# +8 country code **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 24, 2012, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-country-code/622949 "2012-05-24T13:21:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![F.Pu-du-he-pa-as](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@F.Pu-du-he-pa-as](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.Pu-du-he-pa-as)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-country-code/622949/1 "2012-05-24T13:21:41Z")
I just got a call on my cell phone from a number I don’t recognize. It has a +8 country code. Where on Earth did this call come from? ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-country-code/622949/2 "2012-05-24T13:31:34Z")
There doesn’t seem to be such a code. I’ve gone through a couple of tables and the closest I found was this: +8 +81 Japan JP/JPN +82 South Korea KR/KOR +84 Vietnam VN/VNM +850 North Korea KP/PRK +852 Hong Kong HK/HKG +853 Macau MO/MAC +855 Cambodia KH/KHM +856 Laos LA/LAO +86 China CN/CHN +870 Pitcairn Islands PN/PCN +880 Bangladesh BD/BGD +886 Taiwan TW/TWN ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-country-code/622949/3 "2012-05-24T16:37:58Z")
There’s also +800, which is an international toll-free prefix, and various other non-country-specific services within the +8 group. Wikipedia has a [long list of them](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_country_calling_codes#Zone_8_.E2.80.93_East_Asia_and_Special_Services). ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-country-code/622949/4 "2012-05-24T17:37:12Z")
The +8 indicates it’s from the Far East. As Floater posted, that includes a number of sub-codes for specific countries. The digits 1-9 all indicate a region, within which specific country codes are assigned (except for 1, which goes straight to the country-subdivision level). 1 - United States, Canada, Caribbean 2 - Africa 3 - Europe 4 - Also Europe 5 - Mexico, Central America, South America 6 - Australia, South Pacific 7 - former Soviet Union 8 - Far East 9 - Middle East and South Asia ---
**Author:** ![F.Pu-du-he-pa-as](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@F.Pu-du-he-pa-as](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.Pu-du-he-pa-as)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-country-code/622949/5 "2012-05-25T03:13:43Z")
Great! Thanks, guys. Clearly not worth calling back 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-country-code/622949/6 "2012-05-25T14:54:40Z")
I’ve had calls where the number is complete jibberish. It seems phone spammers can reset their call-display number to anything they want to disguise themselves.