Country code top-level domain

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A Country Code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD) is a two-letter Internet top-level domains (TLDs) specifically designated for a particular country, sovereign state or autonomous territory for use to service their community. ccTLDs are derived from ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes.

Implementation

The implementation of ccTLDs was started by IANA, which is not a physical organization or an individual but it is part of ICANN. The delegation and creation of ccTLDs is presented within RFC 1591. In order to determine whether new ccTLDs should be added or not, the IANA follows the provisions of ISO 3166 - Maintenance Agency. Briefly, "our policy is to create new country-code top-level domains when the country or territory is listed on the ISO 3166-1 standard."

More information related to the development of new ccTLDs can be found in IANA's Procedures for Establishing ccTLDs.

IANA's Procedures for ccTLDs

Within its database, IANA maintains authoritative information related to ccTLDs. This includes sponsoring organizations, technical and administrative contacts, name servers, registration URLs and other such information. This type of information provides extra details regarding the IANA's procedures for maintaining the ccTLD database.

Delegation and Redelegation

The process through which the designated manager, or managers, is changed is known as redelegation. The redelegation process follows the provisions of ICP-1 and RFC 1591. IANA receives all requests of a sponsoring organization related to delegation and redelegation for the ccTLDs. The requests are then analyzed by IANA based on various technical and public criterion. The request, accompanied by the IANA analysis, is finally sent to the ICANN Board of Directors for approval or refusal. If approved, IANA is also responsible for the implementation of the request.

Conceptually speaking, the delegation and redelegation processes are simple. However, they can easily become complex if there are many organizations and individuals involved in the process. There is a set of steps that must be followed before sending the request for delegation or redelegation. An initial request should be developed, based on The Change Request Template and supplementary information, to prove that the eligibility criteria have been met by the initial request. All the information supplied is used by IANA to analyze the request received.

ccTLDs and ICANN

The policies developed by ICANN are implemented by gTLD registry operators, ccTLD managers, root-nameserver operators and regional Internet registries. One of the main activities of ICANN is to work with other organizations involved in the technical coordination of the Internet, with the purpose of formally documenting their participatory role within the ICANN process. These organizations are committed to the ICANN policies that result from their work.

In 2000, ICANN started cooperating with ccTLD managers to document their relationship. The relationships between ICANN and ccTLD mangers are often complex. Complexities arise due to various circumstances, including the type of organization, cultural issues, economics, the legal environment, etc. Another consideration is the role of the national government in "managing or establishing policy for their own ccTLD" (role recognized in the June 1998, U.S. Government White Paper).

In 2009, ICANN began the implementation of an IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process, whereby countries that use non-Latin script are able to claim ccTLDs in their native script and the corresponding Latin version. As of early 2011, 33 requests have been received, representing 22 languages. More than half have already been approved.

Pseudo-ccTLD

A pseudo-ccTLD mimics an official country code domain without formal recognition, often used for branding or to suggest geographical affiliation.

Open ccTLDs

Related Article - Open Use ccTLD
An open ccTLD refers to a country code top level domain name that can be registered by anyone, regardless of which country the person resides in. These ccTLDs generally represent a particular branding opportunity aside from the name of the country or territory it represents. Examples include .cc (Cocos Island) for consulting companies, .tv (Tuvalu) for television, .ws (Western Samoa) for websites, and .co (Colombia) as an alternative to .com for companies.

Current ccTLDs

The following is a list of the current ccTLDs, including their registry operators and any special notes about registration of the domains.

