Domain Name Extensions

If you have surfed the Internet even once in life, you must have come across domain name extensions, like .com, or .us. Have you ever wondered why these domain extensions are used in the first place?

In the hierarchical Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet, domain name extensions such as .com and .us form the highest level, and hence, they are technically referred to as top-level domains (TLD). It is a term used to refer to various suffixes that are found at the end of a particular domain name. Even though all of us use top-level domains when we surf the Internet, not many of us are familiar with the concept. Basically, these domain extensions help the server separate domains on the basis of the function or country of origin and thus, choosing the right extension is one of the most crucial aspect of domain name registration.

Top-level Domains (TLD)

One of the largest top-level domains is the .com domain, which was one of the seven original top-level domains that were introduced in January 1985 when the Domain Name System was implemented. The other six domains were .edu, .gov, .mil, .net, .org, and .arpa. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) recognizes four different top-level domain groups: the country code top-level domains (abbreviated as ccTLD), internationalized country code top-level domains (IDN ccTLD), generic top-level domains (gTLD), and infrastructure top-level domain. The list given below consists of some of the most popular TLDs in the world.

Domain Name Extensions by Country

Generally, a country is designated the domain name system by its two-letter ISO country code, hence it is also referred to as country code top-level domains (ccTLD). You may come across a few exceptions to this rule, but generally ISO country code is the base criteria. Given below is a list of domain extensions for different countries of the world.

If you intend to register a domain name, you can choose an extension from this list in accordance to the content that you would be providing on your website and/or which country you reside in. Interestingly, you can also opt for .name domain, but only if you are willing to spend some extra dollars on the same.