Country code top-level domain

This article is neutral, but is sponsored by .CO Internet S.A.S., the registry operator for the .co open ccTLD. You can read more about them here.

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Country Code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs) are 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. The delegation and creation of ccTLDs is presented within RFC 1951. In order to determine whether new ccTLDs should be added or not, the IANA follows the provisions of ISO 3166 - Maintenance Agency. 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 contains authoritative information related to ccTLDs, referring to 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 know as redelegation. The 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, and 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, but 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 has been met by the initial request. All the information supplied is used by IANA to fortify 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.

Starting in 2000, ICANN started cooperating with ccTLD managers to document their relationship. Due to various circumstances such as: the type of organization, cultural issues, economics, the legal environment, etc., the relationships between ICANN and ccTLD mangers are often complex. 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.

Open ccTLDs

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 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.

.cc and .tv

Verisign is the registry operator of both .cc and .tv open ccTLDs. eNIC, a subsidiary company of Verisign, manages the operation and marketing of .cc. The company promotes the ccTLD as a good alternative for the .com and .net domain name spaces. The target users for the .cc include entities that who want to develop website representing a Chinese company, country club, consulting company, chat community, church community, community center, chamber of commerce, or community college.

TodayISP.com, one of the registrars offering .cc, describes the ccTLD as a new international domain name having the same features of the .com and .net, as it is understood by users as an acronym for commercial company, it offers potential business value, and is becoming the latest fashion in domain names, making its value increase.

The .tv ccTLD is currently operated by dotTV, another subsidiary company of Verisign. Domain names using the .tv ccTLD are registered by entities involved in the television, film, and animation industries, as well as individuals providing video contents in their blogs or websites. Internet users understand that a .tv domain name offers video content. In 2006, Demand Media and Verisign partnered to promote the .tv TLD as a preferred web address for media rich content. Richard Rosenblatt, Chairman and CEO of Demand Media, explained that the landscape of Internet media is changing quickly, and many users want to publish and share their own video materials. According to Rosenblatt, "By registering a .tv domain name and adding video content of their choosing, users can program their own channel."

.co

The Colombian Ministry of Information Technology and Communication assigned the management of the .co ccTLD registry to the .CO Internet SAS, a joint venture between Arcelandia SA and Neustar, Inc. Since its launch in February 2010, the .co ccTLD has been marketed by .co Internet as a "new, flexible, and safe global extension" for internet users worldwide.

According to Juan Diego Calle, CEO of .co Internet, the .co TLD will serve as a good alternative for users who are looking for a credible, global and recognizable domain name that is affordable and critical to achieving their online success. He explained that .co is well-known worldwide by Internet users as a short term for corporation or company, and the .co domain name space will provide millions of users the opportunity register their desired domain names to establish their online presence. Calle said that his company is targeting Internet users around the world who have dreams, ideas or contents to share.

.CO Internet SAS is promoting the .co TLD as an easy to remember top level domain representing companies, corporations, communities, content, etc. and searchable, secure, committed, confident, flexible, networked with a growing community.

Some companies use the .co domain space as a branded shortener or in domain hacks, such as with Overstock.com (O.co), Twitter (T.co), Politico (politi.co), Venture Hacks (vh.co), Google (g.co), etc. Others use it as a URL shortener, such as GoDaddy's x.co.

.fm and .am

The .fm and .am ccTLDs are marketed by BRS Media Inc. for use by music, radio, and social media websites. A percentage of the income from .fm registrations goes back to the government and people of the Federated States of Micronesia. .am has also been used in the domain hack instagr.am.

.ws

The .ws ccTLD is managed and operated by SamoaNIC, and it is promoting the TLD as a shortened form of Web Site or World Site. The marketing strategy provides users global presence. The marketing program for .ws is carried out by Global Domains International Incorporated.

