The +1-809 area code is for the Dominican Republic. This is where it gets confusing: the DR doesn't have its own country code. It shares +1 with the United States, Canada, and about 20 Caribbean nations under the North American Numbering Plan (NANP). What distinguishes the Dominican Republic are its area codes: 809, 829, and 849. If you see a number starting with any of those three, it's Dominican. The country occupies the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, with Haiti on the western third. About 11 million people live in the DR, with Santo Domingo as the capital and largest city. Spanish is the language. Baseball is the religion.
Quick answer: The Dominican Republic uses country code +1 with area codes 809, 829, and 849. Numbers are 10 digits in NANP format:
+1-809-XXX-XXXX. From the US, dial it like a long-distance call: 1-809-XXX-XXXX. It looks domestic, but your carrier bills it as international.
How to call Dominican Republic: quick reference
Because the DR is part of the NANP (+1), calling from the US or Canada uses the same format as a domestic long-distance call. No exit code needed. But your phone company knows that 809/829/849 are international and charges accordingly. From outside the NANP, dial your country's exit code, then 1, then the 10-digit number.
| Calling from | Dialing format |
|---|---|
| US/Canada | 1-809-XXX-XXXX (same as domestic long-distance) |
| Puerto Rico | 1-809-XXX-XXXX (also NANP) |
| Spain | 00-1-809-XXX-XXXX |
| UK | 00-1-809-XXX-XXXX |
| Italy | 00-1-809-XXX-XXXX |
| Haiti | 00-1-809-XXX-XXXX |
Understanding Dominican Republic phone numbers
Dominican numbers follow the standard NANP 10-digit format: area code (3 digits) + subscriber number (7 digits). The area code tells you which block the number was originally assigned from, though number portability means people can keep their number when switching carriers.
The three area codes
| Area code | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 809 | Original (1958) | The most common. Most existing landlines and older mobile numbers use 809. |
| 829 | Added 2005 | Created when 809 numbers ran out. Many newer mobile numbers are 829. |
| 849 | Added 2012 | The newest area code. Less common but growing. |
All three area codes cover the entire country -- they're not geographic. A 809 number and an 829 number can belong to people in the same building in Santo Domingo. The area code just reflects when the number was issued.
Number format
All Dominican numbers are 10 digits: 8X9-XXX-XXXX (where 8X9 is 809, 829, or 849). There's no way to tell from the number alone whether it's a mobile or landline. Both use the same format and the same area codes. Within the DR, you dial all 10 digits for every call, even local ones.
Landlines vs. mobile
Landlines and mobiles share the same area codes and format. You can't distinguish them by looking at the number. In practice, most numbers you'll encounter are mobile -- mobile penetration is over 80%, while landlines have been declining for years. Landlines are mostly in businesses, hotels, and government offices.
Mobile carriers in Dominican Republic
Three operators compete in the DR, with Claro and Altice controlling most of the market.
Claro Dominicana (~50% market share)
Owned by América Móvil (Carlos Slim's telecom empire). Claro was originally Codetel, which dates back to 1930 and was later owned by GTE and then Verizon. América Móvil acquired it in 2006 and rebranded it to Claro. The largest carrier by subscribers and revenue. Best nationwide coverage, including rural areas. Claro runs the most extensive 4G/LTE network in the country.
Altice Dominicana (~40% market share)
Patrick Drahi's Altice group entered the DR by acquiring Orange Dominicana in 2014, then merged it with Tricom (a local fixed-line and cable operator) to create Altice Dominicana. Strong in urban areas, particularly Santo Domingo and Santiago. Altice also provides cable TV and home internet, so many households bundle everything with them. The main competitor to Claro.
Viva (~10% market share)
Owned by Trilogy International Partners, a Canadian company. The smallest operator. Viva competes primarily on price, targeting cost-conscious users. Coverage is thinner in rural areas compared to Claro and Altice. Mostly a mobile-only play.
Prepaid SIM cards are common, though postpaid plans are more prevalent in the DR than in many Latin American countries. Most Dominicans use WhatsApp for messaging and increasingly for voice/video calls, but traditional phone calls remain the norm for reaching family members who aren't on smartphones.
