Frequently Asked Questions
What are country codes?
At the end of every URL and email address is a top-level domain (TLD). Although .com is the world’s most popular TLD, it is far from alone. There are more than 260 TLDs in use around the world, most of which are country code top-level domains (ccTLDs), often simply referred to as country codes. For more information, here is a brief
primer.
How popular are country codes?
Country codes are very popular -- of the 138 million TLDs that have been registered, more than 51 million are ccTLDs. Companies often register country codes to help protect their brand names within these markets and host localized Web sites. Local search engines often give preference in their rankings to Web sites hosted on local domains.
Why are there more country codes than countries?
Country codes are assigned to both countries and territories, which is why there are more of them. Even Antarctica has its own country code: aq.
Who decides what country gets what code?
ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, is the global regulatory body that approves country code domains for use by their respective countries. These codes are based on an international standard: ISO 3166-1.
Because all codes must be only two digits, not all countries are able to have user-friendly codes. The engineering group that manages the Internet, IANA keeps a running list of all codes at www.iana.org/root-whois/.
Can you create a map that sizes ccTLDs by number of Internet users instead of population?
We have one in production right now -- to stay updated, visit our Global by Design blog and add yourself to the subscriber list.
Return to the map page.
At the end of every URL and email address is a top-level domain (TLD). Although .com is the world’s most popular TLD, it is far from alone. There are more than 260 TLDs in use around the world, most of which are country code top-level domains (ccTLDs), often simply referred to as country codes. For more information, here is a brief
primer.
How popular are country codes?
Country codes are very popular -- of the 138 million TLDs that have been registered, more than 51 million are ccTLDs. Companies often register country codes to help protect their brand names within these markets and host localized Web sites. Local search engines often give preference in their rankings to Web sites hosted on local domains.
Why are there more country codes than countries?
Country codes are assigned to both countries and territories, which is why there are more of them. Even Antarctica has its own country code: aq.
Who decides what country gets what code?
ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, is the global regulatory body that approves country code domains for use by their respective countries. These codes are based on an international standard: ISO 3166-1.
Because all codes must be only two digits, not all countries are able to have user-friendly codes. The engineering group that manages the Internet, IANA keeps a running list of all codes at www.iana.org/root-whois/.
Can you create a map that sizes ccTLDs by number of Internet users instead of population?
We have one in production right now -- to stay updated, visit our Global by Design blog and add yourself to the subscriber list.
Return to the map page.