.me

The ccTLD of Montenegro, .me, has been marketed by DoMEn for use by bloggers, social media users, and socially inclined websites and 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	Registry Operator	Notes
.ac	Ascension Island	Nic.ac
.ad	Andorra	Andorra Telecom
.ae	United Arab Emirates	UAEnic
.af	Afghanistan	Afghanistan Ministry of Communications and IT
.ag	Antigua and Barbuda	UHSA School of Medicine
.ai	Anguilla	Government of Anguilla
.al	Albania	Albania Electronic and Postal Communications Authority (AKEP)
.am	Armenia	ISOC Armenia
.an	Antilles (Netherlands)	University of the Netherlands - Antilles	Being phased out
.ao	Angola	Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade Agostinho Neto
.aq	Antarctica	Mott and Associates	Available to government organizations who are signatories to the Antarctic Treaty, and other registrants with a local physical presence.
.ar	Argentina	NIC Argentina
.as	American Samoa	AS Domain Registry
.at	Austria	Nic.at
.au	Australia	auDA	ABN (Australian Business Number) required
.aw	Aruba	SETAR	Restricted to local companies, organizations, and citizens
.ax	Aland Islands	Ålands landskapsregering
.az	Azerbaijan	IntraDNS
.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	DNS BE	Also unofficially used in Berne, Switzerland
.bf	Burkina Faso	ARCE
.bg	Bulgaria	Register.BG
.bh	Bahrain	BATELCO
.bi	Burundi	Centre National de l'Informatique
.bj	Benin	Offices des Postes et Telecommunications
.bl	Saint Barthelemy	Unassigned	Currently not in root zone
.bm	Bermuda	Registry General Ministry of Labour and Immigration	Local corporate registration required
.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	Unassigned	Currently not in root zone
.br	Brazil	Comite Gestor da Internet no Brasil	Top level registration is restricted, registration at second level
.bs	Bahamas	The College of the Bahamas
.bt	Bhutan	Ministry of Information and Communications
.bv	Bouvet Island	UNINETT Norid AS	Not in use
.bw	Botswana	University of Botswana
.by	Belarus	Open Contact Ltd.
.bz	Belize	University of Belize
.ca	Canada	CIRA	Subject to Canadian Presence Requirements
.cc	Cocos (Keeling) Islands	eNIC Cocos Islands Pty. Ltd.	Second level domains used in free, public domain service
.cd	Democratic Republic of the Congo	OCPT
.cf	Central African Republic	SOCATEL
.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	NIC Chile	Local presence required
.cm	Cameroon	CAMTEL	Restricted to local entities/companies
.cn	China	CNNIC	Registration allowed worldwide
.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	DENIC	German postal address required for administrative contact
.dj	Djibouti	Djibouti Telecom SA
.dk	Denmark	Dansk Internet Forum
.dm	Dominica	DotDM Corporation
.do	Dominican Republic	Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra Recinto Santo Tomas de Aquino
.dz	Algeria	CERIST
.ec	Ecuador	NIC.EC
.ee	Estonia	National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics	Estonian postal address required for administrative contact
.eg	Egypt	EUN Supreme Council of Universities
.eh	Western Sahara	Unassigned	Currently not in root zone
.er	Eritrea	EriTel
.es	Spain	Red.es
.et	Ethiopia	Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation
.eu	European Union	EURid	Restricted to institutions, companies, and individuals within the European Union
.fi	Finland	Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority	Limited to companies and organizations registered in Finland and Finnish citizens
.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	AFNIC	French presence required
.ga	Gabon	Gabon Telecom
.gb	United Kingdom	Unassigned, reserved domain	Originally meant to replace .uk
.gd	Grenada	NTRC
.ge	Georgia	Caucasus Online
.gf	French Guiana	Net Plus
.gg	Guernsey	Island Networks Ltd.
.gh	Ghana	Network Computer Systems Ltd.
.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	ICS-FORTH GR
.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	Fundação IT and MEDIA Universidade de Bissao
.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	University College Dublin Computing Services	Limited to Irish citizens, Ireland-registered brands and companies, and companies doing business in Ireland
.il	Israel	ISOC Israel
.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	Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences
.is	Iceland	ISNIC
.it	Italy	IIT - CNR	Restricted to companies and individuals within the EU
.je	Jersey	Island Networks (Jersey) Ltd.
.jm	Jamaica	University of West Indies
.jo	Jordan	NITC
.jp	Japan	Japan Registry Services	Physical address within Japan required
.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
.kp	Republic of Korea	KISA
.kw	Kuwait	Ministry of Communications
.ky	Caymen Islands	The Information and Communication Authority	Restricted to qualified Cayman entities
.kz	Kazakhstan	Association of IT Companies of Kazakhstan
.la	Laos	LANIC	Currently marketed as an unofficial domain for Los Angeles
