Area code 573

Area code 573 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for most of the eastern half of the U.S. state of Missouri outside the immediate St. Louis area, including the state capital of Jefferson City, as well as Columbia, Cape Girardeau, Hannibal, Rolla, and Sikeston. The largest cities are Columbia, home to the University of Missouri, and Jefferson City, the state capital.The numbering plan area (NPA) extends across half of the width of the state, with the northeastern tip near the northeastern corner of the state, the Lake of the Ozarks at the western tip and Doniphan as the southwestern tip. It also serves all of southeastern Missouri (including the Missouri Bootheel area) and areas adjacent to the Mississippi River. The area code was created on January 7, 1996, in a split of area code 314, which was limited to the St. Louis metropolitan area in Missouri.