Area codes in Germany (German Vorwahl) have from two to five digits, not counting the leading zero. The leading zero must be dialed when calling from within Germany and must be omitted when calling from abroad. In general, shorter area codes are assigned to larger cities, and longer area codes to smaller towns. Private telephone numbers are usually inversely long: those in larger cities have seven or eight digits, while those in smaller towns may have as few as three or four digits. The first digit (after the leading zero) is determined by region: area codes beginning (0)2 are found in the west, those with (0)3 in the east, those with (0)4 in the north, those with (0)5 in the north central part, those with (0)6 in the south central part, those with (0)7 in the southwest, those with (0)8 in the south and the 9s are founded in the southeast.

Here is an incomplete list of area codes in Germany: