Bulgaria’s Country Codes
- Telephone: +359
- 2 Letter: BG
- 3 Letter: BGE
- ISO 3116-1 Numeric: 100
- Internet TLD: .br
- ICAO Airport Code: LB
- Maritime Identification Digits: 207
- Emoji Flag: U+1F1E7 U+1F1EC
- Official Name: The Republic of Bulgaria
How to call Bulgaria (international dialing)
- Do not include a leading ‘0’ in the international call sequence – it is only used in Bulgaria for domestic long distance calls and domestic calls to a mobile phone.
- A leading '+' in the phone number means 'dial your country's exit code'.
- Calling from a mobile phone: dial from on the country where you're currently located.
- Calling from a VoIP or satellite phone: dial from on the country where the phone is registered.
Bulgaria’s country code may be mislabeled:
- Country code 00359 (exit code of ’00’ used in many European, Asian, and African nations followed by Bulgaria’s country code of ‘359’).
- Country code 011359 (exit code of ‘011’ used in the United States and Canada followed by Bulgaria’s country code of ‘359’).
When calling to a mislabeled country code, remove the exit code from the call sequence and replace it with the exit code of the country the call is dialed .
… to a mobile (cellular) phone or text (SMS)
Use the same call sequence.
Mobile phones occupy area codes ‘430’, ’48’, ‘799’, ’87’, ’88’, ’89’, and ’98’.
When calling a mobile phone user, dial to the country where the mobile phone is registered, regardless of where the person is currently roaming.
… to a VoIP phone
Use the same call sequence.
When calling a VoIP phone user, cdial to the country where the VoIP phone is registered, regardless of where the person is currently roaming.
… to a satellite phone
Bulgaria does not have a country-specific satellite phone system.
Most satellite phones operate on their country code – calls to these satellite phones follow their call sequence.
… sending a fax
Use the same call sequence.
How to call within Bulgaria (domestic dialing)
‘0’ is used as a trunk prefix when calling to a different area code or a mobile phone in Bulgaria.
Local calling (within the same area code)
Dial only the local phone number when calling within the same area code. Do not include the trunk prefix ‘0’ or the area code.
| three to seven digits |
| local phone number |
Long distance calling (to a different area code or a mobile phone)
To dial to a different area code or a mobile phone use the trunk prefix ‘0’ as well as the area code followed by the local phone number.
| 359 | 2 | 988 24 06 |
| country code for Bulgaria | geographic (area) code for Sofia | local phone number in Sofia |
Local example – calling from another location in Sofia
Dial only the local phone number when calling within the same area code. Do not dial the trunk prefix ‘0’ or the area code.
| 988 24 06 |
| local phone number in Sofia |
Long distance example – calling from Varna, Bulgaria (on the other side of the country)
Dial the trunk prefix ‘0’ and the area code followed by the local phone number when calling from a different area code.
| 0 | 2 | 988 24 06 |
| trunk prefix | geographic (area) code for Sofia | local phone number in Sofia |
Mobile phone example – calling from a mobile phone (including a foreign mobile phone roaming in Bulgaria)
Dial the trunk prefix ‘0’ and the area code followed by the local phone number when calling from a mobile phone.
| 0 | 2 | 988 24 06 |
| trunk prefix | geographic (area) code for Sofia | local phone number in Sofia |
International example – calling from outside Bulgaria
To call from outside Bulgaria, dial the exit code of the country the call is dialed from, followed by Bulgaria’s country code of ‘359’, followed by the local phone number.
Do not include a leading ‘0’ in the call when calling from outside Bulgaria.
| exit code | 359 | 2 | 988 24 06 |
| exit code for the country the call is dialed from | country code for Bulgaria | geographic (area) code for Sofia | local phone number in Sofia |
How to call from Bulgaria
’00’ is used as an exit code when dialing an international call from Bulgaria.
Sources and more resources
- CRC (Communications Regulation Commission) – Official regulator for telecommunications in Bulgaria.
- BEREC (Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications) – European agency responsible for regulation and co-ordination of European telecommunication markets.
- European Commission Digital Single Market – Telecom Rules for the Digital Single Market. Outlines some of the telecommunications regulations across the European Single Market.
- European Commission Digital Single Market – Country information – Bulgaria – Update on internet and wireless access across the European single market. Has a focus on broadband, however, includes wireless information as well.
- ITU (International Telecommunications Union) – United Nations specialized agency for information and communications technologies.
- International Telecommunications Union – DIALLING PROCEDURES (INTERNATIONAL PREFIX, NATIONAL (TRUNK) PREFIX AND NATIONAL (SIGNIFICANT) NUMBER) (IN ACCORDANCE WITH ITU-T RECOMMENDATION E.164 (11/2010)) – A collection of dialing procedures for all countries and regions of the world. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
- International Telecommunications Union – Bulgaria (country code +359) national numbering plan on file with ITU – Details of Bulgaria’s telephone numbering plan as submitted to the ITU. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
- CRC (Communications Regulation Commission) – Numbering – National telephone numbering plan for Bulgaria.
- Wikipedia – Telephone Numbers in Bulgaria – Wikipedia entry for telephone number data for Bulgaria. Includes specific number ranges for each city as well as detail on calling procedures.
- BT – the Phonebook – Bulgaria International Codes – Summary of phone codes for Bulgaria from the BT phone book.