Domain Name Registry ccTLD Country Code List
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Domain Name Registry ccTLD Country Code List

A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is a top-level domain used and reserved for a country or a dependent territory. These are two letters long, and most of them correspond to the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes.

 

ccTLD - Country Code Top Level Domain

Two letter domains, such as .uk (United Kingdom), .de (Germany) and .jp (Japan) (for example), are called country code top level domains (ccTLD's) and correspond to a country, territory, or other geographic location. The rules and policies for registering domain names in the ccTLD's vary significantly and ccTLD registries limit use of the ccTLD to citizens of the corresponding country.

Some ICANN-accredited registrars provide registration services in the ccTLD's in addition to registering names in .biz, .com, .info, .name, .net and .org, however, ICANN does not specifically accredit registrars to provide ccTLD registration services.

 

Domain Name Registry ccTLD General information

There are over 243 ccTLD's; see the list of Internet TLD's and IANA's list of ccTLD's Most ccTLD's correspond to the two-letter ISO 3166-1 country codes, but there are several differences, explained below. Each country appoints managers for its ccTLD and sets the rules for allocating domains. Some countries allow anyone in the world to acquire a domain in their ccTLD, for example Austria (at) and Cocos (Keeling) Islands (cc). Other countries or dependent territories allow only citizens to acquire a domain in their ccTLD, for example Canada (ca).

 

ISO 3166-1 codes not used as ccTLD's

The codes EH and KP, although theoretically available as ccTLD's for Western Sahara and North Korea, have never been assigned and do not exist in DNS. Similarly, the code CS (Serbia and Montenegro) is not assigned an operator (cs was previously assigned to Czechoslovakia). TL (post-independence East Timor), is now being introduced to replace TP.

All other current ISO 3166-1 codes have been assigned and do exist in DNS. However, some of these are effectively unused. In particular, the ccTLD's for the Norwegian territories Bouvet Island (bv) and Svalbard and Jan Mayen (sj) do exist in DNS, but no sub domains have been assigned, and it is Norid policy not to assign any at present. Only one sub domain is still registered in gb (ISO 3166-1 for United Kingdom) and no new registrations are being accepted for it. Sites in the UK generally use uk (see below).

 

Domain Name Registry ccTLD's not in ISO 3166-1

Six ccTLD's are currently in use despite not being ISO 3166-1 two-letter codes. Some of these codes were in older ISO 3166-1 two-letter codes (now listed in ISO 3166-3).

  • uk (United Kingdom): The ISO 3166-1 code for the United Kingdom is GB, 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 top-level domains. gb was assigned with the intention of a transition, but this never occurred and the use of uk is now entrenched.
  • su (the obsolete ISO 3166-1 code for Soviet Union): The su managers stated in 2001 they will commence accepting new su registrations, but it is unclear whether this action is compatible with ICANN policy.
  • 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 ccTLD's, 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.
  • tp (the previous ISO 3166-1 code for East Timor): To be phased out in favour of tl during 2005.
  • yu (the previous ISO 3166-1 code for Serbia and Montenegro, when it was still known as Yugoslavia)

Unconventional Domain Name Registry ccTLD usage

Lenient registration restrictions on certain ccTLD's has resulted in domain names like I.am, start.at and go.to. Other variations of ccTLD usage have been called domain hacks, where the Second-level domain and ccTLD are used together to form one word or one title. This has resulted in domains like blo.gs of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (gs), del.icio.us of United States of America (us), and cr.yp.to of Tonga (to). (Non country code TLD's have also been used, like inter.net which uses the .net gTLD, probably the first domain hack ever.)

 

Historical Domain Name Registry ccTLD's

There are two ccTLD's which have been deleted after the corresponding 2-letter code was withdrawn from ISO 3166-1, namely cs (for Czechoslovakia) and zr (for Zaire). There had also been a ccTLD for the GDR, dd, which was never used at all. 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 ccTLD's corresponding to obsolete ISO 3166-1 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 a decade after SU was removed from ISO 3166-1.

 

Domain Registry TLD Code List

*=Foreign registration permitted

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

Y

(code officially replaced by .cs (see above) but still used; code "transitionally reserved" by ISO 3166-1)

 

Z

Domain Name Registry cctld Country Code External links

Domain Registry External links

ccTLD Country Code List Definitions

IANA - Internet Assigned Numbers Authority

The IANA is the authority originally responsible for the oversight of IP address allocation, the coordination of the assignment of protocol parameters provided for in Internet technical standards, and the management of the DNS, including the delegation of top-level domains and oversight of the root name server system. Under ICANN, the IANA continues to distribute addresses to the Regional Internet Registries, coordinate with the IETF and others to assign protocol parameters, and oversee the operation of the DNS.

 

ICANN - The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is an internationally organized, non-profit corporation that has responsibility for Internet Protocol (IP) address space allocation, protocol identifier assignment, generic (gTLD) and country code (ccTLD) Top-Level Domain name system management, and root server system management functions. Originally, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) and other entities performed these services under U.S. Government contract. ICANN now performs the IANA function. As a private-public partnership, ICANN is dedicated to preserving the operational stability of the Internet; to promoting competition; to achieving broad representation of global Internet communities; and to developing policy appropriate to its mission through bottom-up, consensus-based processes. The DNS translates the domain name you type into the corresponding IP address, and connects you to your desired website. The DNS also enables email to function properly, so the email you send will reach the intended recipient.

 

IDN's - Internationalized Domain Names

Internationalized Domain Names, or IDN's, are web addresses in your own language. Many efforts are underway in the Internet community to make domain names available in character sets other than ASCII. These "internationalized domain name" (IDN) efforts were the subject of a 25 September 2000 resolution by the ICANN Board of Directors, in which it recognized "that it is important that the Internet evolve to be more accessible to those who do not use the ASCII character set," but stressed that "the internationalization of the Internet's domain name system must be accomplished through standards that are open, non-proprietary, and fully compatible with the Internet's existing end-to-end model and that preserve globally unique naming in a universally resolvable public name space."

 

ccTLD - Country Code Top Level Domain

Two letter domains, such as .uk (United Kingdom), .de (Germany) and .jp (Japan) (for example), are called country code top level domains (ccTLD's) and correspond to a country, territory, or other geographic location. The rules and policies for registering domain names in the ccTLD's vary significantly and ccTLD registries limit use of the ccTLD to citizens of the corresponding country.

Some ICANN-accredited registrars provide registration services in the ccTLD's in addition to registering names in .biz, .com, .info, .name, .net and .org, however, ICANN does not specifically accredit registrars to provide ccTLD registration services.

 

 

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