Top Level Domains (TLDs)
The domain name structure is defined in RFC 1591
See: ICANN TLDs
"country-code" TLDs or "ccTLDs" (such as .de, .mx, and .jp)
"generic" TLDs, or "gTLDs"
1980's .com, .edu, .gov, .int, .mil, .net, and .org
(Old: .arpa, .nato)
Domains:
Top level Domains (TLD)
Original (198?):
.com Commercial
.gov Goverment
.org Organization
.net Network
.edu US Educational
.mil US Military
.int organizations established by international treaties between governments.
Nov 2000
Country Code Names:
.au - Australia, .ca - Canada, .gb - United Kingdom (Great Britain),
.de - Germany, .fr - France, .tw - Taiwan, .us - United States, ...
Complete list of Country Code Elements
New:
.biz (2001) Businesses
.info (2001) Unrestricted use
.museum Museums
.name (2002) For registration by individuals
.bz
certain country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs) have decided to open their name spaces
to all interested registrants, regardless of country.
These domains are often referred to as "open ccTLDs"
.cc (Cocos Islands)
.tv (Tuvalu) - Television
.ws (Western Samoa) - Web sites
Proposed:
.aero - Air-transport industry
.coop Cooperatives
.pro Accountants (cpa.pro), lawyers (law.pro) , and physicians (med.pro)
In 2013 and 2014 over 200 new top-level domains were opened.
e.g. .church, .consulting, .careers, .ventures, .singles, .bike, .guru, .camera, ...
As of October 2014 there were 735 active top-level domains.
Assignment/Administration
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)List of Accredited Registrars Top level Domains (TLD) at (IANA) Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
Network Solutions a VeriSign Company
Verio Register Domain Names
_______________________________________________________
Geographic:
See examples on the Matching Domains and IP Addresses PageUS and Canada:
.ST.CC (State/Province.Country)
e.g. .qc.ca (Quebec)
US Domain is defined in RFC 1480
.FED.US Federal Government
.DNI.US Distributed National Institutes
.ISA.US Interstate Authority
<city>.<state>.US <state> is the 2 digit state postal code
<county>.<state>.US
.CI.<city>.<state>.US City Govt
.CO.<county>.<state>.US County Govt.
.CC.<state>.US Community College
.TEC.<state>.US Technical and Vocational Schools
.K12.<state>.US K-12 Schools
.PVT.K12.<state>.US Private Schools
.state.<state>.US State Government
.lib.<state>.US Libraries
.MUS.<state>.US Museums
.D<state>.ST.US Districts
.COG.<state>.US Councils of Government
.GEN.<state>.US General
International:
.com.CC (where CC = 2-digit country code)
.edu.CC, .or.CC, .org.CC, .net.CC, .ac.CC, .co.CC, .go.CC, .re.CC,
.plc.uk, .ltd.uk, .cnet.fr, .eunet.CC (EuropeNet)
You may also have just <company>.cc (e.g. ericsson.se, nortel.ca)
W3 Servers by ContinentDXCC Country listTerms:
ccTLD – Country Code Top-Level Domains
DNS - Domain Name Server
DNSSEC - Domain Name System Security Extensions
gTLD – Generic Top-Level Domain
ICANN - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
for internationalized domain names (IDN)
RRA - Registry-Registrar Agreement
SLD - Second-level domain
sTLD – Sponsored Top-Level Domains
TLD - Top Level Domain
uTLD – Unsponsored Top-Level Domains
See Also:
TLD (gTLD, sTLD, uTLD, ccTLD) | Domain Name Basics | iGoldrushAn important lesson in pre-ordering new top level domain names
| Domain Name Wire | Domain Name News & ViewsMatching Company, Domains & IP AddrsNet Names Registration Services in EnglandInternet Assigned Numbers AuthorityInternet Network Information Center (InterNIC)Asia Pacific Network Information Center (APNIC)Réseaux IP Européens (RIPE)NORID (Norsk Registreringstjeneste for Internett Domenenavn)
has pointers to TLD administrators around the world.
Domain Registries - Comments - Forums:
I, Cringely Which domain registrar is best? - I, Cringely
The final straw for me with GoDaddy, though, was that I let a domain lapse
but later changed my mind and wanted to renew it. It was still held by GoDaddy
and the WHOIS showed it still registered to me, yet GoDaddy wanted something
like $100 for me to get my domain back.
_____________________________________________
From: huitema @ bellcore.com (Christian Huitema) @ smtp2
Date: 05/07/97 05:46:58 PM
Subject: Re: IP address to domain mapping
The Internic service gives information on network registration. It is
a heavy weigt service, but you can certainly use it for the most
accessed entries. Example:
$ whois -h rs.internic.net 206.103.249.0
Infinite Systems (NETBLK-MCI-NETBLK-INFINET-2) MCI-NETBLK-INFINET-2
206.103.240.0 - 206.103.255.0
MCI Internet Services (NETBLK-MCI-NETBLK06) MCI-NETBLK06
206.96.0.0 - 206.103.255.255
To single out one record, look it up with "!xxx", where xxx is the
handle, shown in parenthesis following the name, which comes first.
The InterNIC Registration Services Host contains ONLY Internet Information
(Networks, ASN's, Domains, and POC's).
Please use the whois server at nic.ddn.mil for MILNET Information.
$ whois -h rs.internic.net "!NETBLK-MCI-NETBLK-INFINET-2"
Infinite Systems (NETBLK-MCI-NETBLK-INFINET-2)
274 Marconi Drive
Columbus, OH 43215
US
Netname: MCI-NETBLK-INFINET-2
Netblock: 206.103.240.0 - 206.103.255.0
Coordinator:
Nugen, James (JN11) hostmaster@INFINET.COM
6142412990
Record last updated on 20-Nov-96.
Database last updated on 5-May-97 06:01:19 EDT.
The InterNIC Registration Services Host contains ONLY Internet Information
(Networks, ASN's, Domains, and POC's).
Please use the whois server at nic.ddn.mil for MILNET Information.
Hope this helps.
--
Christian Huitema
_____________________________________________
From: huitema @ bellcore.com (Christian Huitema)
Date: 05/15/97 02:06:31 PM
Subject:Re: IP address to domain mapping
There were plans to have .int managed by the ITU, but it may still be
managed by ISI.
The European domains are managed by the RIPE NCC (try whois.ripe.net).
The Asian domain are managed by the AP NIC.
--
Christian Huitema
_____________________________________________
From: nlj @ bellcore.com ("Nicholas Lordi Jr") @ smtp2
Date: 05/15/97 08:55:47 AM
Subject:RE: international registries
For Asia/Far East the registry is APNIC
whois -h whois.apnic.net