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Country code top-level domain

From Wikipedia - Reading time: 36 min
"ccTLD" and "cc TLD" redirect here. For the TLD for the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, see .cc.
For a list of TLDs, see List of Internet top-level domains.

A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country, sovereign state, or dependent territory identified with a country code. All ASCII ccTLD identifiers are two letters long, and all two-letter top-level domains are ccTLDs.

In 2018, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) began implementing internationalized country code top-level domains, consisting of language-native characters when displayed in an end-user application. Creation and delegation of ccTLDs is described in RFC 1591, corresponding to ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes. While gTLDs have to obey international regulations, ccTLDs are subjected to requirements that are determined by each country's domain name regulation corporation. With over 150 million domain name registrations as of 2022, ccTLDs make up about 40% of the total domain name industry.[1]

Country code extension applications began in 1985. The registered country code extensions in that year included .us (United States), .uk (United Kingdom) and .il (Israel). The registered country code extensions in 1986 included .au (Australia), .de (Germany), .fi (Finland), .fr (France), .is (Iceland), .jp (Japan), .kr (South Korea), .nl (Netherlands) and .se (Sweden). The registered country code extensions in 1987 included .nz (New Zealand), .ch (Switzerland) and .ca (Canada).[2] The registered country code extensions in 1988 included .ie (Ireland) .it (Italy), .es (Spain) and .pt (Portugal). The registered country code extensions in 1989 included .in (India) and .yu (Yugoslavia). In the 1990s, .cn (People's Republic of China) and .ru (Russian Federation) were first registered.

There are 308 delegated ccTLDs. The .cn, .tk, .de, .uk, .nl and .ru ccTLDs contain the highest number of domains. The top ten ccTLDs account for more than five-eighths of registered ccTLD domains. There were about 153 million ccTLD domains registered at the end of March 2022.[1]

Delegation and management

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IANA is responsible for determining an appropriate trustee for each ccTLD. Administration and control are then delegated to that trustee, which is responsible for the policies and operation of the domain. The current delegation can be determined from IANA's list of ccTLDs.[3] Individual ccTLDs may have varying requirements and fees for registering subdomains. There may be a local-presence requirement (for instance, citizenship or other connection to the ccTLD), as, for example, the American (us), Japanese (jp), Canadian (ca), French (fr) and German (de) domains, or registration may be open.

History

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The first registered ccTLD was .us, which was registered in 1985. Later ccTLDs registered in that year included .uk and .il. Then, .au, .de, .fi, .fr, .is, .jp, .kr, .nl and .se were also registered in 1986.[3] In 1987, .nz, .ch, .my and .ca were registered. Later on, in 1988, .ie, .it, .es and .pt were also registered.

Lists

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As of 20 May 2017, there were 255 country-code top-level domains, purely in the Latin alphabet, using two-character codes. The number was 316 as of June 2020, with the addition of internationalized domains.[3]

Latin Character ccTLDs

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Table columns – legend
Name  DNS name of the two-letter country-code top-level domain. They follow ISO 3166-1 alpha-2, with some exceptions such as ".ac" for Ascension Island, ".eu" for the European Union, or ".uk" for United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland instead of ".gb". ISO codes bv, bl, mf, sj, gb, and um are not used for country code top-level domains.
Entity  Country, dependency, or region
Explanation  English name of the country. These are usually domains that arise from native name of the country (e.g. .de for Deutschland, German name for Germany).
Notes  General remarks
Registry  Domain name registry operator, sometimes called a network information center (NIC)
IDN  Support for internationalized domain names (IDN)
DNSSEC  Presence of DS records for Domain Name System Security Extensions
SLD  Second level domain; that is, whether names may be registered directly under the TLD
IPv6  Registry fully supports IPv6 access
Overview of Latin-character country-code TLDs
Name[3] Entity Explanation (language of origin, if different from English) Notes Registry[3][needs update?] IDN DNSSEC SLD IPv6 Introduction Date
.ac  Ascension Island (United Kingdom) Ascension Island In ISO 3166-1, Ascension Island falls under Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha's code SH. AC is an exceptionally reserved ISO 3166-1 code. Commonly used for academic websites, such as universities. However, .ac is not to be confused with the official academic domains used by several countries such as the United Kingdom (.ac.uk), India (.ac.in) or Indonesia (.ac.id). Also used in the accounting, consulting, and air-conditioning industries. Ascension Island Network Information Centre (run by Internet Computer Bureau) Yes Yes Yes Yes 19 December 1997
.ad  Andorra Andorra Local trademark, trade name or citizenship required.[4] Nic.ad No Yes Yes 9 January 1996
.ae  United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates .aeDA No No Yes 1 December 1992
.af  Afghanistan Afghanistan No Yes Yes 16 October 1997
.ag  Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda Also unofficially used by German businesses (where AG is an abbreviation of Aktiengesellschaft). No Yes Yes 3 September 1991
.ai  Anguilla (United Kingdom) Anguilla Also unofficially used by tech companies specializing in AI (Artificial Intelligence). No No Yes 16 February 1995
.al  Albania Albania Citizenship no longer required. No No Yes 21 April 1992
.am  Armenia Armenia Also unofficially used by AM radio stations, podcasts or related business. No Yes Yes Yes 26 August 1994
.ao  Angola Angola No No ? 15 November 1995
.aq  Antarctica Antarctique (French) Defined by the Antarctic Treaty as everything south of latitude 60°S. AQ domain names are available to government organizations who are signatories to the Antarctic Treaty and to other registrants who have a physical presence in Antarctica. Domain names can be registered and renewed free of charge. ? No Yes ? 26 February 1992
.ar  Argentina Argentina nic.ar Spanish[A] Yes Yes Yes 23 September 1987
.as  American Samoa (United States) American Samoa In some countries, like Norway and Denmark, "AS" or "A/S" is used as an abbreviation for stock-based or limited companies. Such companies will often make use of the domain. Also unofficially used by the Principality of Asturias, Spain. Yes No Yes 12 June 1997
.at  Austria Austria Nic.at Yes[B] Yes Yes Yes 20 January 1988
.au  Australia Australia Restrictions apply. In general, registrants must have an "Australian presence", and can be registered anywhere between 1 and 5 years.[7] Includes Ashmore and Cartier Islands and Coral Sea Islands. Direct second-level domain registration (marketed as ".au Direct") has been made available commencing 24 March 2022.[8] auDA No Yes Yes (*From 24 Mar 2022)[8] Yes 5 March 1986
.aw  Aruba (Kingdom of the Netherlands) Aruba, West Indies Restricted to registered Aruban companies, organisations and citizens. No Yes Yes 20 February 1996
.ax  Åland (Finland) .al and .ad already allocated No Yes Yes 21 June 2006
.az  Azerbaijan Azerbaijan Only for Residents. Has no WHOIS-Server. No Yes Yes Yes 25 August 1993
.ba  Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina University of Sarajevo - University tele-informatic Centre https://www.utic.unsa.ba https://www.nic.ba No No Yes 14 August 1996
.bb  Barbados Barbados No No Yes 3 September 1991
.bd  Bangladesh Bangladesh For individuals, registrant must have a valid NID. For companies, registrant must have company or trademark registered in Bangladesh. Yes No Yes 20 May 1999
.be  Belgium Belgium Used for YouTube-related domains. Also unofficially used in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland. DNS Belgium Latin[9] Yes Yes Yes[10] 5 August 1988 (added to root zone)
.bf  Burkina Faso Burkina Faso No No Yes 29 March 1993
.bg  Bulgaria Bulgaria See also .бг (.bg in Cyrillic) for IDN ccTLD. Yes Yes Yes 3 January 1995
.bh  Bahrain Bahrain No Yes Yes 1 February 1994
.bi  Burundi Burundi No No Yes 21 October 1996
.bj  Benin .be, .bn, and .bi already allocated No No Yes 18 January 1996
.bm  Bermuda (United Kingdom) Bermuda Local corporate registration required. No Yes Yes March 1993
.bn  Brunei Brunei No No No 3 June 1994
.bo  Bolivia Bolivia No No Yes 26 February 1991
.bq  Caribbean Netherlands ( Bonaire,  Saba, and  Sint Eustatius) .be and .bs already allocated 20 February 2010
.br  Brazil Brasil (Portuguese) Restricted. Registration is done under several categories (i.e.: .edu.br for higher education institutions, .gov.br for government agencies, etc.).[11] Portuguese[12] Yes No[C] 18 April 1989
.bs  Bahamas Bahamas No No Yes 3 September 1991
.bt  Bhutan Bhutan Must have local presence in Bhutan, and valid trade license.[13] No Yes No 16 July 1997
.bw  Botswana Botswana May also be used for the Province of Walloon Brabant, Wallonia, Belgium. No No[14] Yes 19 March 1993
.by  Belarus Byelorussia (Russian) Also unofficially used to denote Bayern (Bavaria), Germany. No Yes Yes 10 May 1994
.bz  Belize Belize Also unofficially used in the province of Bozen (or South Tyrol, see .st). No Yes Yes 3 September 1991
.ca  Canada Canada Subject to Canadian Presence Requirements. Also unofficially used by some websites in the U.S. state of California. CIRA French[15] Yes Yes Yes 14 May 1987
.cc  Cocos (Keeling) Islands Cocos Islands Australian territory: not to be confused with Cocos Island in Guam. Currently marketed as global domain, registration allowed worldwide, local presence not required; the domain is currently operated by eNIC, a VeriSign company. Yes Yes Yes 13 October 1997
.cd  Democratic Republic of the Congo Congo, Democratic Republic Also unofficially used for Compact disc-related domains. No No Yes 20 August 1997
.cf  Central African Republic Central African Republic Was previously used as a free domain service to the public SOCATEL Yes No Yes 24 April 1996
.cg  Republic of the Congo Congo No No Yes 14 January 1997
.ch   Switzerland Confoederatio Helvetica (Latin) SWITCH Yes[D] Yes Yes 20 May 1987
.ci  Ivory Coast Côte d'Ivoire (French) No No Yes 14 February 1995
.ck  Cook Islands Cook Islands No No Yes 8 August 1995
.cl  Chile Chile NIC Chile Yes Yes Yes Yes 15 December 1987
.cm  Cameroon Cameroon A local entity or company in Cameroon is required to register a domain name. No No Yes 29 April 1995
.cn  People's Republic of China China A local company in China is required to register a domain name, or for personal registrations a valid Resident Identity Card. See ICP license for more information regarding registrations. Hong Kong and Macau also maintain TLDs.

