Introduction to Internet Domains - Countries & Codes
Don't you ever wonder where a certain computer host is located, when you are surfing through the web? I mean: If you see a certain URL, don't you ever wonder in which country the computer you are using at that moment - the host - is located? On this page you can find a list of countries with their 2 and 3 character country codes. The Internet Domain Names are are based on the 2 character country codes. There are a few exceptions though, which I will mention later on....
Here is an example: If you see this address:
or something like this: pajtroon@dds.nl
you are able to know that both adresses are located in the Netherlands, since .nl stands for The Netherlands.
This is the syntax for an email adress:
user@hostname.domain
This is the syntax for a HTTP URL:
http://servername.hostname.domain/~username
For most internet adresses this is the syntax:
servername.hostname.domain
Most domain names are equal to the country codes. There are a few exceptions, which I will mention here:
- There are 4 domain names for United States:
.com | Commercial (For companies) |
.edu | Educationally (Used by schools, universities etc.) |
.gov | Government |
.mil | U.S. Military |
- There are domain names not associated with any country:
.int | International Organisation |
.net | Networking Organisaton |
.org | Non-Profit Organisation |
- Not every .com host is located inside the USA.
- The 2 character country code for the United States is US.
Some computer hosts are from the domain .us
- Nowadays some countries sell their domains to companies so that sites can have nice names.
Exaples of these countries are:
.as | American Samoa |
.at | Austria |
.be | Belgium |
.fm | Micronesia |
.in | India |
.it | Italy |
.nu | Niue |
.sr | Suriname |
.to | Tonga |
.tv | Tuvalu |
A result of this is that URL's (Uniform Resource Locations) can be created, like:
http://born.as/
http://surf.at/
http://come.to/
http://scroll.to/
http://surf.to/
http://suriname.nu, since nu is the dutch word for now.
- Some discussions about new Top Level domains have started in the year 2000:
.eu | European Community |
.shop | Shop: Another extension for dot com?? |
.web | Web |
.fam | Family |
.kids | For Kids |
.xxx | No need to say more... |
Nowadays any top level domain can be created. Someone needs to be prepared to follow the proper procedure and willing to pay the costs. In the end the Generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) has to be registered and accepted by the ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. Around the year 2000 there many discussions about gTLD's. For .eu the problem was, that the European Community is just a club of countries and not one country recognized by the United Nations. But as mentioned before the discussions are over and almost any Generic Top Level Domain can be registered.
- In 2001 these top level domains were in preparation by the ICANN:
.aero | Air-transport industry |
.biz | Businesses, kinda like .com but with more strict rules |
.coop | Cooperatives |
.info | Information, Unrestricted use |
.museum | For Museums |
.name | Name: for registration by individuals, e.g. johnson.name. |
.pro | For accountants, lawyers, and physicians |
For more information I refer to the top-level domain page by ICANN.
On this page you can find which code belongs to which country. If you want to know which country is associated with which code you go to this page.
Click here for the index of these pages.
