.pk

.pk is the ccTLD for Pakistan. It is managed by PKNIC.

Rules and Restrictions

.pk is an Open Use ccTLD. Anyone can register directly under .pk and no country presence is required.

A domain name will not be registered if:

• infringes upon a registered tradename;
• it contravenes the latest version of the Pakistan Penal Code Act, 1860 (including offenses of defamation & blasphemy) and/or the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997/any applicable criminal law;
• it is not bona fide as recognized by international best practice;
• in the opinion of PKNIC is not appropriate for registration.

Registration Guide

To register, first a domain name must be chosen. Ideally, the name must reflect the applicant's brand or activity in Pakistan. After choosing, it is necessary to check the domain name's availability. For that, one must use an authorized .pk registrar's search tool.

.pk domains are registered via PKNIC-accredited registrars, as PKNIC itself doesn’t sell directly to users. After choosing a registrar, an account must be made, and the applicant must provide required details and documentation:

• NADRA ID for Pakistani nationals;
• additional identity verification for international clients.

The next step is paying the registration fee (typically PKR 1,000–3,000/year). However, premium domains or special TLDs may cost more.

Domains are renewed annually.

Second-level Domains

While most .pk domain registrations are open to anyone globally, certain second-level domains (like .edu.pk or .gov.pk) may have strict eligibility requirements. For example, .edu.pk can only be registered by educational institutions recognized by Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission.

The available second-level domains are:

• .com.pk: for general businesses or individuals;
• .net.pk: for network related businesses;
• .org.pk: for non-profit organizations;
• .fam.pk: for families and individuals;
• .biz.pk: for general businesses and promotional;
• .web.pk: for websites;
• .edu.pk: educational institutes;
• .ac.pk: for academic and educational purposes.(Accreditation not required)

There are different SLDs for the government of Pakistan, one for the federal government and one for each province:

• .gov.pk: for the government of Pakistan;
• .gob.pk: for government of Baluchistan;
• .gog.pk: for the government of Gilgit Baltistan;
• .gkp.pk: for the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa;
• .gop.pk: for the government of Punjab;
• .gos.pk: for the government of Sindh;
• .gok.pk: for the government of Azad Kashmir.

Characters

The maximum domain name length is 63 characters (excluding the suffix .pk, .com.pk, etc). Total domain length can not exceed 70.

For domain names directly under .pk, the minimum length is four characters (e.g. 1234.pk). A four character name before .pk can not start with one of the PKNIC second level sub-domains (e.g. com, net, org, gov, gop, etc.). For example the following domain names are not acceptable: "coms.pk", "comm.pk", "nets.pk", "net2.pk", "govs.pk", "a-ac.pk", etc.

For domain names under SLDs, the minimum of one character are allowed (e.g. a.com.pk). The label 'pk', 'www' and all the second level suffix names are reserved for these domain types (e.g. can not register "pk.com.pk", "net.com.pk", "www.net.pk", "com.com.pk", "gov.com.pk", etc).

A domain name can not begin with a dash "-", and can not have two consecutive dashes "--" in it. These are reserved for IDN encodings.

Country code top-level domain

Internationalized Domain Name