Also unofficially used for Cartoon Network-related domains.

Yes Yes Yes Yes 28 November 1990
.co  Colombia Colombia Marketed as a global domain. Anyone can register. No Yes Yes 24 December 1991
.cr  Costa Rica Costa Rica No Yes Yes 10 September 1990
.cu  Cuba Cuba No No Yes 3 June 1992
.cv  Cape Verde Cape Verde Also unofficially used for curriculum vitae-related domains. No No Yes 21 October 1996
.cw  Curaçao (Kingdom of the Netherlands) Curaçao, West Indies No ? 20 December 2010
.cx  Christmas Island Christmas, Xmas Made infamous from Goatse.cx. No Yes Yes 24 April 1997
.cy  Cyprus Cyprus No Yes[E] Yes 26 July 1994
.cz  Czech Republic Czechia No[F] Yes Yes 13 January 1993
.de  Germany Deutschland (German) German postal address for administrative contact (admin-c) required. Proxy registrations are allowed. DENIC Yes[G] Yes Yes Yes 5 November 1986
.dj  Djibouti Djibouti Also unofficially used by disc jockeys. No No Yes 22 May 1996
.dk  Denmark Danmark (Danish) Punktum DK Yes[H] Yes Yes Yes 14 July 1987
.dm  Dominica Dominica No No Yes 3 September 1991
.do  Dominican Republic Dominican No No Yes 25 August 1991
.dz  Algeria El Djazair / Dzayer (Arabic) No Yes Yes 3 January 1994
.ec  Ecuador Ecuador In Japan, "EC" is used as an acronym for "electronic commerce". Because of that, it's used unofficially by companies dedicated to provide online stores like BASE, a company that has two domains related to e-commerce: "base.in" and "official.ec". Nic.ec No No Yes 1 February 1991
.ee  Estonia Eesti (Estonian) Yes[I] Yes Yes 3 June 1992
.eg  Egypt Egypt No No Yes 30 November 1990
.eh  Western Sahara Español Sahara (Spanish) Unassigned. No No No
.er  Eritrea Eritrea No Yes 24 September 1996
.es  Spain España (Spanish) Red.es Yes[22] Yes Yes 14 April 1988
.et  Ethiopia Ethiopia No No No 15 October 1995
.eu  European Union European Union EU is an exceptionally reserved ISO 3166-1 code. Restricted to legal and natural persons in European Union member states. Previously unofficially used for sites in the Basque language, but now .eus is in official use. EURid Yes[J] Yes Yes Yes[24] 28 April 2005
.fi  Finland Finland Registration allowed worldwide, local presence not required. Traficom Yes[K] Yes Yes Yes 17 December 1986
.fj  Fiji Fiji No No Yes 3 June 1992
.fk  Falkland Islands (United Kingdom) Falkland No No No 26 March 1997
.fm  Federated States of Micronesia Federated States of Micronesia Also unofficially used by FM radio stations, podcasts or related business. Yes Yes Yes 19 April 1995
.fo  Faroe Islands (Kingdom of Denmark) Føroyar (Faroese) FO Council No Yes Yes 14 May 1993
.fr  France France Restricted to individuals and companies in the European Union, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.[L] AFNIC Yes[27] Yes Yes 2 September 1986
.ga  Gabon Gabon Must have presence in Gabon or justify any other direct or indirect link with Gabon. Geographical names and names associated with public/government entities prohibited.

