.cymru

Status:	Proposed
country:	Wales
Language:	Welsh
Manager:	Welsh Government
Registry Provider:	Nominet
Type:	GeoTLD
More information:

.cymru is a GeoTLD intended for the country of Wales in the United Kingdom, "cymru" means "Wales" in Welsh. In February, 2012, it was announced that Nominet had been chosen to run the technical registry functions for the yet-to-be-named managing entity associated with the Welsh Government. The same entity will also be applying for .wales with Nominet. The planned application for 2 Welsh TLDs apparently follows debate in the country as to whether their Geo TLD should be in their little-used, native language or in English. Nominet has stated that it plans to establish a model whereby excess funds are reinvested in Wales and its community. The company contracted Beaufort Research in order to discover what their stakeholders would like done with the Welsh TLDs. They have released a questionnaire, with questions relating to policy, pricing and perceived demand.

An entity that previously expressed interest in running .cymru, DotCym, announced that it would not be applying for any Welsh TLD just weeks before the Nominet announcement.

One of the first communities to express interest in using a .cymru was Llandysul, which expressed its preference for its community council website to use the extension in February, 2013.

Language Issues

In October, 2012, Nominet was criticized for using poor Welsh grammar and structure on its website for the Welsh TLDs. One Welsh tech blogger alleged that Google translate or a similar program to create the text. Nominet had previously promised to expand beyond its English-centric presence and establish an office in Wales with Welsh speakers.

Top-Level Domain