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Area codes 706 and 762 are telephonearea codes in theNorth American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the northern and west central parts ofGeorgia, but excludingmetropolitan Atlanta.

The numbering plan area (NPA) is divided into three disconnected geographical regions. A small section is in west-central Georgia, in the region aroundColumbus. This is bordered byarea code 334 to the west inAlabama,area code 478 to the east,area code 229 to the south, and metro Atlanta's404,678,770, and470. It does not border thelandline area of 404, only thecellphone area. Additionally, theYatesville rate center is in area codes 706 and 762, but not adjacent to any other rate centers in 706/762.^[1] The Yatesville rate center shares a small border with770 to the north, but is almost surrounded by478 to the south, east, and west.

The major section of 706 wraps around fromRome in northwest Georgia, east through the mountains pastDahlonega, meeting its narrowest point atToccoa, then broadening south toAthens andAugusta. It touches Alabama'sarea code 256/938 and334 on the far west,Tennessee'sarea code 423 on the northwest,North Carolina'sarea code 828 andUpstate South Carolina'sarea code 864 to the north-northeast, andmidlandsarea codes 803 and 839 to the east, and middle Georgia's 478 and metro Atlanta as above.

When the North American Numbering Plan was created in 1947, the entire state of Georgia was assigned area code 404. On July 1, 1954, the southern portion of the state, fromMacon southward, was split off witharea code 912. Area code 404 was limited to the northern half of the state, from the Tennessee and North Carolina state lines as far south as Columbus and Augusta. This configuration remained in place for 38 years.

In 1992, almost all of the old 404 territory outside the Atlanta area was split off as area code 706. Originally, 706 consisted of a horseshoe-shaped region that completely wrapped around the inner ring of Atlanta. It also included a number of southernexurbs of Atlanta. However, the residents of these areas felt chagrin at no longer being associated with 404. Shortly after 706 commenced service,BellSouth returned several of these areas to 404. The boundary was redrawn in such a way that isolated Columbus and the surrounding area from the rest of the 706 territory, making 706 one of the few area codes that is not contiguous.

BellSouth and theGeorgia Public Service Commission knew that due to Atlanta's explosive growth, 404 was still on the brink of exhaustion even after the creation of 706. They had already planned to introduce 770 as the area code for Atlanta's suburban ring later in the 1990s. However, the return of the southern exurbs forced the GPSC to put 770 into service in 1995, a few years sooner than planned.

In June 2005, the GPSC announced that 706 had nearly exhausted its capacity for newtelephone exchangeprefixes. On June 24, 2005, theNANPA assignedarea code 762 for this purpose. However, the Columbus area was not large enough for its own area code, but was too large to stay in 706. For this reason, it was decided to make 762 an overlay, with permissive dialing allowed on September 3. On April 1, 2007, ten-digit dialing became mandatory in the 706/762 territory.

Despite the rapid growth in 706/762's main section (particularly the northern portion), it is nowhere near exhausting. Under current projections, it is expected to remain in its unusual, non-contiguous state until after 2049.^[2]

Prior to 1990, area code 706 was used for dialing parts of the Baja California areas ofMexico from the United States.^[3]

The 706/762 overlay serves the following counties:Banks,Burke (part witharea code 478),Chattooga,Catoosa,Chattahoochee,Clarke,Columbia,Dade,Dawson,Elbert,Fannin,Franklin,Floyd,Gilmer,Glascock,Gordon,Greene,Habersham,Hancock,Harris,Hart,Heard,Jackson,Jasper,Jefferson (part witharea code 478),Jenkins,Lincoln,Lumpkin,Madison,McDuffie,Meriwether,Morgan,Murray,Muscogee,Oconee,Oglethorpe,Putnam,Rabun,Richmond,Stephens,Talbot,Taliaferro,Towns,Troup,Union,Upson (part witharea code 478),Walker,Warren,White,Whitfield, andWilkes

• List of NANP area codes
• North American Numbering Plan

• "Area Code Maps".North American Numbering Plan Administrator.

• List of exchanges from AreaCodeDownload.com, 706 Area Code
• List of exchanges from AreaCodeDownload.com, 762 Area Code

33°57′26″N83°22′36″W / 33.95735°N 83.37680°W /33.95735; -83.37680

• Area codes in the United States
• Area codes in Georgia (U.S. state)

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