Was previously used as a free domain service to the public

ANINF Yes No Yes 12 December 1994
.gd  Grenada Grenada No Yes Yes 3 June 1992
.ge  Georgia Georgia Available for registration for residents of Georgia (unlimited) or for foreign companies via representation of any local legal person (one domain name per registrant).[28] No No Yes 2 December 1992
.gf  French Guiana (France) Guyane Française (French) No No 25 July 1996
.gg  Guernsey .gu, .gs, and .gy already allocated Also unofficially used by video game-related websites (see GG (gaming)). Island Networks Ltd. Yes Yes Yes 7 August 1996
.gh  Ghana Ghana No No No 19 January 1995
.gi  Gibraltar (United Kingdom) Gibraltar No Yes Yes 5 December 1995
.gl  Greenland (Kingdom of Denmark) Greenland Previously also unofficially used in Galicia, Spain, but .gal has now been approved for such use and was implemented in mid-2014. No Yes Yes 8 April 1994
.gm  The Gambia Gambia Domain name should match the domain owner's name or trademarks. Common nouns are blocked. No No Yes 28 March 1997
.gn  Guinea Guinea A local contact is required. No Yes No 9 August 1994
.gp  Guadeloupe (France) Guadeloupe Still used for Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin. No No Yes 21 October 1996
.gq  Equatorial Guinea Guinée équatoriale (French) Was previously used as a free domain service to the public GETESA Yes No 10 July 1997
.gr  Greece Greece Yes[M] Yes Yes 19 February 1989
.gs  South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (United Kingdom) South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands No Yes Yes 31 July 1997
.gt  Guatemala Guatemala Yes No Yes Yes 14 August 1992
.gu  Guam (United States) Guam No No No 15 April 1994
.gw  Guinea-Bissau Gine-Bisaawo (Fula) No Yes Yes 4 February 1997
.gy  Guyana Guyana No Yes Yes 13 September 1994
.hk  Hong Kong Hong Kong Yes Yes Yes 3 January 1990
.hm  Heard Island and McDonald Islands Heard Island and McDonald Islands Unused for its intended purposes (islands are uninhabited and government sites instead use .aq); registry open to the public. No No Yes 24 July 1997
.hn  Honduras Honduras No Yes Yes 16 April 1993
.hr  Croatia Hrvatska (Serbo-Croatian) No Yes Yes 27 February 1993 (in root zone)
March 1993[30]
.ht  Haiti Haiti Yes No Yes 6 March 1997
.hu  Hungary Hungary Limited to citizens of the European Union or entities established by law within the territory of the EU. Yes[31] Yes Yes 7 November 1990
.id  Indonesia Indonesia Restricted to Indonesian companies (co.id), organisations (or.id), academic (ac.id & sch.id) and citizens (biz.id, my.id & web.id). Second-level domains are becoming available now and opened to general registration on 17 August 2014.[32] PANDI Yes Yes Yes 27 February 1993
.ie  Ireland Ireland In 2002, registration was expanded to include persons or businesses with a "real and substantive" connection with the island of Ireland (including Northern Ireland).[33][34] Yes Yes Yes Yes 27 January 1988[35]
.il  Israel Israel Yes Yes Yes 24 October 1985
.im  Isle of Man Isle of Man No No Yes 11 September 1996
.in  India India Under INRegistry since April 2005 (except for gov.in, nic.in, mil.in, ac.in, edu.in, and res.in). NIXI[36] Yes[37] Yes Yes Yes 8 May 1989
.io  British Indian Ocean Territory (United Kingdom) Indian Ocean Used unofficially by technology companies, startups, and web applications as IO can be an acronym for "input/output" that is useful for domain hacks. NIC.IO (run by Internet Computer Bureau) Yes Yes Yes 16 September 1997
.iq  Iraq Iraq No Partial[N] Yes 9 May 1997 (in root zone)
.ir  Iran Iran IRNIC Yes No Yes 6 April 1994
.is  Iceland Ísland (Icelandic) Also unofficially used and marketed as a domain hack (for example it.is, that.is, etc.). ISNIC Yes Yes Yes 18 November 1987
.it  Italy Italy Restricted to companies and individuals in the European Union. Yes[38] Yes[39] Yes Yes 23 December 1987 (in root zone)
1 January 1988 (fully active)
.je  Jersey Jersey Island Networks Ltd. Yes No Yes 8 August 1996
.jm  Jamaica Jamaica No No No 24 September 1991
.jo  Jordan Jordan No Yes 23 November 1994 (in root zone)
.jp  Japan Japan Restricted to individuals or companies with a physical address in Japan. Japan Registry Services Yes Yes Yes Yes[40] 5 August 1986
.ke  Kenya Kenya No No[41] No 29 April 1993
.kg  Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan No Yes Yes 12 July 1995
.kh  Cambodia Khmer No No No 20 February 1996
.ki  Kiribati Kiribati No Yes Yes 19 April 1995
.km  Comoros Komori (Comorian) No No Yes 8 June 1998
.kn  Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis No No Yes 3 September 1991
.kp  North Korea Korea, Democratic People's Republic Restricted to companies, organizations, or government entities based in North Korea. Despite this, few domains are actually registered because of internet censorship in North Korea. No No No No 24 September 2007
.kr  South Korea Korea, Republic Yes Yes Yes 29 September 1986
.kw  Kuwait Kuwait Yes No 26 October 1992
.ky  Cayman Islands (United Kingdom) .ci and .cy already allocated No Yes Yes 3 May 1995
.kz  Kazakhstan Kazakhstan "A prerequisite for server hardware is its physical location on the territory of the Republic of

Kazakhstan."[42]

