What is ccTLD?
Also known as: Country-Code Top-Level Domain
A ccTLD is a two-letter top-level domain assigned to a country or territory based on the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code, such as .us for the United States or .jp for Japan.
A country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) is a top-level domain in the Domain Name System (DNS) that is reserved for a specific country, sovereign state, or dependent territory. Each ccTLD is identified by a two-letter code drawn from the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 standard. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) delegates management of each ccTLD to a designated registry operator, which sets policies for registration and use within that domain.
Registration rules vary widely by ccTLD. Some registries require registrants to have a local presence, such as a physical address or legal entity in the country. Others, like .tv (Tuvalu) or .io (British Indian Ocean Territory), have opened registration to anyone globally and are marketed as generic domains. The registry operator maintains the authoritative DNS zone for the ccTLD and operates the required infrastructure, including nameservers and WHOIS services. Disputes over domain names within a ccTLD are typically handled under the registry's own policies or local law, rather than the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) used for generic TLDs.
As of 2025, there are over 250 ccTLDs, covering nearly every country and territory recognized by the United Nations. The ccTLD system is a foundational component of the DNS hierarchy, providing a geographic namespace alongside generic TLDs like .com and .org. The assignment and delegation of ccTLDs are governed by RFC 1591 and overseen by IANA, which ensures that each code corresponds uniquely to a territory listed in ISO 3166-1.
Key facts
- ccTLDs use two-letter codes from ISO 3166-1 alpha-2, such as .de for Germany.
- IANA delegates each ccTLD to a single registry operator per country or territory.
- Registration policies vary: some require local presence, others are open globally.
- There are more than 250 active ccTLDs as of 2025.
- ccTLDs are defined and managed under RFC 1591 and IANA procedures.
How it works in practice
Related terms
References
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