Madagascar – Country Code 261

Calling to Madagascar

• 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.

… to a mobile (cellular) phone or text (sms)

Use the same call sequence.

Mobile phone numbers begin with ‘3’.

When calling a mobile phone user, dial to the country where the mobile phone is registered, regardless of where the person is roaming.

… to a VoIP phone

Use the same call sequence.

When calling a VoIP phone user, dial to the country where the VoIP phone is registered, regardless of where the person is roaming.

… to a satellite phone

Madagascar 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.

Calling within Madagascar (domestic dialing)

Dial the entire phone number as it is listed.

There is no trunk or long distance number used with Madagascar’s phone system.

Madagascar’s phone numbers explained

Number details

Phone numbers are nine digits.

The first digit signifies whether the phone number is a landline or mobile phone.

Landline phone numbers begin with ’20’. The third and fourth digits represent a geographic area of the country.

Mobile numbers begin with digits ‘3’.

An example of a phone number in Madagascar

The Lokanga Hotel lists its phone number in Antananarivo as + 261 20 22 235 44.

Phone number explanation

Local example – calling from another location in Antananarivo, Madagascar

Dial the entire nine digit phone number for all calls within Madagascar.

Long distance example – calling from Nosy Be, Madagascar (on the other side of the country)

Dial the entire nine digit phone number for all calls within Madagascar.

Mobile phone example – calling from a mobile phone (including a foreign mobile roaming in Madagascar)

Dial the entire nine digit phone number for all calls within Madagascar.

International example – calling from outside Madagascar

To call from outside Madagascar, dial the exit code of the country the call is dialed from, followed by Madagascar’s country code of ‘261’, followed by the local phone number.

[fiveSectionCall firstone=”exit code” firsttwo=”exit code of the country the call is dialed from” secondone=”261″ secondtwo=”country code for Madagascar” thirdone=”20″ thirdtwo=”designates a land-line (fixed line) phone number” fourthone=”22″ fourthtwo=”area (geographic) code for Antananarivo” fifthone=”235 44″ fifthtwo=”local phone number in Antananarivo”]

Calling from Madagascar

’00’ is used as an exit code when dialing an international call from Madagascar.

Sources and more resources

• Office Malagasy d’etudes et de Regulation des Telecommunications (OMERT) – Madagascar’s telephone systems regulator.
• 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 16 September 2016.
• International Telecommunications Union – Madagascar (country code +261) National Numbering Plan – Details of Madagascar’s telephone numbering plan as submitted to the ITU. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
• Wikipedia – Telephone numbers in Madagascar – Wikipedia entry for telephone number data for Madagascar. Includes specific number ranges for each city as well as detail on calling procedures.
• BT – The Phonebook – Madagascar – Entry for Madagascar in the British Telecom international directory.