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Area code 216

telephone area code for Cleveland, Ohio

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionFeb 27, 2026
Entity authorityQ2113247
Source-derived summary

Area code 216 is the telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the city of Cleveland and most of its inner-ring suburbs in Cuyahoga County of the U.S. state of Ohio. The area code is one of the original North American area codes established in 1947.

History

The first nationwide telephone numbering plan of 1947 divided telecommunications services in Ohio into four numbering plan areas (NPAs), one for each quadrant of the state. Area code 216 was assigned to the northeastern quadrant, comprising the area from Lorain to Youngstown.

In 1996, the southern portion, including Akron, Canton, and Youngstown, received area code 330, while the eastern and western portions were assigned area code 440 in 1997. The boundary between 216 and 440 was drawn in such a way that 440 was barely contiguous; the two portions of 440 were only joined by a small section in the south. The eastern and western portions are currently not contiguous.

Despite comprising a major urban area, 216 has not been overlaid with a second area code (the only area in Ohio where this is the case). Based on projections of 2025, relief will not be needed until 2046.

Service area

See also

List of Ohio area codes

List of North American Numbering Plan area codes

References

External links

"Area Code Maps".

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Area code 216” is telephone area code for Cleveland, Ohio. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Area, code and telephone, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1947, 1996, 1997, 2025—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Area, code and telephone is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “telephone area code for Cleveland, Ohio” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2113247. Authority coordinates are 41.500, -81.667. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1947, 1996, 1997 and 2025.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Area code 216”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Area code 216 primary sources, Area code 216 archive and Area research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Area code 216”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Area code 216” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.