.lb	Lebanon	American University of Beirut Computing and Networking Services	Restricted to companies within Lebanon
.lc	Saint Lucia	University of Puerto Rico
.li	Liechtenstein	Universitaet Liechtenstein
.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	Kaunas University of Technology Information Technology Development Institute
.lu	Luxembourg	RESTENA
.lv	Latvia	Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science Department of Network Solutions
.ly	Libya	General Post and Telecommunications Company
.ma	Morocco	ANRT
.mc	Monaco	Gouvernement de Monaco Direction des Communications Electroniques
.md	Republic of Moldova	MoldData	Marketed to medical professionals worldwide
.me	Montenegro	Government of Montenegro
.mf	Saint Martin	Unassigned	Currently not in root zone
.mg	Madagascar	NIC-MG
.mh	Marshall Islands	Cabinet Office
.mk	Macedonia	Ministry of Foreign Relations	Restricted to companies within Macedonia
.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	Internet Direct Ltd
.mv	Maldives	DHIVEHINET
.mw	Malawi	Malawi SDNP
.mx	Mexico	NIC Mexico
.my	Malaysia	MYNIC	Restricted to individuals and companies within Malaysia
.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	Stichting Internet Domeinregistratie Nederland	Was the first official ccTLD to be assigned
.no	Norway	UNINETT Norid AS	Restricted to companies in Norway. Individuals may register under the SLD .priv.no.
.np	Nepal	Mercantile Communications
.nr	Nauru	CENPAC NET	Second level domain .co.nr is used as a free domain service
.nu	Niue	The IUSN Foundation	Unofficially used as "new" for English language websites and "now" for Danish, Dutch, and Swedish websites.
.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	Research and Academic Computer Network
.pm	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	AFNIC
.pn	Pitcairn	Pitcairn Island Administration
.pr	Puerto Rico	Gauss Research Laboratory
.ps	Palestine	Ministry of Telecommunications & IT
.pt	Portugal	Associação DNS.PT
.pw	Palau	Micronesia Investment and Development Corporation
.py	Paraguay	NIC-PY
.qa	Qatar	ictQATAR
.re	Reunion	AFNIC	Restricted to brand owners in Reunion and to companies with an address in Reunion.
.ro	Romania	National Institute for R&D in Informatics
.rs	Serbia	Serbian National Internet Domain Registry foundation (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	ISOC Sudan
.se	Sweden	Interner Infrastructure Foundation
.sg	Singapore	SGNIC
.sh	Saint Helena	Government of St. Helena
.si	Slovenia	ARNES
.sj	Svalbard and Jan Mayen	UNINETT Norid AS	Not in use
.sk	Slovakia	SK-NIC	Restricted to Slovakian companies, organizations, and citizens
.sl	Sierra Leone	Sierratel
.sm	San Marino	Telecom Italia San Marino	Domain name must be same as company name or trademark
.sn	Senegal	Universite Cheikh Anta Diop and NIC Senegal
.so	Somalia	Somalia Ministry of Post and Telecommunications	Relaunched on Novemner 1, 2010
.sr	Suriname	Telesur
.ss	South Sudan	Unassigned	Currently not in root zone
.st	Sao Tome and Principe	Tecnisys
.su	Soviet Union	ROSNIIROS	Being phased out in favor of .ru
.sv	El Salvador	SVNet
.sx	Sint Maarten	SX Registry
.sy	Syria	NANS
.sz	Swaziland	University of Swaziland Department of Computer Science
.tc	Turks and Caicos Islands	MelrexTC
.td	Chad	SOTEL TCHAD	Restricted to entities connected with Chad
.tf	French Southern Territories	AFNIC
.tg	Togo	Cafe Informatique et Telecommunications
.th	Thailand	THNIC
.tj	Tajikistan	Information Technology Center
.tk	Tokelau	Teletok	Used as a free public domain service
.tl	Timor-Leste	Ministry Infrastructure Information and Technology Division	Old code, .tp, still also in use
.tm	Turkmenistan	TM Domain Registry
.tn	Tunisia	Agence Tunisienne d'Internet
.to	Tonga	Government of the Kingdom of Tonga	Unofficially used for torrent, Toronto, and Tokyo
.tp	Portuguese Timor	Unassigned	Being phased out in favor of .tl
.tr	Turkey	Middle East Technical University Department of Computer Engineering	.nc.tr used by Northern Cyprus
.tt	Trinidad and Tobago	University of the West Indies Faculty of Engineering
.tv	Tuvalu	Ministry of Finance and Tourism	Used as a abbreviation for television
.tw	Taiwan	TWNIC	Registration allowed worldwide
.tz	Tanzania	TzNIC	Presence within Tanzania required
.ua	Ukraine	Communication Systems Ltd.
.ug	Uganda	I3C: Infinity Computers & Communications Company
.uk	United Kingdom	Nominet	UK service address required
.um	United States Minor Outlying Islands	Unassigned	Currently not in root zone
.us	United States	NeuStar	Commonly used by US state and local governments instead of .gov
.uy	Uruguay	SeCIU
.uz	Uzbekistan	UZINFOCOM
.va	Vatican City	Internet Office of the Holy See	Limited to officials sites of the Vatican/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	Ministry of Information and Communications of Socialist Republic of Viet Nam
.vu	Vanuatu	Telecom Vanuatu Ltd.
.wf	Wallis and Futuna	AFNIC
.ws	Samoa	Government of Samoa Ministry of Foreign Affairs

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