Internet Country Codes Top Level Domains
A long time ago (1996) in a galaxy far far away, it wasn't difficult to be out on the web and know exactly what part of the world you were visiting. If you were on a .com site, you were in the States. And there weren't too many country code extensions to worry about.
Now, a .com site could be anywhere in the world.
The varied country codes, known as TLD's (Top Level Domains), also give web masters and designers a greater choice of name combinations to use for their sites, but it depends on which extension you want. Some country code administrators only allow local sites to utilize them. An example of a country code that has been released for general registration is .tv. It's the country code originally designed to be the official addressing for the tiny island nation of Tuvalu - population of around eleven thousand. The country code is probably one of its biggest exports!
The crumbling of international barriers is wonderful, we are now truly a global community, but our community is getting pretty confusing. Who is who and where the hell are they?
There's not much room for nationalistic pride any more..... perhaps that isn't such a bad thing? Seems that nationalism has caused our species more angst than any other subject. But, I digress.
When you do come across those "weird" extensions, have you ever wondered what they actually signify? The following is a list of all current country extensions.
US Based TLD's: .com - Commercial .edu - Educational .gov - US Government .int - International Organisations .mil - US Dept of Defense .net - Networks .org - Organisations .pro - Professionals .biz - Businesses .info - Informational .aero - Travel .museum - Museum .coop - Co-operative .name - Personal names
A .lr Liberia .ac Ascension Island .ls Lesotho .ad Andorra .lt Lithuania .ae United Arab Emirates .lu Luxembourg .af Afghanistan .lv Latvia .ag Antigua and Barbuda .ly Libyan Arab Jamahiriya .ai Anguilla .al Albania M .am Armenia .ma Morocco .an Netherlands Antilles .mc Monaco .ao Angola .md Moldova .aq Antarctica .mg Madagascar .ar Argentina .mh Marshall Islands .as American Samoa .mk Macedonia .at Austria .ml Mali .au Australia .mm Myanmar .aw Aruba .mn Mongolia .az Azerbaijan .mo Macau .mp Northern Mariana Is. B .mq Martinique .ba Bosnia and Herzegowina .mr Mauritania .bb Barbados .ms Montserrat .bd Bangladesh .mt Malta .be Belgium .mu Mauritius .bf Burkina Faso .mv Maldives .bg Bulgaria .mw Malawi .bh Bahrain .mx Mexico .bi Burundi .my Malaysia .bj Benin .mz Mozambique .bm Bermuda .bn Brunei Darussalam N .bo Bolivia .na Namibia .br Brazil .nc New Caledonia .bs Bahamas .ne Niger .bt Bhutan .nf Norfolk Island .bv Bouvet Island .ng Nigeria .bw Botswana .ni Nicaragua .by Belarus .nl The Netherlands .bz Belize .no Norway .np Nepal C .nr Nauru .ca Canada .nt Neutral Zone .cc Cocos (Keeling) Islands .nu Niue .cd Zaire .nz New Zealand .cf Central African Republic .cg Congo O .ch Switzerland .om Oman .ci Côte d'Ivoire .ck Cook Islands P .cl Chile .pa Panama .cm Cameroon .pe Peru .cn China .pf French Polynesia .co Colombia .pg Papua New Guinea .co.uk United Kingdom .ph Philippines .cr Costa Rica .pk Pakistan .cs Czechoslovakia (former) .pl Poland .cu Cuba .pm St. Pierre and Miquelon .cv Cape Verde .pn Pitcairn .cx Christmas Island .pr Puerto Rico .cy Cyprus .ps Palestine .cz Czech Republic .pt Portugal .pw Palau D .py Paraguay .de Germany .dj Djibouti Q .dk Denmark .qa Qatar .dm Dominica .do Dominican Republic R .dz Algeria .re Reunion .ro Romania E .rs Serbia .ec Ecuador .ru Russia .ee Estonia .rw Rwanda .eg Egypt .eh Western Sahara S .er Eritrea .sa Saudi Arabia .es Spain .sb Solomon Islands .et Ethiopia .sc Seychelles .sd Sudan F .se Sweden .fi Finland .sg Singapore .fj Fiji .sh St. Helena .fk Falkland Islands .si Slovenia .fm Micronesia .sj Svalbard and Jan Mayen Is. .fo Faroe Islands .sk Slovakia .fr France .sl Sierra Leone .fx France, Metropolitan .sm San Marino .sn Senegal G .so Somalia .ga Gabon .sr Surinam .gb United KingdomK .st Sao Tome and Principe .gd Grenada .su USSR (former) .ge Georgia .sv El Salvador .gf French Guiana .sy Syrian Arab Republic .gg Guernsey .sz Swaziland .gh Ghana .gi Gibraltar T .gl Greenland .tc The Turks & Caicos Islands .gm Gambia .td Chad .gn Guinea .tf French Southern Territories .gp Guadelope .tg Togo .gq Equatorial Guinea .th Thailand .gr Greece .tj Tajikistan .gs Sth Georgia Sandwich Is. .tk Tokelau .gt Guatemala .tm Turkmenistan .gu Guam .tn Tunisia .gw Guinea-Bissau .to Tonga .gy Guyana .tp East Timor .tr Turkey H .tt Trinidad and Tobago .hk Hong Kong .tv Tuvalu .hm Heard & McDonald Islands .tw Taiwan .hn Honduras .tz Tanzania .hr Croatia .ht Haiti U .hu Hungary .ua Ukraine .ug Uganda I .uk United Kingdom .id Indonesia .um United States M.O Is. .ie Ireland .us United States .il Israel .uy Uruguay .im Isle of Man .uz Uzbekistan .in India .io British Indian Ocean Terr. V .iq Iraq .va Holy See (Vatican) .ir Iran .vc St Vincent & Grenadines .is Iceland .ve Venezuela .it Italy .vg Virgin Islands British .vi Virgin Islands U.S J .vn Vietnam .je Jersey .vu Vanuatu .jm Jamaica .jo Jordan W .jp Japan .wf Wallis and Futuna Islands .ws Samoa K .ke Kenya Y .kg Kyrgystan .ye Yemen .kh Cambodia .yt Mayotte .ki Kiribati .yu Serbia Montenegro .kmComoros .kn Saint Kitts and Nevis Z .kp Korea, DPR .za South Africa .kr Korea, Republic of .zm Zambia .kw Kuwait .zr Zaire .ky Cayman Islands .zw Zimbabwe .kz Kazakhstan
L .la Lao PDR .lb Lebanon .lc Saint Lucia .li Liechtenstein .lk Sri Lanka