This article very briefly explains what exactly a domain extension is and what extensions you can choose from when registering a domain name. It also points out what country the various local extensions belong to.
Structure of the article:
- Domain Extensions Explained
- Generic TLDs
- Country-code TLDs
- Changes in the TLD System
Domain Extensions Explained
As the name says, the domain extension can be found at the very end of the complete domain name. For example, if you look at the domain Internet.com, the .com part is the extension.
The domain extension is the top-level domain or TLD. It is managed by a domain registry, where domain name details are being stored and organized. The registry responsible for the .com TLD is VeriSign. (If you’d like to know a bit more about top-level domains and sub-domains, please take a look at this guide’s Introduction to the Domain Name System article or go to the Domain Name Glossary.)
There are also different types of top-level domains, namely generic TLDs and country-code TLDs. Generic TLDs (gTLDs) are, for example, .com, .net and .org. They don’t have any regional meaning and can be registered from any country in the world.
Country-code TLDs (ccTLDs), on the other hand, belong to one specific country. For instance, the popular .de TLD is the official domain extension of Germany, .us belongs to the United States and .uk to the United Kingdom. Some ccTLDs are fairly restricted, so that only residents of that particular country can register domains under that country’s TLD. Then again, there are also country-code TLDs that are not as much regulated and therefore more widely bought throughout the world.
Please find a list of the web’s most important generic and country-code top-level domains below:
Generic TLDs
.aero Aviation
.biz Business
.com Commerce
.edu Education
.gov Government
.info Information
.mil Military
.mobi Mobile Internet
.net Networks
.org Organizations
.travel Travel
.name Names of Private Individuals
.museum Museums
.pro Professionals
Country-code TLDs
(This list contains merely the most important top-level domains as measured by the number of active domain registrations. All in all, there are more than 100 ccTLDs on the Internet.)
.at Austria
.au Australia
.be Belgium
.ca Canada
.ch Suisse
.cm Cameroon
.cn China
.cz Czech Republic
.de Germany
.dk Denmark
.eg Egypt
.es Spain
.fr France
.gr Greece
.ie Ireland
.in India
.it Italy
.jp Japan
.li Liechtenstein
.nl Netherlands
.pl Poland
.pt Portugal
.ru Russia
.se Sweden
.tr Turkey
.tv Tuvalu (often used as generic TLD for “television”)
.uk United Kingdom (often used as .co.uk)
.us United States of America
.ws Samoa (often used as generic TLD for “website”)
It’s also important to note that there are geocentric top-level domains that are not restricted to one country only. For example, there are .eu (Europe) and .int (international).
Changes in the TLD System
In 2008, ICANN decided to open the TLD space so that in the future you would be able to create your own generic top-level domains. The specific rules and application procedures for such a custom TLD have not yet been agreed upon as of the time of this writing. There is a lot to be discussed, indeed. Many companies fear that ICANN’s decision to open up the TLD system will open the doors for cybersquatters who will establish domain extensions which they will then use in bad faith for the monetization of typo traffic. This would lead to additional legal expenses for trademark holders. ICANN will most likely agree on a bunch of restrictions in order to avoid too much headaches for TM owners, and to avoid other negatives. It’s already known that there is a strict entry barrier because you must pay around $200,000 just for starting your own TLD. It is therefore expected that it will mostly be major organizations and public corporations that will be making use of ICANN’s new naming system. For instance, Google could start its own registry with .GOOG, there could be .MSFT, .AAPL, or generic extensions like .BERLIN, .LONDON, .NYC, .XXX, .SEX and .MONEY.
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