Don't confuse +1809 with nearby codes
The biggest source of confusion is with Haiti (+509), because the two countries share the island of Hispaniola. But their phone systems are completely different.
| Code | Country | Format |
|---|---|---|
| +1-809/829/849 | Dominican Republic | 10-digit NANP: 809-XXX-XXXX |
| +509 | Haiti | 8-digit: +509 XXXX XXXX |
| +1-787/939 | Puerto Rico | 10-digit NANP: 787-XXX-XXXX |
| +1-876 | Jamaica | 10-digit NANP: 876-XXX-XXXX |
Haiti is +509, not +1. The two countries share a 376-km border and a complicated history (the Dominican Republic was occupied by Haiti from 1822 to 1844, and relations have been tense since). If someone says they're calling "the island" and you're not sure which side, the phone number format tells you instantly: 10-digit NANP = Dominican Republic, 8-digit with +509 = Haiti.
Puerto Rico (+1-787/939) and Jamaica (+1-876) are also NANP countries in the Caribbean. From the US, all of them look like domestic calls but bill as international. A call to 809 costs the same category of rates as a call to 876 or 787.
Time zone considerations
The Dominican Republic is on Atlantic Standard Time (AST, UTC-4) year-round. The DR does not observe daylight saving time. This means in winter, the DR is one hour ahead of US Eastern Time. In summer, when the US shifts to EDT (UTC-4), they're on the same time.
| Your location | Time difference | Call DR 9 AM - 6 PM |
|---|---|---|
| US East Coast (EST, winter) | DR is 1 hour ahead | 8 AM - 5 PM EST |
| US East Coast (EDT, summer) | Same time | 9 AM - 6 PM EDT |
| US West Coast (PST) | DR is 4 hours ahead | 5 AM - 2 PM PST |
| NYC/NJ/FL | 0-1 hour difference | Basically the same time zone |
| Spain (CET, winter) | DR is 5 hours behind | 2 PM - 11 PM CET |
| Spain (CEST, summer) | DR is 6 hours behind | 3 PM - 12 AM CEST |
| Puerto Rico (AST) | Same time | 9 AM - 6 PM AST |
For the US East Coast diaspora -- which is the overwhelming majority -- the time difference is negligible. NYC and Santo Domingo are at most one hour apart. You can call after work and it's still a normal hour on both ends. Spain is trickier: evening calls from Madrid reach the DR during their afternoon, which works, but calling from the DR to Spain in the evening means reaching people after midnight.
Communication in Dominican Republic
Business hours
Standard business hours are Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM or 6 PM. Government offices are 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM. Saturday mornings are common for retail and some businesses. The DR takes a relaxed approach to punctuality compared to the US -- meetings may start late and calls may not be returned immediately. This is normal, not rude.
Language
Spanish is the only widely spoken language. Dominican Spanish is fast, drops final consonants, and uses a lot of local slang. If you learned Spanish in school, Dominican Spanish on the phone can be hard to follow at first. English proficiency is low outside of tourism areas (Punta Cana, Puerto Plata) and the business elite in Santo Domingo. If you're calling a government office, hotel, or hospital, try Spanish first.
Network quality
4G/LTE coverage is good in Santo Domingo, Santiago, and along the tourist coast. Rural areas in the Cibao valley and the southwest have spottier coverage. Voice call quality is generally reliable -- the DR's telecom infrastructure is better than most Caribbean nations, partly because the large diaspora drives heavy international call traffic and the carriers have invested accordingly. International call quality from the US to the DR is typically excellent, since the calls route through established NANP infrastructure.
The Dominican Republic diaspora
The Dominican diaspora is one of the largest Caribbean communities in the United States, and the US connection dominates everything about how Dominicans call home.
United States (~2.2 million Dominican-Americans)
Dominicans are the fifth-largest Latino group in the US and the largest in New York City. The community is heavily concentrated on the East Coast:
- New York City: Washington Heights and Inwood in upper Manhattan are the heart of Dominican New York. The neighborhood is sometimes called "Quisqueya Heights" (Quisqueya is the Taíno name for Hispaniola). The Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens also have large Dominican populations. Dominicans are the largest immigrant group in NYC.
- New Jersey: Paterson, Perth Amboy, and Union City have major Dominican communities.
- Florida: South Florida, especially Miami-Dade and Broward counties. A newer migration wave compared to NYC.
- Massachusetts: Lawrence, MA is about 80% Latino, mostly Dominican. Boston also has a large community.
- Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island: Smaller but established communities.
