How to dial a phone number in Chile? What are the emergency numbers?

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Dialing a landline number, Calling a cell phone number

Phone numbers in Chile

A Chilean number contains 9 digits:

• If it is a mobile, it starts with 9 followed by 8 digits
• If it is a landline phone in Santiago, it starts with 2 followed by 8 digits
• If it is a landline phone outside Santiago, it starts with the 2-digit area code, followed by 7 digits

See area codes here

Dial a number

From any mobile phone or landline, you dial the 9 digits. It looks obvious, but it only became that simple in 2016. Before that, you could sometimes use only 8 digits, and sometimes you had to add a 0, a 2, or 02 depending on where you were calling from.

If you call from a phone outside Chile, you need to add +56 in front of the nine digits.

Emergency numbers

You can call these numbers for free from any phone.

There are three numbers to have in mind, and they all start with 13:

• Ambulance (emergency medical services): 131
• Fire department: 132
• Police: 133 (emergency number, and 911 works too, it redirects to the Chilean services)

It looks complicated, but there is actually a very simple way to remember them if you speak a little Spanish:

• "Ambulance" translates to Ambulancia in Spanish. It starts with the letter A, the first letter of the alphabet, so it's 13, followed by 1: 131.
• "Fire department" translates to Bomberos in Spanish. It starts with the letter B, so it's 13, followed by 2: 132.
• "Police" translates to Carabineros in Spanish. It starts with the letter C, so it's 133.

For the next numbers (134, 135, 136…), there is no mnemonic method, unfortunately.

Let's mention a few others, in case you need them:

• 130: CONAF (National forestry office) - forest fires
• 134: PDI
• 135: Police - drugs
• 136: Mountain rescue services
• 137: Marine rescue services
• 139: Police - information number
• 147: Police - information number for children
• 149: Police - information number for domestic violence

Customer service numbers

Most large companies have dedicated customer service numbers. For example, you can reach Correos de Chile by dialing 600 950 2020.

These free numbers do not respect the above-mentioned norm.

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