If you live in the USA or Canada then you are familiar with area codes at the beginning of a phone number. Since Costa Rica is not part of the USA or Canada it doesn’t have an area code. However, like all countries, it has a country code or dialing code, which is 506.
In order to call Costa Rica from the USA, the steps are:
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Dial 011, which indicates that you are making an international call.
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Dial 506, the country code for Costa Rica.
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Dial the local phone number, which contains eight digits.
How Local Phone Numbers Work in Costa Rica
Local phone numbers in Costa Rica are eight digits long and are often written in two groups of four digits, like 2519-2000 (which is the number to the US Embassy in Costa Rica).
Local Costa Rican phone numbers that start with a 2 are traditional landlines. Numbers beginning in 5, 6, 7 or 8 are mobile numbers, with each leading number assigned to a specific carrier.
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Numbers that begin with 5 are assigned to various kinds of carriers known at MVNOs. The largest of these is one of the local cable companies, TeleTica.
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Numbers that begin with 6 belong to Movistar / Telefónica subscribers.
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Numbers that begin with 7 belong to Claro customers.
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Numbers that begin with 8 belong to Kölbi, which is a service of the government-owned agency, ICE (which is also the monolopy electric utility).