Countries with their Country Codes:
Afghanistan | AF | AFG |
Albania | AL | ALB |
Algeria | DZ | DZA |
American Samoa | AS | ASM |
Andorra | AD | AND |
Angola | AO | AGO |
Anguilla | AI | AIA |
Antarctica | AQ | ATA |
Antigua And Barbuda | AG | ATG |
Argentina | AR | ARG |
Armenia | AM | - |
Aruba | AW | ABW |
Australia | AU | AUS |
Austria | AT | AUT |
Azerbaijan | AZ | - |
Bahamas | BS | BHS |
Bahrain | BH | BHR |
Bangladesh | BD | BGD |
Barbados | BB | BRB |
Belgium | BE | BEL |
Belize | BZ | BLZ |
Benin | BJ | BEN |
Bermuda | BM | BMU |
Bhutan | BT | BTN |
Bolivia | BO | BOL |
Bosnia-Hertsegovina | BA | - |
Botswana | BW | BWA |
Bouvet Island | BV | BVT |
Brazil | BR | BRA |
British Indian Ocean Territory | IO | IOT |
Brunei Darussalam | BN | BRN |
Bulgaria | BG | BGR |
Burkina Faso | BF | BFA |
Burundi | BI | BDI |
Byelorussian SSR | BY | BYS |
Cambodia | KH | KHM |
Cameroon | CM | CMR |
Canada | CA | CAN |
Cape Verde | CV | CPV |
Cayman Islands | KY | CYM |
Central African Republic | CF | CAF |
Chad | TD | TCD |
Chile | CL | CHL |
China | CN | CHN |
Christmas Island | CX | CXR |
Cocos (Keeling) Islands | CC | CCK |
Colombia | CO | COL |
Comoros | KM | COM |
Congo | CG | COG |
Cook Islands | CK | COK |
Costa Rica | CR | CRI |
Cote D'Ivoire | CI | CIV |
CROATIA | HR | - |
Cuba | CU | CUB |
Curaçao | CW | - |
Cyprus | CY | CYP |
Czech Republic | CZ | - |
Denmark | DK | DNK |
Djibouti | DJ | DJI |
Dominica | DM | DMA |
Dominican Republic | DO | DOM |
East Timor | TP | TMP |
Ecuador | EC | ECU |
Egypt | EG | EGY |
El Salvador | SV | SLV |
Equatorial Guinea | GQ | GNQ |
Eritrea | ER | - |
Estonia | EE | - |
Ethiopia | ET | ETH |
Falkland Islands (Malvinas) | FK | FLK |
Faroe Islands | FO | FRO |
Fiji | FJ | FJI |
Finland | FI | FIN |
France | FR | FRA |
French Guiana | GF | GUF |
French Polynesia | PF | PYF |
French Southern Territories | TF | ATF |
Gabon | GA | GAB |
Gambia | GM | GMB |
Georgia | GE | - |
Germany | DE | DEU |
Ghana | GH | GHA |
Gibraltar | GI | GIB |
Greece | GR | GRC |
Greenland | GL | GRL |
Grenada | GD | GRD |
Guadeloupe | GP | GLP |
Guam | GU | GUM |
Guatemala | GT | GTM |
Guinea | GN | GIN |
Guinea-Bissau | GW | GNB |
Guyana | GY | GUY |
Haiti | HT | HTI |
Heard and Mc Donald Islands | HM | HMD |
Honduras | HN | HND |
Hong Kong | HK | HKG |
Hungary | HU | HUN |
Iceland | IS | ISL |
India | IN | IND |
Indonesia | ID | IDN |
Iran (Islamic Republic of) | IR | IRN |
Iraq | IQ | IRQ |
Ireland | IE | IRL |
Israel | IL | ISR |
Italy | IT | ITA |
Jamaica | JM | JAM |
Japan | JP | JPN |
Jordan | JO | JOR |
Kazachstan | KZ | - |
Kenya | KE | KEN |
Kiribati | KI | KIR |
Korea, Democratic People's Republic of | KP | PRK |
Korea, Republic of | KR | KOR |
Kuwait | KW | KWT |
Kyrgyz Republic | KG | - |
Lao People's Democratic Republic | LA | LAO |
Latvia | LV | - |
Lebanon | LB | LBN |
Lesotho | LS | LSO |
Liberia | LR | LBR |
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya | LY | LBY |
Liechtenstein | LI | LIE |
Luxembourg | LU | LUX |
Lithuania | LT | - |
Macau | MO | MAC |
Madagascar | MG | MDG |
Malawi | MW | MWI |
Malaysia | MY | MYS |
Maldives | MV | MDV |
Mali | ML | MLI |