Remittances from the US to the DR total about $10 billion annually, roughly 8-9% of GDP. Phone calls between NYC and Santo Domingo are among the busiest international routes in the Western Hemisphere.
Spain (~200,000)
The second-largest Dominican community abroad. Concentrated in Madrid, with smaller communities in Barcelona and Valencia. Migration picked up in the 1990s and 2000s. Many Dominican women migrated for domestic and care work; the community has since diversified. Spain's shared language makes it a natural destination.
Puerto Rico (~70,000-100,000)
Close geographic and economic ties. The DR and Puerto Rico are separated by the Mona Passage, about 120 km of open water. Many Dominicans work in Puerto Rico's agriculture, construction, and service sectors. Some use Puerto Rico as a stepping stone to the US mainland. Relations between the two communities are close but sometimes complicated.
Italy (~30,000-40,000)
A smaller community, mostly in northern Italy. Many arrived in the 1980s-90s for domestic work. The Dominican community in Italy is smaller and less visible than the one in Spain.
Dialing examples
The DR's NANP membership makes dialing from the US dead simple. From everywhere else, just remember it's +1 (not +1809 as a single block).
Example 1: Calling a Santo Domingo mobile from NYC
- Dominican number: 809-555-1234
- From a US phone:
1-809-555-1234 - This looks exactly like calling someone in another US state. Your carrier recognizes 809 as Dominican and bills it as international.
Example 2: Calling a Santiago number (829) from Spain
- Dominican number: 829-555-6789
- From Spain:
00 1 829 555 6789 - Note: the country code is 1, not 1809. The 829 is the area code within +1.
Example 3: Calling from the DR to the US
- US number: 212-555-9876 (NYC)
- From the DR:
1-212-555-9876 - Same format in both directions. NANP makes it symmetric.
Example 4: Calling from the UK
- Dominican number: 849-555-4321
- From UK:
00 1 849 555 4321
Common mistakes to avoid
The most common errors when calling the Dominican Republic:
Thinking it's a free/domestic call from the US
The dialing format (1-809-XXX-XXXX) looks identical to a US long-distance call. Many people don't realize until the bill arrives that 809, 829, and 849 are international. Check your plan -- some US carriers include DR calling in their international packages, others charge $1-3/minute.
Treating 1809 as the "country code"
When calling from outside the US, the country code is +1, and 809 is the area code. Dial 00-1-809-XXX-XXXX, not 00-1809-XXX-XXXX. This distinction matters in some phone systems and can cause routing errors.
Only knowing 809 and missing 829/849
If someone gives you a number starting with 829 or 849, it's also Dominican. These newer area codes cover the same geographic area as 809. The number is valid even if it doesn't start with 809.
Confusing the DR with Haiti (+509)
They share an island, not a phone system. The Dominican Republic is +1-809/829/849. Haiti is +509 with 8-digit numbers. If you're calling someone in Hispaniola and aren't sure which side, ask which country they're in.
809 scam calls
The "809 scam" (or "one ring scam") has been around since the late 1990s. You get a missed call or voicemail from an 809 number urging you to call back. Since the number looks domestic but bills as international, calling back can cost $5-15+ per minute if routed through a premium-rate service. If you get an unexpected call from 809 and don't know anyone in the DR, don't call back.
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Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
What country uses the 809 area code?
The 809 area code is for the Dominican Republic. The DR also uses area codes 829 and 849. All three are part of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) under country code +1.
Is 809 a US area code?
No. While 809 is part of the +1 numbering plan (same as the US), it's an international area code for the Dominican Republic. Calls to 809 from the US are billed as international, not domestic.
How do I call the Dominican Republic from the US?
Dial 1-809-XXX-XXXX (or 1-829 or 1-849). It's the same format as calling another US state. No exit code needed. Your carrier bills it as an international call.
What is the difference between 809, 829, and 849?
All three are Dominican Republic area codes. 809 was the original (1958). 829 was added in 2005 and 849 in 2012 because 809 numbers ran out. They all cover the entire country -- there's no geographic difference.
What time zone is the Dominican Republic in?
The DR is on Atlantic Standard Time (AST, UTC-4) year-round with no daylight saving. Same as NYC in summer, one hour ahead in winter.
Is calling 809 from the US free?
No. Even though the dialing format looks domestic (1-809-XXX-XXXX), calls to the DR are international. Check your carrier's international rates. Some unlimited US plans include DR calling; most don't.
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