ccTLD	Entity	Manager	Registry Operator
.ac	Ascension Island		NIC.AC
.ad	Andorra		Andorra Telecom
.ae	United Arab Emirates		.aeDA
.af	Afghanistan		AfgNIC
.ag	Antigua and Barbuda		Nic AG
.ai	Anguilla		Government of Anguilla
.al	Albania		Albania Electronic and Postal Communications Authority (AKEP)
.am	Armenia		ISOC.AM (Internet Society NGO, based in Armenia 1994, 4 August)
.an	Antilles (Netherlands)	Being phased out	University of the Netherlands Antilles
.ao	Angola		Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade Agostinho Neto
.aq	Antarctica	Available to government organizations who are signatories to the Antarctic Treaty, and other registrants with a local physical presence.	Mott and Associates
.ar	Argentina		NIC Argentina
.as	American Samoa		AS Domain Registry
.at	Austria		Nic.at
.au	Australia	ABN (Australian Business Number) required	auDA
.aw	Aruba	Restricted to local companies, organizations, and citizens	SETAR
.ax	Aland Islands		Ålands Landskapsregeringen
.az	Azerbaijan		IntraNS
.ba	Bosnia and Herzegovina		UTIC
.bb	Barbados		Government of Barbados Ministry of Economic Affairs and Development Telecommunications Unit
.bd	Bangladesh		Ministry of Post & Telecommunications Bangladesh Secretariat
.be	Belgium	Also unofficially used in Berne, Switzerland	DNS Belgium
.bf	Burkina Faso		ARCEP
.bg	Bulgaria		Register.BG
.bh	Bahrain		BATELCO
.bi	Burundi		Burundi National Center of Information Technology
.bj	Benin		Offices des Postes et Telecommunications
.bl	Saint Barthelemy	Currently not in root zone	Unassigned
.bm	Bermuda	Local corporate registration required	Registry General Ministry of Labour and Immigration
.bn	Brunei Darussalam		Jabatan Telekom Brunei
.bo	Bolivia		Agencia para el Desarrollo de la Información de la Sociedad en Bolivia
.bq	Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba	Currently not in root zone	Unassigned
.br	Brazil	Top level registration is restricted, registration at second level	NIC.br
.bs	Bahamas		The College of the Bahamas
.bt	Bhutan		Ministry of Information and Communications
.bv	Bouvet Island	Not in use	UNINETT Norid AS
.bw	Botswana		Botswana Telecommunications Corporation
.by	Belarus		Open Contact Ltd.
.bz	Belize		University of Belize
.ca	Canada	Subject to Canadian Presence Requirements	CIRA
.cc	Cocos (Keeling) Islands	Second level domains used in free, public domain service	eNIC Cocos Islands Pty. Ltd.
.cd	Democratic Republic of the Congo		CDNIC
.cf	Central African Republic		Dot CF
.cg	Republic of Congo		ONPT Congo and Interpoint Switzerland
.ch	Switzerland		SWITCH
.ci	Cote d'Ivoire		INP-HB
.ck	Cook Islands		Telecom Cook Islands Ltd.
.cl	Chile	Local presence required	NIC Chile
.cm	Cameroon	Restricted to local entities/companies	CAMTEL
.cn	China	Registration allowed worldwide	CNNIC
.co	Colombia		.co Internet
.cr	Costa Rica		Academia Nacional de Ciencias
.cu	Cuba		CENIA
.cv	Cape Verde		ANAC
.cw	Curaçao		University of the Netherlands Antilles
.cx	Christmas Island		Christmas Island Internet Administration Ltd.
.cy	Cyprus		University of Cyprus
.cz	Czech Republic		CZ.NIC
.de	Germany	German postal address required for administrative contact	DENIC
.dj	Djibouti		Djibouti Telecom SA
.dk	Denmark		DK Hostmaster
.dm	Dominica		DotDM Corporation
.do	Dominican Republic		Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra Recinto Santo Tomas de Aquino
.dz	Algeria		NIC.dz
.ec	Ecuador		ECUADORDOMAIN S.A.
.ee	Estonia	Estonian postal address required for administrative contact	Estonian Internet Foundation
.eg	Egypt		EUN Supreme Council of Universities
.eh	Western Sahara	Currently not in root zone	Unassigned
.er	Eritrea		EriTel
.es	Spain		RED.ES
.et	Ethiopia		Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation
.eu	European Union	Restricted to institutions, companies, and individuals within the European Union	EURid
.fi	Finland	Registration is available to everyone all around the world	FICORA
.fj	Fiji		The University of the South Pacific IT Services
.fk	Falkland Islands (Malvinas)		Falkland Islands Government
.fm	Federated States of Micronesia		FSM Telecommunications Corporation
.fo	Faroe Islands		FO Council
.fr	France	French presence required	AFNIC
.ga	Gabon		Gabon Telecom
