Top-level domain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Tld)
"TLD" redirects here. For other uses, see TLD (disambiguation).
A top-level domain (TLD), sometimes referred to as a top-level domain name (TLDN), is the last part of an Internet domain name; that is, the letters that follow the final dot of any domain name. For example, in the domain name www.example.com, the top-level domain is com (or COM, as domain names are not case-sensitive). Management of most top-level domains is delegated to responsible parties or organizations by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which operates the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) and is in charge of maintaining the DNS root zone.
IANA currently distinguishes the following groups of top-level domains:[1]
infrastructure top-level domain: This group consists of one TLD, the Address and Routing Parameter Area (ARPA). It is managed by IANA on behalf of the IETF for various purposes specified in RFCs.
country-code top-level domains (ccTLD): Used by a country or a dependent territory. It is two letters long, for example .us for the United States. With some historical exceptions, the code for any territory is the same as its two-letter ISO 3166 code.
sponsored top-level domains (sTLD): These domains are proposed and sponsored by private agencies or organizations that establish and enforce rules restricting the eligibility to use the TLD. Often they are also grouped with the generic top-level domains.
generic top-level domains (gTLD): Generic domains are essentially open for registration to anyone in the world.
generic-restricted top-level domains: Similar to generic group, except eligibility is supposed to be restricted and ascertained more stringently.
In addition, a group of internationalized domain name (IDN) top-level domains has been installed for testing purposes.
The authoritative list of currently existing TLDs in the root zone can be found at the IANA website at http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/ and a Wikipedia list exists.
THIS WEBSITE/NAME IS FOR SALE
This
website and domain name is for sale, enter your
email address to initiate negotiations.
