Domain at the highest level of the DNS hierarchy

Top-level domain

Top-level domain

A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the <a href="/en/Domain_name" title="Domain name" class="wl">domains</a> at the highest level in the hierarchical <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> after the root domain.<a href="#cite_note-rfc1591_2011-10" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 10;">[10]</a> The top-level domain names are installed in the <a href="/en/DNS_root_zone" title="DNS root zone" class="wl">root zone</a> of the name space. For all domains in lower levels, it is the last part of the <a href="/en/Domain_name" title="Domain name" class="wl">domain name</a>, that is, the last non empty label of a <a href="/en/Fully_qualified_domain_name" title="Fully qualified domain name" class="wl">fully qualified domain name</a>. For example, in the domain name <a href="/en/Example.com" title="Example.com" class="wl">www.example.com</a>, the top-level domain is <a href="/en/.com" title=".com" class="wl">.com</a>. Responsibility for management of most top-level domains is delegated to specific organizations by the <a href="/en/ICANN" title="ICANN" class="wl">ICANN</a>, an Internet multi-stakeholder community, which operates the <a href="/en/Internet_Assigned_Numbers_Authority" title="Internet Assigned Numbers Authority" class="wl">Internet Assigned Numbers Authority</a> (IANA), and is in charge of maintaining the <a href="/en/DNS_root_zone" title="DNS root zone" class="wl">DNS root zone</a>.

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Domain at the highest level of the DNS hierarchy</div>
<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1033289096" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles mw:Transclusion">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}</style>


<div class='mobile-collapse'><header class="mobile-collapse-header mobile-collapse-btn">Table info: Example domain, Type, Sponsoring institution... ▼</header> <table class="wikitable mobile-collapse-element" style="width:30%; float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;">
<caption>Examples of the <a href="/en/List_of_Internet_top-level_domains" title="List of Internet top-level domains" class="wl">over 1,500 TLDs</a></caption>
<tbody><tr>
<th>Example domain</th>
<th>Type</th>
<th>Sponsoring institution</th></tr>
<tr>
<td><samp><a href="/en/.arpa" title=".arpa" class="wl">arpa</a></samp></td>
<td>Infrastructure</td>
<td><a href="/en/Internet_Architecture_Board" title="Internet Architecture Board" class="wl">Internet Architecture Board</a>; restricted[<a href="/en/Wikipedia:Please_clarify" title="Wikipedia:Please clarify" class="wl">clarification needed</a>]<a href="#cite_note-IANA.arpa-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;">[1]</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td><samp><a href="/en/.blue" title=".blue" class="mw-redirect wl">blue</a></samp></td>
<td>Generic</td>
<td><a href="/en/Afilias" title="Afilias" class="wl">Afilias Limited</a>; unrestricted[<a href="/en/Wikipedia:Please_clarify" title="Wikipedia:Please clarify" class="wl">clarification needed</a>]<a href="#cite_note-IANA.blue-2" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 2;">[2]</a><a href="#cite_note-whyblue-3" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 3;">[3]</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td><samp><a href="/en/.ovh" title=".ovh" class="wl">ovh</a></samp></td>
<td>Generic</td>
<td><a href="/en/OVH" title="OVH" class="mw-redirect wl">OVH SAS</a>; run by <a href="/en/AFNIC" title="AFNIC" class="mw-redirect wl">AFNIC</a>, unrestricted<a href="#cite_note-IANA.ovh-4" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 4;">[4]</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td><samp><a href="/en/.name" title=".name" class="wl">name</a></samp></td>
<td>Restricted generic</td>
<td><a href="/en/VeriSign" title="VeriSign" class="mw-redirect wl">VeriSign Information Services, Inc.</a>; unrestricted<a href="#cite_note-IANA.name-5" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 5;">[5]</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td><samp><a href="/en/.ac" title=".ac" class="wl">ac</a></samp></td>
<td>Country-code</td>
<td><a href="/en/Ascension_Island#Communications" title="Ascension Island" class="wl">Cable and Wireless (Ascension Island)</a>; unrestricted<a href="#cite_note-IANA.ac-6" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 6;">[6]</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td><samp><a href="/en/.zw" title=".zw" class="wl">zw</a></samp></td>
<td>Country-code</td>
<td><a href="/en/Internet_in_Zimbabwe" title="Internet in Zimbabwe" class="wl">Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe</a>; unrestricted<a href="#cite_note-IANA.zw-7" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 7;">[7]</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td><samp><a href="/en/.aero" title=".aero" class="wl">aero</a></samp></td>
<td>Sponsored</td>
<td><a href="/en/SITA_(IT_company)" title="SITA (IT company)" class="mw-redirect wl">Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques</a>; unrestricted<a href="#cite_note-IANA.aero-8" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 8;">[8]</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td><samp><a href="/en/.ไทย" title=".ไทย" class="mw-redirect wl">ไทย</a></samp></td>
<td>Internationalized country-code</td>
<td>THNIC<a href="#cite_note-IANA.xn--o3cw4h-9" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 9;">[9]</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table> <footer class='mobile-collapse-footer mobile-collapse-btn'>Close ▲</footer></div>

A top-level domain is one of the domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet after the root domain. The top-level domain names are installed in the root zone of the name space. For all domains in lower levels, it is the last part of the domain name, that is, the last non empty label of a fully qualified domain name. For example, in the domain name www.example.com, the top-level domain is .com. Responsibility for management of most top-level domains is delegated to specific organizations by the ICANN, an Internet multi-stakeholder community, which operates the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority , and is in charge of maintaining the DNS root zone. 