Top level domain without country association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Generic top-level domain</span>

Generic top-level domain

<p><b>Generic top-level domains</b> (<b>gTLDs</b>) are one of the categories of <a href="/en/Top-level_domain" title="Top-level domain" class="wl">top-level domains</a> (TLDs) maintained by the <a href="/en/Internet_Assigned_Numbers_Authority" title="Internet Assigned Numbers Authority" class="wl">Internet Assigned Numbers Authority</a> (IANA) for use in the <a href="/en/Domain_Name_System" title="Domain Name System" class="wl">Domain Name System</a> of the <a href="/en/Internet" title="Internet" class="wl">Internet</a>. A top-level domain is the last level of every <a href="/en/Fully_qualified_domain_name" title="Fully qualified domain name" class="wl">fully qualified domain name</a>. They are called generic for historical reasons; initially, they were contrasted with country-specific TLDs in <a href="https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc920" rel="mw:ExtLink nofollow" class="external mw-magiclink" target="_blank">RFC 920</a>.</p>

<figure class="mw-default-size wiki-thumb"><a href="/en/File:Domain_Examples.jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Domain_Examples.jpg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Domain_Examples.jpg/220px-Domain_Examples.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="270" data-file-height="332" data-file-type="bitmap" height="271" width="220" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Domain_Examples.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Domain_Examples.jpg 2x" alt="Domain_Examples.jpg"></a><figcaption>A graphical illustration of generic top-level domains.</figcaption></figure>
<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Top level domain without country association.</div>
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<div class='mobile-collapse'><header class="mobile-collapse-header mobile-collapse-btn"><b>Table info: Historical generic TLDs, Domain, Intended use...</b> <span class='arrow'>▼</span></header> <table class="wikitable mobile-collapse-element" style="width:30%; float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;">
<tbody><tr>
<th colspan="2">Historical generic TLDs</th></tr>
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<th>Domain</th>
<th>Intended use</th></tr>
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<td><code><a href="/en/.com" title=".com" class="wl">com</a></code></td>
<td>Mainly for commercial entities, but unrestricted</td></tr>
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<td><code><a href="/en/.org" title=".org" class="wl">org</a></code></td>
<td>Originally for organizations not clearly falling within the other gTLDs, now unrestricted</td></tr>
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<td><code><a href="/en/.net" title=".net" class="wl">net</a></code></td>
<td>Originally for network infrastructures, now unrestricted</td></tr>
<tr>
<td><code><a href="/en/.edu" title=".edu" class="wl">edu</a></code></td>
<td>Educational use, but now primarily for third-level colleges and universities</td></tr>
<tr>
<td><code><a href="/en/.gov" title=".gov" class="wl">gov</a></code></td>
<td>Governmental use, but now primarily for US governmental entities and agencies</td></tr>
<tr>
<td><code><a href="/en/.mil" title=".mil" class="wl">mil</a></code></td>
<td>Military use, but now primarily for US military only</td></tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"><a href="/en/List_of_Internet_top-level_domains#ICANN-era_generic_top-level_domains" title="List of Internet top-level domains" class="wl">Full list of gTLDs</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table> <footer class='mobile-collapse-footer mobile-collapse-btn'><b>Close</b> <span class='arrow'>▲</span></footer></div>

<p>The core group of generic top-level domains consists of the <code><a href="/en/.com" title=".com" class="wl">com</a></code>, <code><a href="/en/.net" title=".net" class="wl">net</a></code>, <code><a href="/en/.org" title=".org" class="wl">org</a></code>, <code><a href="/en/.biz" title=".biz" class="wl">biz</a></code>, and <code><a href="/en/.info" title=".info" class="wl">info</a></code> domains. In addition, the domains <code><a href="/en/.name" title=".name" class="wl">name</a></code>, and <code><a href="/en/.pro" title=".pro" class="wl">pro</a></code> are also considered <i>generic</i>; however, these are designated as <i>restricted</i>, because registrations within them require proof of eligibility within the guidelines set for each.</p>

<p>Historically, the group of generic top-level domains included domains, created in the early development of the domain name system, that are now sponsored by designated agencies or organizations and are restricted to specific types of registrants. Thus, domains <code><a href="/en/.edu" title=".edu" class="wl">edu</a></code>, <code><a href="/en/.gov" title=".gov" class="wl">gov</a></code>, <code><a href="/en/.int" title=".int" class="wl">int</a></code>, and <code><a href="/en/.mil" title=".mil" class="wl">mil</a></code> are now considered <a href="/en/Sponsored_top-level_domain" title="Sponsored top-level domain" class="wl">sponsored top-level domains</a>, much like the <i>themed</i> top-level domains (e.g., <code><a href="/en/.jobs" title=".jobs" class="wl">jobs</a></code>). The entire group of domains that do not have a geographic or country designation (see <a href="/en/Country-code_top-level_domain" title="Country-code top-level domain" class="mw-redirect wl">country-code top-level domain</a>) is still often referred to by the term <i>generic</i> TLDs.</p>

<p>The number of gTLD as of March 2018 exceeds 1,200 domains.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-newgtlds.icann.org_1-0"><a href="#cite_note-newgtlds.icann.org-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[1]</span></a></span><span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-2"><a href="#cite_note-2" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 2;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[2]</span></a></span></p>



Generic top-level domains are one of the categories of top-level domains maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority for use in the Domain Name System of the Internet. A top-level domain is the last level of every fully qualified domain name. They are called generic for historical reasons; initially, they were contrasted with country-specific TLDs in RFC 920. The core group of generic top-level domains consists of the com, net, org, biz, and info domains. In addition, the domains name, and pro are also considered generic; however, these are designated as restricted, because registrations within them require proof of eligibility within the guidelines set for each. 