Area Code 562
Where Is Area Code 562?
Updated: March 24th 2024
Surfers enjoy catching waves and the oil industry takes advantage of the port in Long Beach, California. The 562 area code has been covering the Long Beach area as of January 1997. Created as a split from 310, the 562 area code covers most of the Gateway Cities in California. Strangely, the entire region that area code 562 covers is located within Los Angeles County except for two irregularities. These irregularities are Seal Beach and Los Alamitos, which are two cities that lie in Orange County.
Long Beach can best be described as an international port city. Located just outside out of downtown Los Angeles, the Long Beach area code has major shipping ports that are involved with international trade. Aerospace and high-tech companies are also prevalent in the 562 area code and provide the city with many of its jobs. Surprisingly, one of the main industries in Long Beach is oil. Underground and offshore oil has been found in Long Beach, which undoubtedly marked area code 562 on the global map.
The 562 area code is proudly home to more than half a million people. Residents in Long Beach are the most ethnically diverse of any large city in the United States of America. Non-Hispanic Caucasians make up less than one-third of the city’s population, while Pacific Islanders and other races have a strong presence. In fact, the 562 area code has the biggest Cambodian population in the US. Furthermore, the Cambodian community in Long Beach is the second biggest one outside of Asia in the entire world. Accordingly, there is a neighborhood in the 562 area code that is lovingly nicknamed “Little Phnom Penh.” The Hispanic population also has a major presence in area code 562. In fact, there are more Hispanic individuals in Long Beach than non-Hispanic Caucasians. American Indians and Japanese Americans round out the rest of the major ethnic groups in Long Beach. However, the Japanese American presence in Long Beach significantly dwindled after the Attack on Pearl Harbor. During this period of war, many Japanese Americans were sent t o internment camps that were away from coastal regions.
Naturally, few of the Japanese Americans returned to the Long Beach area code but their presence is still notable in local landmarks. The non-Hispanic Caucasians in the 562 area code also have interesting ethnic backgrounds including Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, and Maltese.
Most of these immigrant groups flocked to the Long Beach, CA area code in hopes of finding a job in manufacturing and fish canneries. The harbor consistently supplies the city with jobs. In fact, the Port of Long Beach is one of the most active in the world. Shipments of cargo totaled almost 100,000 billion dollars in the last few years, which undoubtedly help fuel the United States economy. Most of the shipments from Long Beach are sent to the Pacific Rim, which most likely has attributed to the Pacific Islander presence in the 562 area code.
Major Cities In Area Code 562
Long Beach is frequently used as a location to represent Orange County in television shows and films. With a similar visual appeal but significantly lower costs, the 562 area code attracts entertainment executives that want to maintain a budget. As long ago as the early 1900s, Long Beach was used for the silent film Cleopatra, which starred the silver screen gem Theda Bara. More recently, area code 562 was used to represent Orange County for the hit television show The O.C. The current hit, Glee is also filmed in Long Beach. For instance, the Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo High School is used to film many of the scenes featured weekly on Glee. Popular films such as Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Cheaper by the Dozen, and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift were also filmed in Long Beach’s Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo High School. Surprisingly, shows that are set in Miami often film in the 562 area code. For example, Dexter and CSI: Miami both frequently shoot scenes in Long Beach.
Sports are very popular in the 562 area code. In fact, Long Beach is home to some of America’s best water polo players. Sailing is also a fairly unique sport that is exceedingly popular in area code 562. Consequently, the Congressional Cup is held annually and is also the only grade one match race regatta held in America. Water skiing, rugby, and pep flags are some of the other less common sports that are favorites of Long Beach residents. A 2004 and 2008 winner at the Summer Olympics is also a resident of Long Beach. In fact, Misty May-Treanor brought home two gold medals for beach volleyball, a fitting sport for the 562 area code.