.gb	United Kingdom	Originally meant to replace .uk	Unassigned, reserved domain
.gd	Grenada		NTRC
.ge	Georgia		Caucasus Online
.gf	French Guiana		Net Plus
.gg	Guernsey		Island Networks
.gh	Ghana		Network Computer Systems
.gi	Gibraltar		Sapphire Networks
.gl	Greenland		TELE Greenland AS
.gm	Gambia		GM-NIC
.gn	Guinea		Centre National des Sciences Halieutiques de Boussoura
.gp	Guadeloupe		Networking Technologies Group
.gq	Equatorial Guinea		GETESA
.gr	Greece		GR-Hostmaster
.gs	South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands		GSGSSI
.gt	Guatemala		Universidad del Valle de Guatemala
.gu	Guam		University of Guam Computer Center
.gw	Guinea-Bissau		ARN
.gy	Guyana		University of Guyana
.hk	Hong Kong		Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Ltd.
.hm	Heard Island and McDonald Islands		HM Domain Registry
.hn	Honduras		Red de Desarrollo Sostenible Honduras
.hr	Croatia		CARNet
.ht	Haiti		Consortium FDS/RDDH
.hu	Hungary		CHIP
.id	Indonesia		IDNIC-PPAU Mikroelektronika
.ie	Ireland	Limited to Irish citizens, Ireland-registered brands and companies, and companies doing business in Ireland	IE Domain Registry Limited
.il	Israel		ISOC-IL (Israeli Branch of ISOC)
.im	Isle of Man		Isle of Man Government
.in	India		NIXI
.io	British Indian Ocean Territory		IO Top Level Domain Registry Cable and Wireless
.iq	Iraq		CMC
.ir	Islamic Republic of Iran		IRNIC
.is	Iceland		ISNIC
.it	Italy	Restricted to companies and individuals within the EU	IIT - CNR
.je	Jersey		Island Networks
.jm	Jamaica		University of West Indies
.jo	Jordan		NITC
.jp	Japan	Physical address within Japan required	Japan Registry Services
.ke	Kenya		KENIC
.kg	Kyrgyzstan		AsiaInfo Telecommunications Enterprise
.kh	Cambodia		Cambodia Ministry of Post and Telecommunications
.ki	Kiribati		Ministry of Communications, Transport, and Tourism Development
.km	Comoros		Comores Telecom
.kn	Saint Kitts and Nevis		Ministry of Finance, Sustainable Development Information & Technology
.kp	Democratic People's Republic of Korea		Star Joint Venture Company
.kr	Republic of Korea		KISA
.kw	Kuwait		Ministry of Communications
.ky	Cayman Islands	Restricted to qualified Cayman entities	The Information and Communication Authority
.kz	Kazakhstan		Association of IT Companies of Kazakhstan
.la	Laos	Currently marketed as an unofficial domain for Los Angeles	LANIC
.lb	Lebanon		Internet Society Lebanon (ISOC-LB)
.lc	Saint Lucia		University of Puerto Rico
.li	Liechtenstein		Universitaet Liechtenstein
.lk	Sri Lanka		Council for Information Technology and LK Domain Registrar
.lk	Sri Lanka		Council for Information Technology and LK Domain Registrar
.lr	Liberia		Data Technology Solutions, Inc.
.ls	Lesotho		National University of Lesotho
.lt	Lithuania		Domreg
.lu	Luxembourg		RESTENA
.lv	Latvia		NIC.LV
.ly	Libya		General Post and Telecommunications Company
.ma	Morocco		ANRT
.mc	Monaco		Gouvernement de Monaco Direction des Communications Electroniques
.md	Republic of Moldova	Marketed to medical professionals worldwide	MoldData
.me	Montenegro		doMEn
.mf	Saint Martin	Currently not in root zone	Unassigned
.mg	Madagascar		NIC-MG
.mh	Marshall Islands		Cabinet Office
.mk	Macedonia	Restricted to companies within Macedonia	Ministry of Foreign Relations
.ml	Mali		Sotelma
.mm	Myanmar		Ministry of Communications, Posts & Telegraphs
.mn	Mongolia		Datacom Co., Ltd.
.mo	Macao		University of Macau
.mp	Northern Mariana Islands		Saipan Datacom
.mq	Martinique		SYSTEL
.mr	Mauritania		University of Nouakchott
.ms	Montserrat		MNI Networks Ltd.
.mt	Malta		NIC Malta
.mu	Mauritius		Mauritius Network Information Centre
.mv	Maldives		DHIVEHINET
.mw	Malawi		Malawi SDNP
.mx	Mexico		NIC Mexico
.my	Malaysia	Restricted to individuals and companies within Malaysia	MYNIC
.mz	Mozambique		Centro de Informatica de Universidade Eduardo Mondlane
.na	Namibia		Namibian Network Information Centre
.nc	New Caledonia		Office des Postes et Telecommunications
.ne	Niger		SONITEL
.nf	Norfolk Island		Norfolk Island Data Services
.ng	Nigeria		NiRA
.ni	Nicaragua		Universidad Nacional del Ingernieria Centro de Computo
.nl	Netherlands	Was the first official ccTLD to be assigned	Stichting Internet Domeinregistratie Nederland (SIDN)
