Area Code 31 – Homs

Geographic Overview

The Syrian Arab Republic's country calling code +963 is followed by the National Destination Code (NDC) 31 to reach subscribers with fixed-line telephone numbers in the Homs Governorate. This geographic area code covers the city of Homs, Syria's third-largest urban center, and its surrounding administrative districts, including Al-Mukharram, Al-Qusayr, Al-Rastan, and Tadmur (Palmyra). The region is a central hub for commerce, industry, and agriculture, with the Orontes River valley supporting a dense population corridor.

Dialing Formats

When calling a Homs landline from abroad, the full international format is +963 31 XXX XXX (or +96331XXXXXXX when written as a continuous string). Within Syria, callers must use the national trunk prefix 0 before the area code: 031 XXX XXX. For example, a local number in Homs might be formatted as +963 31 234 5678 internationally and 031 234 5678 domestically.

Numbering Structure

Syrian fixed-line numbers under the 31 NDC typically consist of seven digits after the country code and area code, making the total subscriber number length nine digits when including the leading '0' for national dialing. The first digit(s) of the subscriber number may indicate a specific exchange or district within the governorate, but this is not publicly documented for all areas. The Ministry of Communications and Technology (MCT) and the Syrian Telecommunications Establishment (STE) manage the national numbering plan, and no overlay codes have been introduced for Homs; the 31 code remains exclusively assigned to this geographic region.

Caller Instructions

International callers should replace the local trunk prefix '0' with the country code +963 and drop the leading zero of the area code. Thus, a call to Homs from abroad requires dialing +963, followed by 31 and the seven-digit subscriber number. Domestic callers outside Homs must dial 031 before the subscriber number. Local callers within the Homs area may sometimes omit the area code and dial only the subscriber number, depending on the specific exchange and the STE's local dialing rules; however, for reliability, it is recommended to use the full national format.

Technical Considerations

As with all Syrian fixed-line numbers, calls to +963 31 are routed over the PSTN and may be subject to international call restrictions or monitoring. VoIP services and mobile networks may have varying rates for terminating calls to this geographic code. Number portability is not widely implemented for fixed lines in Syria, so the 31 prefix generally remains associated with the Homs region.