Telephone numbers in Abkhazia

Telephone numbers in Abkhazia follow the dialling plan in place in Russia.

Until 1992, Abkhazia had a single telephone numbering system with Russia. In April 1996, the Ministry of Communications of the Russian Federation limited international telephone communications in Abkhazia, retaining only 16 outgoing and 24 incoming telephone channels of the 151 incoming and 182 outgoing channels that operated previously. On 15 February 1997, an agreement was signed between Russia and Georgia, which provided for a change in the communication scheme of Abkhazia with the outside world and switching channels to Georgia. The agreement met with resentment in Abkhazia, whose leadership accused Georgia and Russia of violating an earlier agreement that provided for the restoration of the communications that existed before 1992.

On 28 September 2009, after Russia recognised Abkhazia's independence, Russia and Abkhazia signed a Memorandum of Cooperation through which Abkhazia was given a telephone code from the +7 numbering zone and switched to the Russian numbering plan on 1 January 2010.

Numbering scheme
Abkhazia follows the same closed dialling plan as Russia, where the initial three digits designate the area code or mobile carrier and are followed by a 7-digit subscriber number. The trunk prefix is 8.

Abkhazian numbers can be accessed from abroad through the +7 code assigned by the International Telecommunication Union to Russia. Until 2009, they could also be accessed via the Georgian country code +995.

International direct dialling
As in Russia, the international call prefix for dialling out of Abkhazia is 8~xx, in which xx is a two-digit carrier code; the default carrier is 10.