Country code top-level domain

Country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country, a sovereign state, or a dependent territory. All ASCII ccTLD identifiers are two letters long, and all two-letter top-level domains are ccTLDs.

History

The concept of ccTLD was first introduced in the 1980s. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) established the country code top-level domain system in 1985. The first ccTLDs were .us, .uk, and .il.

Structure

ccTLDs are derived from ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes. They are typically managed by a designated organization within the country, often a department of the government or a national Internet service provider.

Usage

The usage and restrictions of ccTLDs vary significantly. Some countries have unrestricted use of their ccTLD, while others impose various levels of control. For example, .us is used primarily by American businesses and residents, while .tv, the ccTLD for Tuvalu, has been marketed worldwide as a domain for television and media websites.

Internationalized country code top-level domains

In addition to ASCII-based ccTLDs, Internationalized country code top-level domains (IDN ccTLDs) were introduced for non-Latin script languages. These domains allow for a more diverse range of scripts to be used in domain names, including Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic, and others.

See also

• List of Internet top-level domains
• Generic top-level domain
• Domain Name System