Malta | MT | MLT |
Marshall Islands | MH | MHL |
Martinique | MQ | MTQ |
Mauritania | MR | MRT |
Mauritius | MU | MUS |
Mayotte | YT | - |
Mexico | MX | MEX |
Micronesia | FM | FSM |
Moldova | MD | - |
Monaco | MC | MCO |
Mongolia | MN | MNG |
Montserrat | MS | MSR |
Morocco | MA | MAR |
Mozambique | MZ | MOZ |
Myanmar | MM | MMR |
Namibia | NA | NAM |
Nauru | NR | NRU |
Nepal | NP | NPL |
Netherlands | NL | NLD |
Neutral Zone | NT | NTZ |
New Caledonia | NC | NCL |
New Zealand | NZ | NZL |
Nicaragua | NI | NIC |
Niger | NE | NER |
Nigeria | NG | NGA |
Niue | NU | NIU |
Norfolk Island | NF | NFK |
Northern Mariana Islands | MP | MNP |
Norway | NO | NOR |
Oman | OM | OMN |
Pakistan | PK | PAK |
Palau | PW | PLW |
Panama | PA | PAN |
Papua New Guinea | PG | PNG |
Paraguay | PY | PRY |
Peru | PE | PER |
Philippines | PH | PHL |
Pitcairn | PN | PCN |
Poland | PL | POL |
Portugal | PT | PRT |
Puerto Rico | PR | PRI |
Qatar | QA | QAT |
Reunion | RE | REU |
Romania | RO | ROM |
Russian Federation | RU | - |
Rwanda | RW | RWA |
St. Helena | SH | SHN |
Saint Kitts and Nevis | KN | KNA |
Saint Lucia | LC | LCA |
Saint Martin, Collectivity of | MF | - |
Saint Pierre and Miquelon | PM | SPM |
Saint Vincent and The Grenadines | VC | VCT |
Samoa | WS | WSM |
San Marino | SM | SMR |
Sao Tome and Principe | ST | STP |
Saudi Arabia | SA | SAU |
Senegal | SN | SEN |
Seychelles | SC | SYC |
Sierra Leone | SL | SLE |
Singapore | SG | SGP |
Sint Maarten | SX | - |
Slovakia | SK | - |
Solomon Islands | SB | SLB |
Somalia | SO | SOM |
South Africa | ZA | ZAF |
Spain | ES | ESP |
Sri Lanka | LK | LKA |
Sudan | SD | SDN |
Suriname | SR | SUR, SME |
Svalbard And Jan Mayen Islands | SJ | SJM |
Swaziland | SZ | SWZ |
Sweden | SE | SWE |
Switzerland | CH | CHE |
Syrian Arab Republic | SY | SYR |
Tadjikistan | TJ | - |
Taiwan | TW | TWN |
Tanzania, United Republic of | TZ | TZA |
Thailand | TH | THA |
Togo | TG | TGO |
Tokelau | TK | TKL |
Tonga | TO | TON |
Trinidad and Tobago | TT | TTO |
Tunisia | TN | TUN |
Turkey | TR | TUR |
Turkmenistan | TM | - |
Turks and Caicos Islands | TC | TCA |
Tuvalu | TV | TUV |
Uganda | UG | UGA |
Ukrainian SSR | UA | UKR |
United Arab Emirates | AE | ARE |
United Kingdom | GB | GBR |
United States of America | US | USA |
United States Minor Outlying Islands | UM | UMI |
Uruguay | UY | URY |
Uzbekistan | UZ | - |
Vanuatu | VU | VUT |
Vatican City State (Holy See) | VA | VAT |
Venezuela | VE | VEN |
Vietnam | VN | VNM |
Virgin Islands (British) | VG | VGB |
Virgin Islands (US) | VI | VIR |
Wallis and Futuna Islands | WF | WLF |
Western Sahara | EH | ESH |
Yemen, Republic of | YE | YEM |
Zaire | ZR | ZAR |
Zambia | ZM | ZMB |
Zimbabwe | ZW | ZWE |
Former countries
Czecho-Slovakia | CS | CSK |
Netherlands Antilles | AN | ANT |
USSR (Former Soviet Union) | SU | SUN |
Yugoslavia | YU | YUG |
Alternative names
If you feel that the information on this page not is complete or correct, please feel free to send your comments to pajtroon@dds.nl.
This page: Copyright © 1997 - 2019 Peter A. J. Troon
Note: I am NOT responsible for any harm done by reading the information on one of my pages.