KAZNIC Yes No Yes 19 September 1994
.la  Laos Laos Currently being marketed as the unofficial domain for Los Angeles.[43] Yes Yes 14 May 1996
.lb  Lebanon Lebanon Restricted to registration with companies in Lebanon. Yes No 25 August 1993
.lc  Saint Lucia Saint Lucia Yes Yes 3 September 1991
.li  Liechtenstein Liechtenstein Also unofficially used by entities on Long Island, New York or people with the last name Li. In Russian, li can be used to create domain names that mean a verb with a past tense plural ending li . SWITCH Yes Yes Yes 26 February 1993
.lk  Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Yes Yes Yes 15 June 1990
.lr  Liberia Liberia Partial[N] No 9 April 1997
.ls  Lesotho Lesotho No No 13 January 1993
.lt  Lithuania Lithuania Yes Yes Yes 3 June 1992
.lu  Luxembourg Luxembourg Also unofficially used in Lucerne, Switzerland. Yes Yes Yes 27 January 1995
.lv  Latvia Latvia IMCS UL Yes Yes Yes 29 April 1993
.ly  Libya Libya Used unofficially as a domain hack for words ending in -ly. Yes Yes 23 April 1997
.ma  Morocco Maroc (French) Partial[N] Yes 26 November 1993
.mc  Monaco Monaco Only for companies with a trademark registered in Monaco. Yes Yes 20 January 1995
.md  Moldova Moldova Restricted to individuals or companies with a physical address in Moldova. Yes Yes 24 March 1994
.me  Montenegro Montenegro Also unofficially used and marketed as a domain hack (for example love.me, meet.me, etc.). Yes Yes 24 September 2007
.mg  Madagascar Madagascar Restricted to registration with companies in Madagascar. NIC-MG No Yes 25 July 1995
.mh  Marshall Islands Marshall Inactive. No 16 August 1996
.mk  North Macedonia Makedonija (Macedonian) Restricted to individuals and companies in the European Union. No Yes 23 September 1993
.ml  Mali Mali Was previously used as a free domain service to the public AGETIC Yes No Yes 29 September 1993
.mm  Myanmar Myanmar No No 4 February 1997
.mn  Mongolia Mongolia The second-level domains .gov.mn, .org.mn, and .edu.mn are reserved for special use. See .mn for more information. Yes Yes 2 March 1995
.mo  Macau Macao Registrants must have a registered business in Macau, with the same name as the domain they wish to register. No Yes 17 September 1992
.mp  Northern Mariana Islands (United States) Marianas Pacific No Yes 22 October 1996
.mq  Martinique (France) Martinique (French) No No 28 March 1997
.mr  Mauritania Mauritania Yes Yes 24 April 1996
.ms  Montserrat (United Kingdom) Montserrat Also unofficially used for Microsoft-related domains. No Yes 6 March 1997
.mt  Malta Malta No No 2 December 1992
.mu  Mauritius Mauritius No Yes 6 October 1995
.mv  Maldives Maldives No Yes 25 September 1996
.mw  Malawi Malawi No Yes 3 January 1997
.mx  Mexico Mexico Yes Yes 1 February 1989
.my  Malaysia Malaysia Restricted to registration by individuals or companies in Malaysia. MYNIC Yes[44] Yes Yes 8 June 1987
.mz  Mozambique Mozambique No No 4 September 1992
.na  Namibia Namibia Yes Yes 8 May 1991
.nc  New Caledonia (France) New Caledonia Restricted to companies that have a New Caledonian Business Registration Certificate or individuals living in New Caledonia for at least 6 months. Yes Yes 13 October 1993
.ne  Niger Niger No Yes 24 April 1996
.nf  Norfolk Island Norfolk Yes Yes 18 March 1996
.ng  Nigeria Nigeria No Yes 15 March 1995
.ni  Nicaragua Nicaragua No No 13 October 1989
.nl  Netherlands Netherlands First active country-code domain outside the US.[45] Stichting Internet Domeinregistratie Nederland No Yes Yes Yes 25 April 1986
.no  Norway Norway Businesses and professionals must be registered as an approved type of organization in the Brønnøysund Register Centre. Individual applicants must be of age (18 years) and be registered in Folkeregisteret. All applicants must have a Norwegian postal address. Norid Yes Yes Yes Yes 17 March 1987
.np    Nepal Nepal All .np domains were free to register for individuals and registered businesses but now it needs some amount to register. Foreign businesses must provide proof of local presence in Nepal. No No 25 January 1995
.nr  Nauru Nauru Was previously used as a free domain service to the public as co.nr.[46] No Yes 30 March 1998
.nu  Niue Niue Commonly used by Danish, Dutch, and Swedish websites, as in their respective languages "nu" means "now". The Swedish Internet Foundation Yes[47] Yes Yes Yes 20 June 1997
.nz  New Zealand New Zealand Māori[48] Yes Yes[49] Yes 19 January 1987
.om  Oman Oman Registrant must have company or trademark registered in Oman as well as a local administrative contact. No No 11 April 1996
.pa  Panama Panama Some use in Pennsylvania. No No 25 May 1994
.pe  Peru Peru Also unofficially used for Private Equity-related businesses. Yes Yes Yes 25 November 1991
.pf  French Polynesia (France) Polynésie française (French) With Clipperton Island. No Yes 19 March 1996
.pg  Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea No No 26 September 1991
.ph  Philippines Philippines Yes Yes 14 September 1990
.pk  Pakistan Pakistan Operated by PKNIC since 1992. No Yes 3 June 1992
.pl  Poland Poland Yes[50] Yes Yes 30 July 1990
.pm  Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (France) Saint Pierre and Miquelon Restricted to individuals and companies in the European Union, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.[L] AFNIC Yes Yes 20 August 1997
.pn  Pitcairn Islands (United Kingdom) Pitcairn As a part of a marketing campaign, Lionsgate used the TLD for some (now defunct) sites related to The Hunger Games franchise, presenting it as the "official" country code of the fictional nation of Panem; notable sites included thecapitol.pn and revolution.pn. No Yes 10 July 1997
.pr  Puerto Rico (United States) Puerto Rico Yes Yes 27 August 1989
.ps  Palestine[51] Palestine No Yes 22 March 2000
.pt  Portugal Portugal Portuguese Yes Yes Yes[52] 30 June 1988
.pw  Palau Pelew (archaic English spelling) Yes Yes Yes Yes[53] 12 June 1997
.py  Paraguay Paraguay No No 9 September 1991
.qa  Qatar Qatar No No 12 June 1996
.re  Réunion (France) Réunion Restricted to individuals and companies in the European Union, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.[L] AFNIC Yes[27] Yes Yes 7 April 1997
.ro  Romania Romania Yes[54] Yes[54] Yes Yes[54] 26 February 1993
.rs  Serbia Republika Srbija (Serbo-Croatian) See also .срб (.srb in Cyrillic). Also unofficially used for Rust (programming language)-related domains. Yes Yes Yes Yes 24 September 2007 (in root zone)
10 March 2008 (registrations)
.ru  Russia Russia See also .su, still in use, and .рф, for IDN. No Yes Yes Yes 7 April 1994
.rw  Rwanda Rwanda RICTA No Yes 21 October 1996
.sa  Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia Registrant must have a registered trademark in Saudi Arabia matching the domain name to register or provide company incorporation documents of a company in Saudi Arabia or for personal registrations a copy of valid ID. A letter on the official letterhead of your organization addressed to SaudiNIC requesting the domain name registration is also required. Local administrative contact required. 2LD registrations rolled out in 2011.[55] Arabic[9] Yes[56] Yes Yes[57] 17 May 1994
.sb  Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, British Yes No 19 April 1994
.sc  Seychelles Seychelles Also unofficially used for Snapchat-related domains. Yes Yes 9 May 1997
.sd  Sudan Sudan No Yes 6 March 1997
.se  Sweden Sverige (Swedish) The Swedish Internet Foundation Yes[O] Yes Yes Yes 4 September 1986
.sg  Singapore Singapore Also unofficially used in the Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland. Yes Yes 19 October 1988
.sh Saint HelenaTristan da Cunha Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (United Kingdom) Saint Helena

