Area code 721
Area code 721 is the telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan for Sint Maarten, a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. The area code was assigned in 2011 after membership of the country in the NANP became effective. International dialing to the country requires the use of country code 1.
History
Sint Maarten became a NANP member on 30 September 2011, after having been approved for membership in 2009. Previously, Sint Maarten used the country code Telephone numbers in [Curaçao and the Caribbean Netherlands|599], originally assigned to the now-Dissolution of [the Netherlands Antilles|dissolved] Netherlands Antilles, and still in use by Curaçao and the Caribbean Netherlands. The northern French side of the island, known as Saint-Martin, does not use the North American Numbering Plan, and has the country code +590, shared with Guadeloupe and Saint Barthélemy. Calls between the two parts of the island require international dialling procedures.On July 27, 2011, the North American [Numbering Plan Administrator] granted the issuance of the area code to Sint Maarten. Implementation dates were set for September 30, 2011, when a permissive dialing period commenced until September 30, 2012, during which calls to the country were possible using country code 599 or the new NANP prefix 1-721.