.nl is the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...

country code top-level domain A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is an Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It ...

(ccTLD) for the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Neth ...

. It is one of the most popular ccTLDs with over six million registered .nl domains . When cwi.nl was registered by Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica on 1986-05-01, .nl became the first active ccTLD outside the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

Registry

Since 31 January 1996, .nl domains are registered by the (SIDN, in English: Foundation for Internet Domain Registration Netherlands), based in Arnhem. Most registrars are ISPs, IT service bureaus and media service bureaus, but several large enterprises with many brand names have also become a registrar, or participant as SIDN calls them, which is a quite uncommon phenomenon in the

domain name A domain name is a string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority or control within the Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protoc ...

industry. Registrars have to pay SIDN a fee for each domain since 1 April 1996, until then registration was free. SIDN does not deal directly with registrants. In the early days, most of the registrants were universities and research departments of large companies, such as .

Second-level domains

Official second-level domains do not exist. A number of companies have taken the opportunity to register domains like co.nl and com.nl, using them to sell third-level domains. These are not affiliated with SIDN. Individuals were allowed to register a second-level .nl domain since 2003. As a forerunner, individuals were allowed to register a third-level domain since 2000. Such 'personal domains' had the form of . They never became popular, and registration has been suspended since 2006. Because there were only around 500 of such domains registered, in contrast to about 5 million second-level domains, SIDN announced the discontinuance of personal domains as of 2008 on 4 July 2007.

Other country-code TLDs under the Kingdom of Netherlands

* .an – ccTLD for the former multi-nation Netherlands Antilles federation * .aw – ccTLD for Aruba * .bq – ccTLD for the Caribbean Netherlands (

Bonaire Bonaire (; , ; pap, Boneiru, , almost pronounced ) is a Netherlands, Dutch island in the Leeward Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. Its capital is the port of Kralendijk, on the west (Windward and leeward, leeward) coast of the island. Aruba, Bona ...

, Sint Eustatius, and Saba) * .cw – ccTLD for Curaçao * .sx – ccTLD for Sint Maarten

References

External links

.nl Domain Delegation Data

.nl Registry website

List of .nl registrars
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nl 1986 establishments in the Netherlands Internet properties established in 1986 Country code top-level domains Internet in the Netherlands Mass media in the Netherlands Council of European National Top Level Domain Registries members sv:Toppdomän#N

Registry

Second-level domains

Other country-code TLDs under the Kingdom of Netherlands

See also

References

External links