Also unofficially used by Canton of Schaffhausen in Switzerland

NIC.SH (run by Internet Computer Bureau) Yes[59] Yes Yes 23 September 1997
.si  Slovenia Slovenia Yes[P] Yes Yes 1 April 1992
.sk  Slovakia Slovensko (Slovak) Restricted to individuals and companies in the European Union, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.[L] Yes Yes Yes 29 March 1993
.sl  Sierra Leone Sierra Leone No Yes 9 May 1997
.sm  San Marino San Marino Domain name must be same as company name or trademark. No Yes 16 August 1995
.sn  Senegal Senegal Registration allowed for companies only. Individuals are not allowed to register. Yes Yes 19 March 1993
.so  Somalia Somalia Relaunched on 1 November 2010. SONIC No No Yes 28 August 1997
.sr  Suriname Suriname No Yes 3 September 1991
.ss  South Sudan South Sudan SSNIC[61] Yes 10 August 2011 (allocated)
2 February 2019 (root zone)
.st  São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé Also unofficially used in South Tyrol (or province of Bozen, see .bz) and Styria. Yes No Yes 7 November 1997
.su  Soviet Union Soviet Union Still in use. Also unofficially used by Student Unions. Yes[Q] Yes Yes Yes[63] 19 September 1990
.sv  El Salvador Salvador No No 4 November 1994
.sx  Sint Maarten (Kingdom of the Netherlands) .sm, .ma, and .mt already allocated; airport code is SXM. CIRA Yes No 20 December 2010
.sy  Syria Syria No Yes 20 February 1996
.sz  Eswatini Swaziland Registration is restricted to Eswatini organizations with Eswatini Trading Licenses. No No 19 July 1993
.tc  Turks and Caicos Islands (United Kingdom) Turks and Caicos Also marketed in Turkey. The official abbreviation of 'Türkiye Cumhuriyeti' (Republic of Turkey) is TC. No Yes 27 January 1997
.td  Chad Tchad (French) Available for registration to entities connected with Chad only. No Yes 3 November 1997
.tf  French Southern and Antarctic Lands Terres australes et antarctiques françaises (French) Seldom used. Restricted to individuals and companies in the European Union, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein. The domain also sees frequent use for community-run sites related to the video game Team Fortress 2.[L] AFNIC Yes[27] Yes Yes 26 August 1997
.tg  Togo Togo No Yes 5 September 1996
.th  Thailand Thai THNIC Yes Yes Yes 7 September 1988
.tj  Tajikistan Tajik No Yes 11 December 1997
.tk  Tokelau Tokelau Was previously used as a free domain service to the public Dot TK Yes No Yes 7 November 1997
.tl  East Timor Timor-Leste Previous code .tp has been deactivated since 2015. Yes Yes 23 March 2005
.tm  Turkmenistan Turkmen Yes[64] Yes Yes 30 May 1997
.tn  Tunisia Tunisia Yes Yes Yes Yes 17 May 1991
.to  Tonga Tonga Often used unofficially for Torrent, Turin (Torino in Italian), Toronto, Tokyo, or Tocantins, and also as a domain hack in Slavic languages (to meaning it). Yes No Yes 18 December 1995
.tr  Turkey Turkey .ct.tr and .nc.tr used by Northern Cyprus. Yes[R] No Yes Yes[S] 17 September 1990
.tt  Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Yes Yes 3 September 1991
.tv  Tuvalu Tuvalu Used as an abbreviation of television, the domain is currently operated by GoDaddy; with sponsorship of the Tuvalu government. Yes Yes 18 March 1996
.tw  Taiwan Taiwan Registration allowed worldwide, local presence not required. In line with ISO 3166-1, IANA's official position is that "TW" is "designated for use to represent Taiwan, Province of China".[67] Yes[T] Yes Yes 31 July 1989
.tz  Tanzania Tanzania TLD registrations allowed as of July 2022, no local presence in Tanzania required. TCRA Yes No 14 July 1995
.ua  Ukraine Ukraina (Russian) Registrations in TLD are restricted to trademark holders only; SLD registrations are open Hostmaster Ltd. Yes[U] Yes[V] Yes Yes 1 December 1992
.ug  Uganda Uganda Uganda Online Ltd. Yes Yes 8 March 1995
.uk  United Kingdom United Kingdom The ISO 3166-1 code for the United Kingdom is GB (for Great Britain). UK is an exceptionally reserved ISO 3166-1 code. However, the creation of the .uk TLD predates the ISO 3166-1 list of ccTLDs and is the primary TLD for the United Kingdom.[69] Nominet UK Yes Yes Yes 24 July 1985
.us  United States of America United States Registrants must be United States citizens, residents, or organizations, or a foreign entity with a presence in the United States. Formerly commonly used by U.S. State and local governments; see also .gov TLD. Go Daddy Yes Yes 15 February 1985
.uy  Uruguay Uruguay 2LD rollout began on 10 July 2012.[70] Yes Yes 10 September 1990
.uz  Uzbekistan Uzbekistan Uzinfocom Yes Yes 29 April 1995
.va  Vatican City Vatican Limited to the official sites of the Holy See (including those of the Vatican City State). No No 11 September 1995 (root zone)
.vc  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Vincent Partial[N] Yes 3 September 1991
.ve  Venezuela Venezuela Registration is at the third level. Yes No 7 March 1991
.vg  British Virgin Islands (United Kingdom) Virgin Islands No Yes 20 February 1997
.vi  United States Virgin Islands (United States) Virgin Islands No Yes 31 August 1995
.vn  Vietnam Viet Nam (Vietnamese) Yes[71] Yes Yes 14 April 1994
.vu  Vanuatu Vanuatu Yes Yes 10 April 1995
.wf  Wallis and Futuna Wallis and Futuna Restricted to individuals and companies in the European Union, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.[L] AFNIC Yes[27] Yes Yes 14 November 1997
.ws  Samoa Western Samoa Marketed for use in general websites. Yes Yes[72] Yes 14 July 1995
.ye  Yemen Yemen No No 19 August 1996
.yt  Mayotte Mayotte Restricted to individuals and companies in the European Union, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.[L] Also unofficially used for YouTube-related domains. AFNIC Yes[27] Yes Yes 17 November 1997
.za  South Africa Zuid-Afrika (Dutch) .za derives from the Dutch name of the country, even though Dutch is no longer an official language of South Africa. ZA Domain Name Authority[73][74][75] Yes Yes 7 November 1990
.zm  Zambia Zambia No Yes[W] 25 March 1994
.zw  Zimbabwe Zimbabwe No No 6 November 1991
Table Notes
  1. ^ 17 November 2009, Spanish-Portuguese specific characters (á, â, ã, à, é, ê, í, ó, ô, õ, ú, ü, ñ, ç) allowed, as approved by law.[5]
  2. ^ Mostly latin characters (à á â ã ä å æ ç è é ê ë ì í î ï ð ñ ò ó ô õ ö ø ù ú û ü ý þ ÿ œ š ž), see[6]
  3. ^ Currently not allowed, but some higher-learning institutions were grandfathered-in.
  4. ^ Since March 2004, see[16]
  5. ^ Since July 1st, 2020[17]
  6. ^ IDN not adopted due to lack of public and corporate interest[18]
  7. ^ 93 non-ASCII characters, see[19]
  8. ^ 1 January 2004, support æ, ø, å, ö, ä, ü, & é: see[20]
  9. ^ Estonian domain names to incorporate diacritics (IDN) starting from 13 June 2011[21]
  10. ^ Supported characters: Latin, Greek, & Cyrillic; see[23]
  11. ^ September 2005, supported characters: š, ž, å, ä, ö and Sami language; see[25]
  12. ^ a b c d e f g (6 December 2011)[26]
  13. ^ Support for Greek characters since July 2005; see[29]
  14. ^ a b c d Delegation Signer (DS) record in a root zone has not yet been published.
  15. ^ October 2003, for Swedish characters, summer 2007 also for Finnish, Meänkieli, Romani, Sami, and Yiddish; see[58]
  16. ^ Since October 2010, see[60]
  17. ^ (28 April 2008) see[62]
  18. ^ 14 November 2006; see[65]
  19. ^ 21 July 2015; see[66]
  20. ^ Traditional Chinese characters: see[68]
  21. ^ IDN domain names available in some .UA subdomains since June 2012
  22. ^ .UA secure delegations available since October 2019
  23. ^ Restricted to ISPs and other undefined entities. See .zm .

