area codes 778, 236, and 672|236/672/778]], [[Area code 250|250]], [[Area code 604|604]]
| S = [[Area codes 503 and 971|503/971]]
| E = [[Area code 509|509]]
| W = [[Pacific Ocean]], [[Area codes 778, 236, and 672|236/672/778]], [[Area code 250|250]]
| S1=BC|S2=OR}}

{{coord missing|Washington}}

[[Category:Area codes in Washington (state)|360]]
[[Category:Area codes in the United States|360]]
[[Category:Telecommunications-related introductions in 1995]]