.gr

".el" redirects here. For other uses, see El and GR.

.gr is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Greece. Registrations are processed via accredited registrars and domain names in Greek characters may also be registered.

.gr

Introduced	19 February 1989
TLD type	Country code top-level domain
Status	Active
Registry	[FORTH-ICS]
Sponsor	FORTH
Intended use	Entities connected with Greece
Actual use	Very popular in Greece
Registration restrictions	second-level domains and .com.gr domain names may be registered without restrictions; some restrictions apply on some of the specific subdomains
Structure	Registrations are taken directly at the second level or at the third level beneath various second-level subdomains
Documents	Rules & regulations
DNSSEC	yes
Registry website	.gr Registry

.ελ

Introduced	2015[1]
TLD type	Internationalized country code top-level domain
Status	Active
Intended use	Entities connected with  Greece for content in the Greek alphabet
Actual use	Sometimes used in Greece
Registration restrictions	Should be used with subdomains in the Greek alphabet
DNS name	.xn--qxam

Second level domains

There are five official second level domains:

Domain	Intended users
.com.gr	For those engaging in commercial activities
.org.gr	Non-commercial organizations
.gov.gr	Government
.edu.gr	Educational institutions
.sch.gr
.net.gr	Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and network providers
.mil.gr	Exclusively for military purposes
.mod.gr	Ministry of Defence
.co.gr	Commercial use (generally not as widely used as .com.gr).[2]

Alternative top domain

Greece applied for the internationalised country code top-level domain (IDN ccTLD) .ελ (.ΕΛ in capital letters) for domain names composed of letters of the Greek alphabet.

This was turned down by ICANN in April 2011 because it was too visually similar to .EA in Latin letters should ICANN ever implement such a TLD (EA is an exceptionally reserved ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code element for Ceuta & Melilla).^[3]

In 2014, ICANN decided to allow Greece to have the domain .ελ.^[4]

The right to this top-level domain was handed over to Greece in October 2015,^[5] and it became operational on the Internet on 10 July 2018.^[6]

For the first three months, domains already held under .gr as they already were in Latin or Greek letters or transcribed into Greek characters could be obtained for .ελ only by the holder of that .gr domain.^[7] Those restrictions ceased to exist in October 2018.