Internationalized ccTLDs

[edit]
Internationalized country code top-level domains[76]
DNS name IDN ccTLD Country/Region Language Script Transliteration Comments Other ccTLD DNSSEC
xn--lgbbat1ad8j .الجزائر  Algeria Arabic Arabic (Arabic) al-Jazā'ir .dz No
xn--y9a3aq .հայ  Armenia Armenian Armenian hay .am Yes
xn--mgbcpq6gpa1a .البحرين  Bahrain Arabic Arabic al-Baḥrain Not in use .bh Yes
xn--54b7fta0cc .বাংলা  Bangladesh Bengali Bengali Bangla .bd No
xn--90ais .бел  Belarus Belarusian Cyrillic bel .by Yes
xn--90ae .бг[77]  Bulgaria Bulgarian Cyrillic bg .bg Yes
xn--fiqs8s .中国  China Chinese Chinese (Simplified) Zhōngguó .cn Yes
xn--fiqz9s .中國  China Chinese Chinese (Traditional) Zhōngguó .cn Yes
xn--wgbh1c .مصر  Egypt Arabic Arabic (Arabic) Miṣr / Maṣr[78] .eg Yes
xn--e1a4c .ею  European Union Bulgarian Cyrillic eyu .eu Yes
xn--qxa6a .ευ  European Union Greek Greek ey In use since 2022 .eu Yes
xn--node .გე  Georgia Georgian Georgian (Mkhedruli) GE .ge No
xn--qxam .ελ[77]  Greece Greek Greek el In use since July 2018 .gr Yes
xn--j6w193g .香港  Hong Kong Chinese Chinese (Simplified and Traditional) Hoeng1 gong2 / Xiānggǎng .hk Yes
xn--h2brj9c .भारत  India Hindi Devanagari Bhārat Became available 27 August 2014[79] .in Yes
xn--mgbbh1a71e .بھارت  India Urdu Arabic (Urdu) Bhārat Became available 2017 .in Yes
xn--fpcrj9c3d .భారత్  India Telugu Telugu Bhārat Became available 2017 .in Yes
xn--gecrj9c .ભારત  India Gujarati Gujarati Bhārat Became available 2017 .in Yes
xn--s9brj9c .ਭਾਰਤ  India Punjabi Gurmukhī Bhārat Became available 2017 .in Yes
xn--xkc2dl3a5ee0h .இந்தியா  India Tamil Tamil Intiyā Became available 2015 .in Yes
xn--45brj9c .ভারত  India Bengali Bengali Bharôt Became available 2017 .in Yes
xn--2scrj9c .ಭಾರತ  India Kannada Kannada Bhārata Became available 2020 .in Yes
xn--rvc1e0am3e .ഭാരതം  India Malayalam Malayalam Bhāratam Became available 2020 .in Yes
xn--45br5cyl .ভাৰত  India Assamese Bengali Bharatam Became available 2022 .in Yes
xn--3hcrj9c .ଭାରତ  India Oriya Oriya Bhārat Became available 2021 .in Yes
xn--mgbbh1a .بارت  India Kashmiri Arabic (Kashmiri) Bārat Became available 2022 .in Yes
xn--h2breg3eve .भारतम्  India Sanskrit Devanagari Bhāratam Became available 2022 .in Yes
xn--h2brj9c8c .भारोत  India Santali Devanagari Bharot Became available 2022 .in Yes
xn--mgbgu82a .ڀارت  India Sindhi Arabic (Sindhi) Bhārat Became available 2022 .in Yes
xn--mgba3a4f16a .ایران  Iran Persian Arabic (Persian) Īrān .ir No
xn--mgbtx2b .عراق  Iraq Arabic Arabic (Arabic) ʿIrāq Not in use .iq No
xn--4dbrk0ce .ישראל  Israel Hebrew Hebrew Israel Became available 2022 .il Yes
xn--mgbayh7gpa .الاردن  Jordan Arabic Arabic (Arabic) al-Urdun .jo No
xn--80ao21a .қаз  Kazakhstan Kazakh Cyrillic (Kazakh) qaz .kz No
xn--q7ce6a .ລາວ  Laos Lao Lao Lao Became available 2020 .la Yes
xn--mix082f .澳门  Macao Chinese Chinese (Simplified) Ou3 mun4 / Àomén Not in use .mo No
xn--mix891f .澳門  Macao Chinese Chinese (Traditional) Ou3 mun4 / Àomén Became available 2020 .mo No
xn--mgbx4cd0ab .مليسيا  Malaysia Malay Arabic (Jawi) Malaysīyā .my Yes
xn--mgbah1a3hjkrd .موريتانيا  Mauritania Arabic Arabic (Arabic) Mūrītāniyā .mr Yes
xn--l1acc .мон  Mongolia Mongolian Cyrillic (Mongolian) mon .mn Yes
xn--mgbc0a9azcg .المغرب  Morocco Arabic Arabic (Arabic) al-Maġrib .ma No
xn--d1alf .мкд  North Macedonia Macedonian Cyrillic (Macedonian) mkd .mk No
xn--mgb9awbf .عمان  Oman Arabic Arabic (Arabic) ʿUmān .om No
xn--mgbai9azgqp6j .پاکستان  Pakistan Urdu Arabic (Urdu) Pākistān .pk Yes
xn--ygbi2ammx .فلسطين  Palestinian Authority Arabic Arabic (Arabic) Filasṭīn .ps No
xn--wgbl6a .قطر  Qatar Arabic Arabic (Arabic) Qaṭar .qa No
xn--p1ai .рф  Russia Russian Cyrillic (Russian) rf .ru Yes
xn--mgberp4a5d4ar .السعودية  Saudi Arabia Arabic Arabic (Arabic) as-Suʿūdīya .sa Yes
xn--90a3ac .срб  Serbia Serbian Cyrillic (Serbian) srb .rs Yes
xn--yfro4i67o .新加坡  Singapore Chinese Chinese (Simplified and Traditional) Xīnjiāpō .sg Yes
xn--clchc0ea0b2g2a9gcd .சிங்கப்பூர்  Singapore Tamil Tamil Cinkappūr .sg Yes
xn--3e0b707e .한국  South Korea Korean Hangul Hanguk .kr Yes
xn--fzc2c9e2c .ලංකා  Sri Lanka Sinhala Sinhala Lanka .lk No
xn--xkc2al3hye2a .இலங்கை  Sri Lanka Tamil Tamil Ilaṅkai .lk No
xn--mgbpl2fh .سودان  Sudan Arabic Arabic (Arabic) Sūdān .sd No
xn--ogbpf8fl .سورية  Syria Arabic Arabic (Arabic) Sūriyya .sy No
xn--kprw13d .台湾  Taiwan Chinese Chinese (Simplified) Táiwān .tw Yes
xn--kpry57d .台灣  Taiwan Chinese Chinese (Traditional) Táiwān .tw Yes
xn--o3cw4h .ไทย  Thailand Thai Thai Thai .th Yes
xn--pgbs0dh .تونس  Tunisia Arabic Arabic (Arabic) Tūnis .tn Yes
xn--j1amh .укр  Ukraine Ukrainian Cyrillic (Ukrainian) ukr .ua No
xn--mgbaam7a8h .امارات  United Arab Emirates Arabic Arabic (Arabic) Imārāt .ae No
xn--mgb2ddes .اليمن  Yemen Arabic Arabic (Arabic) al-Yaman Not delegated .ye No

