South Sudan gets 211 dialling code.

THE International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has announced that the international dialling code 211, has been assigned to the world’s newest nation, the Republic of South Sudan, following the country’s formal recognition as a UN member state.

The South Sudan Ministry of Telecommunications and Postal Services welcomed the code, which has significance for South Sudanese as representing the year in which the country gained independence (2011), the date of its referendum (which took place in the first day of the first month of 2011), and a symbol of good fortune.

The number had been specifically requested following a special Council of Ministers Resolution.

The global country code numbering system is defined in an ITU standard known as ITU-T Recommendation E.164. ITU communicates this information to other member states and the world’s telecommunication operators in the ITU Operational Bulletin, which details the numbering plan from the previous to the new country code.

In addition to the 211 code, South Sudan will be assigned a mobile country code (MCC) and a signalling area/network code (SANC). SANCs indicate how calls should be routed.