.no	Norway	Restricted to companies in Norway. Individuals may register under the SLD .priv.no.	UNINETT Norid AS
.np	Nepal		Mercantile Communications
.nr	Nauru	Second level domain .co.nr is used as a free domain service	CENPAC NET
.nu	Niue	Unofficially used as "new" for English language websites and "now" for Danish, Dutch, and Swedish websites.	Internetstiftelsen i Sverige
.nz	New Zealand		InternetNZ
.om	Oman		TRA
.pa	Panama		Universidad Tecnologica de Panama
.pe	Peru		Red Cientifica Peruana
.pf	French Polynesia		Ministère des Postes et Télécommunications
.pg	Papua New Guinea		PNG DNS Administration
.ph	Philippines		PH Domain Foundation
.pk	Pakistan		PKNIC
.pl	Poland		NASK
.pm	Saint Pierre and Miquelon		AFNIC
.pn	Pitcairn		Pitcairn Island Administration
.pr	Puerto Rico		Gauss Research Laboratory Inc (GRL-INC)
.ps	Palestine		Palestinian National Internet Naming Authority (PNINA)
.pt	Portugal		DNS.PT
.pw	Palau		Micronesia Investment and Development Corporation
.py	Paraguay		NIC-PY
.qa	Qatar		ictQATAR
.re	Reunion	Restricted to brand owners in Reunion and to companies with an address in Reunion.	AFNIC
.ro	Romania		Romanian Research Network
.rs	Serbia		Serbian National Register of Internet Domain Names (RNIDS)
.ru	Russia		Coordination Center for TLD RU
.rw	Rwanda		NIC Congo
.sa	Saudi Arabia		Communications and Information Technology
.sb	Solomon Islands		Solomon Telekom Company
.sc	Seychelles		VCS
.sd	Sudan		Sudan Internet Society
.se	Sweden		Internetstiftelsen i Sverige
.sg	Singapore		SGNIC
.sh	Saint Helena		Government of St. Helena
.si	Slovenia		ARNES
.sj	Svalbard and Jan Mayen	Not in use	UNINETT Norid AS
.sk	Slovakia	Restricted to Slovakian companies, organizations, and citizens	SK-NIC
.sl	Sierra Leone		Sierratel
.sm	San Marino	Domain name must be same as company name or trademark	Telecom Italia San Marino
.sn	Senegal		Universite Cheikh Anta Diop
.so	Somalia	Relaunched on November 1, 2010	SONIC
.sr	Suriname		Telesur
.ss	South Sudan	Currently not in root zone	Unassigned
.st	Sao Tome and Principe		Tecnisys
.su	Soviet Union	Being phased out in favor of .ru	ROSNIIROS
.sv	El Salvador		SVNet
.sx	Sint Maarten		SX Registry
.sy	Syria		NANS
.sz	Swaziland		SISPA
.tc	Turks and Caicos Islands		MelrexTC
.td	Chad	Restricted to entities connected with Chad	Sotel Tchad
.tf	French Southern Territories		AFNIC
.tg	Togo		C.A.F.E. Informatique et Telecommunications
.th	Thailand		THNIC
.tj	Tajikistan		Information Technology Center
.tk	Tokelau	Used as a free public domain service	Teletok
.tl	Timor-Leste	Old code, .tp, still also in use	Ministry Infrastructure Information and Technology Division
.tm	Turkmenistan		TM Domain Registry
.tn	Tunisia		Tunisia Telecommunications Agency ATI
.to	Tonga	Unofficially used for torrent, Toronto, and Tokyo	Government of the Kingdom of Tonga
.tp	Portuguese Timor	Being phased out in favor of .tl	Unassigned
.tr	Turkey	.nc.tr used by Northern Cyprus	NIC.TR
.tt	Trinidad and Tobago		University of the West Indies Faculty of Engineering
.tv	Tuvalu	Used as an abbreviation for television	Ministry of Finance and Tourism
.tw	Taiwan	Registration allowed worldwide	TWNIC
.tz	Tanzania	Presence within Tanzania required	TzNIC
.ua	Ukraine		Hostmaster LTD
.ug	Uganda		Charles Musisi
.uk	United Kingdom	UK service address required	Nominet
.um	United States Minor Outlying Islands	Currently not in root zone	Unassigned
.us	United States	Commonly used by US state and local governments instead of .gov	NeuStar
.uy	Uruguay		SeCIU
.uz	Uzbekistan		UZINFOCOM
.va	Vatican City	Limited to official sites of the Vatican/Holy See	Internet Office of the Holy See
.vc	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines		Ministry of Telecommunications, Science, Technology and Industry
.ve	Venezuela		CONATEL
.vg	British Virgin Islands		Pinebrook Developments Ltd.
.vi	US Virgin Islands		NIC.vi
.vn	Vietnam		VNNIC
.vu	Vanuatu		Telecom Vanuatu Ltd.
.wf	Wallis and Futuna		AFNIC
.ws	Samoa		Government of Samoa Ministry of Foreign Affairs
.yt	Mayotte		AFNIC
.za	South Africa		ZADNA
.zm	Zambia		ZAMNET
.zw	Zimbabwe		ZISPA

Country code top-level domain

Internet Assigned Numbers Authority

International Standards Organization

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