Proposed internationalized ccTLDs

[edit]
Main article: Proposed top-level domain § Internationalized country code top-level domains

Internationalised domain names have been proposed for Japan and Libya.

Relation to ISO 3166-1

[edit]

The IANA is not in the business of deciding what is and what is not a country. The selection of the ISO 3166 list as a basis for country code top-level domain names was made with the knowledge that ISO has a procedure for determining which entities should be and should not be on that list.

— Jon Postel, RFC 1591[80]

Unused ISO 3166-1 codes

[edit]

Almost all current ISO 3166-1 codes have been assigned and do exist in DNS. However, some of these are effectively unused. In particular, the ccTLDs for the Norwegian dependency Bouvet Island (bv) and the designation Svalbard and Jan Mayen (sj) do exist in DNS, but no subdomains have been assigned, and it is Norid policy to not assign any at present. Two French territories—bl (Saint Barthélemy) and mf (Saint Martin)—still await local assignment by France's government.

The code eh, although eligible as ccTLD for Western Sahara, has never been assigned and does not exist in DNS. Only one subdomain is still registered in gb[81] (ISO 3166-1 for the United Kingdom), and no new registrations are being accepted for it. Sites in the United Kingdom generally useuk (see below).

The former .um ccTLD for the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands was removed in April 2008. Under RFC 1591 rules, .um is eligible as a ccTLD on request by the relevant governmental agency and local Internet user community.

ASCII ccTLDs not in ISO 3166-1

[edit]

Several ASCII ccTLDs are in use that are not ISO 3166-1 two-letter codes. Some of these codes were specified in older versions of the ISO list.

  • uk (United Kingdom): The ISO 3166-1 code for the United Kingdom is GB (Great Britain). However, the JANET network had already selected uk as a top-level identifier for its pre-existing Name Registration Scheme, and this was incorporated into the DNS root. gb was assigned with the intention of a transition, but this never occurred and the use of uk is now entrenched.[82]
  • su This obsolete ISO 3166 code for the Soviet Union was assigned when the Soviet Union still existed; moreover, new su registrations are accepted.
  • ac (Ascension Island): This code is a vestige of IANA's decision in 1996 to allow the use of codes reserved in the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 reserve list for use by the Universal Postal Union. The decision was later reversed, with Ascension Island now the sole outlier. (Three other ccTLDs, gg (Guernsey), im (Isle of Man) and je (Jersey) also fell under this category from 1996 until they received corresponding ISO 3166 codes in March 2006.)
  • eu (European Union): On September 25, 2000, ICANN decided to allow the use of any two-letter code in the ISO 3166-1 reserve list that is reserved for all purposes. Only EU currently meets this criterion. Following a decision by the EU's Council of Telecommunications Ministers in March 2002, progress was slow, but a registry (named EURid) was chosen by the European Commission, and criteria for allocation set: ICANN approved eu as a ccTLD, and it opened for registration on 7 December 2005 for the holders of prior rights. Since 7 April 2006, registration is open to all in the European Economic Area.

Historical ccTLDs

[edit]

ccTLDs may be removed if that country ceases to exist. There are three ccTLDs that have been deleted after the corresponding 2-letter code was withdrawn from ISO 3166-1: cs (for Czechoslovakia), zr (for Zaire) and tp (for East Timor). There may be a significant delay between withdrawal from ISO 3166-1 and deletion from the DNS; for example, ZR ceased to be an ISO 3166-1 code in 1997, but the zr ccTLD was not deleted until 2001. Other ccTLDs corresponding to obsolete ISO 3166-1 codes have not yet been deleted. In some cases they may never be deleted due to the amount of disruption this would cause for a heavily used ccTLD. In particular, the Soviet Union's ccTLD su remains in use more than twenty years after SU was removed from ISO 3166-1.

The historical country codes dd for the German Democratic Republic and yd for South Yemen were eligible for a ccTLD, but not allocated; see also de and ye.

The temporary reassignment of country code cs (Serbia and Montenegro) until its split into rs and me (Serbia and Montenegro, respectively) led to some controversies[83][84] about the stability of ISO 3166-1 country codes, resulting in a second edition of ISO 3166-1 in 2007 with a guarantee that retired codes will not be reassigned for at least 50 years, and the replacement of RFC 3066 by RFC 4646 for country codes used in language tags in 2006.

The previous ISO 3166-1 code for Yugoslavia, YU, was removed by ISO on 23 July 2003, but the yu ccTLD remained in operation. Finally, after a two-year transition to Serbian rs and Montenegrin me, the .yu domain was phased out in March 2010.

Australia was originally assigned the oz country code, which was later changed to au with the .oz domains moved to .oz.au.

Internationalized ccTLDs

[edit]
Main article: Internationalized country code top-level domain

An internationalized country code top-level domain (IDN ccTLD) is a top-level domain with a specially encoded domain name that is displayed in an end user application, such as a web browser, in its native language script or a non-alphabetic writing system, such as Latin script (.us, .uk and .br), Indic script (.भारत) and Korean script (.한국), etc. IDN ccTLDs are an application of the internationalized domain name (IDN) system to top-level Internet domains assigned to countries, including the United Kingdom, or independent geographic regions.

ICANN started to accept applications for IDN ccTLDs in November 2009,[85] and installed the first set into the Domain Names System in May 2010. The first set was a group of Arabic names for the countries of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. By May 2010, 21 countries had submitted applications to ICANN, representing 11 languages.[86]

ICANN requires all potential international TLDs to use at least one letter that does not resemble a Latin letter, or have at least three letters, in an effort to avoid IDN homograph attacks. Nor shall the international domain name look like another domain name, even if they have different alphabets. Between Cyrillic and Greek alphabets, for example, this could happen.[citation needed]

Generic ccTLDs

[edit]

Generic Country Code Top-Level Domain or gccTLD refers to those TLDs which are technically "non-restricted ccTLDs" but used like traditional generic TLDs (gTLDs) rather than "country"-targeted ones.[87][88][89] Most of the gccTLDs are primarily used as domain hacks:

gccTLD Country/Region Domain hacks
.ac Ascension Island
.ad Andorra advertising
.ag Antigua and Barbuda Aktiengesellschaft (German for corporation)
.ai Anguilla Artificial intelligence
.al Albania Alabama
.am Armenia
.ar Argentina
.as American Samoa
.az Azerbaijan
.bz Belize
.ca Canada California
.cc Cocos (Keeling) Islands
.cd Congo Compact disc
.co Colombia
.cu Cuba "see you"
.cv Cape Verde curriculum vitae
.de Germany Delaware
.dj Djibouti Disc jockey
.fm Federated States of Micronesia
.ga Gabon Georgia
.gg Bailiwick of Guernsey
.io British Indian Ocean Territory
.il Israel Illinois
.in India Indiana
.is Iceland it.is, that.is, etc.
.it Italy Information technology
.kg Kyrgyzstan Keygen
.ky Cayman Islands Kentucky
.la Laos
.ly Libya words ending in -ly
.ma Morocco Massachusetts
.md Moldova
.me Montenegro
.mn Mongolia Minnesota
.ms Montserrat
.mt Malta Montana
.ne Niger Nebraska
.nu Niue
  • new
  • now
  • nude
.pa Panama
.pe Peru Private equity
.pn Pitcairn Phone number
.pw Palau Professional web
.re Réunion Reverse engineering
.rs Serbia Rust
.sc Seychelles
.sd Sudan
.sh Saint Helena
.sx Sint Maarten "sex"
.tf French Southern and Antarctic Lands
.tk Tokelau
.tm Turkmenistan Trademark
.tn Tunisia Tennessee
.to Tonga link-to
.tv Tuvalu television and broadcasts
.ws Western Samoa
  • website
  • websocket
  • world site
  • west
.yt Mayotte YouTube

Unconventional usage

[edit]
Main article: Vanity URL

Lenient registration restrictions on certain ccTLDs have resulted in various domain hacks. Domain names such as I.am, tip.it, start.at and go.to form well-known English phrases, whereas others combine the second-level domain and ccTLD to form one word or one title, creating domains such as blo.gs of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (gs), youtu.be of Belgium (be), del.icio.us of the United States (us), and cr.yp.to of Tonga (to). The .co domain of Colombia has been cited since 2010 as a potential competitor to generic TLDs for commercial use, because it may be an abbreviation for company.[90]

Several ccTLDs allow the creation of emoji domains.

Some ccTLDs may also be used for typosquatting. The domain cm of Cameroon has generated interest due to the possibility that people might miss typing the letter o for sites in the com.[91]

Commercial use

[edit]

Some of the world's smallest countries and non-sovereign or colonial entities with their own country codes have opened their TLDs for worldwide commercial use, some of them free like .tk.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Verisign Domain Name Industry Brief Q1 2021" (PDF). verisign.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-06-06. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  2. ^ "ccTLD". ICANN (iana.org). 2012-02-25. Archived from the original on 2020-05-07. Retrieved 2020-05-14.
  3. ^ a b c d e "list of ccTLDs". IANA (iana.org). Archived from the original on 2022-08-08. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
  4. ^ "Andorra Telecom trade name registration policy". Nic.ad. Archived from the original on 16 March 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  5. ^ "norma". infoleg.gov.ar (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2016-02-29. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  6. ^ "IDN Zeichentabelle" (PDF) (in German). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-12-17. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  7. ^ "Rules for .au Domains". Archived from the original on 2019-07-31. Retrieved 2022-02-11.
  8. ^ a b ".au Direct". auDA.org.au. Archived from the original on 2022-02-11. Retrieved 2022-02-11.
  9. ^ a b [citation needed]
  10. ^ "DNS Belgium and IPv6" (PDF). economie.fgov.be. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  11. ^ "Domínios .br". Registro.br (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 2014-02-14. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  12. ^ "Domínios em Português e restrição de dados no WHOIS". Registro.br (in Portuguese). 4 May 2005. Archived from the original on 20 June 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  13. ^ "Domain Registration". Nic.Bt. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  14. ^ "DNSViz probe 27 July 2022". dnsviz.net. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  15. ^ "About internationalized domain names" (PDF). Cira.ca. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  16. ^ "details". nic.ch. Archived from the original on 2020-05-10. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  17. ^ "DNSSEC (DNS Security) available from .cy Registry". nic.cy. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  18. ^ "CZ.NIC - IDN - Internationalized domain names". Nic.cz (in Czech). Archived from the original on 8 January 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  19. ^ "details". denic.de. Archived from the original on 2010-10-31.
  20. ^ "details". æøå.dk-hostmaster.dk (in Danish). Archived from the original on 19 August 2007.
  21. ^ "Estonian domain names to incorporate diacritics (IDN)". Archived from the original on 7 June 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  22. ^ "Other applicable Regulations". dominios.es. Archived from the original on 5 November 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  23. ^ "details". eurid.eu. Archived from the original on 20 December 2012.
  24. ^ ".eu and IPv6". EURid.eu. Archived from the original on 16 October 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  25. ^ "For fi domain applicants and users - How to choose a good domain name?". ficora.fi. 14 May 2019. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  26. ^ "Opening to Europe of the .fr, .wf, .re, .yt, .pm, and .tf TLDs". Archived from the original on 2020-02-12. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
    Previously restricted to residents of the corresponding French territory.
  27. ^ a b c d e "Availability of IDN on the .fr, .yt, .pm, .wf, .tf, and .re TLDs". Afnic.fr. Archived from the original on 6 August 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  28. ^ Rules and Conditions for GE Domain Names Registration (PDF). nic.net.ge (Report) (in Georgian). Article 1.9. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2014-12-23. Retrieved 2021-05-17. Recent Georgian version has some updates not affecting this article.
  29. ^ "details". Archived from the original on 5 November 2013.
  30. ^ Novak, Tomislav (18 November 2016). "PRIJE 24 GODINE PET ENTUZIJASTA ODVELO NAS JE U 21. STOLJEĆE 'Ubili smo se od posla, ali i dobro zabavili. I svi su nas gledali u čudu'". Jutarnji list (in Croatian). Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  31. ^ "Delegation Rules". The Council of Hungarian Internet Providers. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  32. ^ "Shorter .id domain will be available in Indonesia next year". Tech in Asia. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  33. ^ "Domain chaos spikes e-business ambitions". Silicon Republic. 17 December 2002. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  34. ^ Information Technology Law: Professional practice guide (Report). Dublin, IE: Law Society of Ireland. 2004. p. 23.
  35. ^ IANA - .ie
  36. ^ ".IN is India's Country Code Top Level domain (ccTLD)". Registry.In. Archived from the original on 2013-12-30. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
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  38. ^ "Idn: un successo". Nic.it (in Italian). Archived from the original on 8 March 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  39. ^ "TLD DNSSEC Report". stats.research.icann.org. Archived from the original on 25 March 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  40. ^ Morishita, Yasuhiro Orange (2 September 2003). ".JP technical update" (PDF). jprs.jp. RIPE 46 General Meeting. Japan Registry Service, Co., Ltd. (JPRS). Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 October 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
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