In addition to the global or "worldwide" Top Level Domains (TLDs) there are country or "regional" TLDs.
Network Information Centers (NICs) sell domain names. In general, there is a NIC for each country. Each country's NIC is assigned a set of IP Numbers by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). The NIC takes those IP numbers and associates them with domain names whenever individuals or companies ask to register new domain names. The NIC then maintains a directory of IP number/domain name pairs.
Many NICs also provide a whois service which displays the owner of a given domain name that has been sold. Although there are many country codes, not all countries have authorized a NIC to begin selling domain names.
In some cases, it is awkward to deal with the NIC directly, so people purchase the domain name through a Registrar or an ISP company which, in turn, deals with the NIC and then takes on the role of hosting the new domain name.
Some
NICs require that a host machine already be available before they will sell
the domain name. Below, in alphbetical order are the
global and regional TLD extensions
with links to the respective NIC and the Whois web site where available.
| .AC - Ascension Island (NIC - whois) |
| .AD - Andorra (NIC - whois) |
| .AE - United Arab Emirates (NIC) |
| .AF - Afghanistan |
| .AG - Antigua and Barbuda |
| .AI - Anguilla |
| .AL - Albania |
| .AM - Armenia (NIC ) |
| .AN - Netherlands Antilles |
| .AO - Angola |
| .AQ - Antarctica |
| .AR - Argentina (NIC, NIC (English) - whois) |
| .AS - American Samoa (NIC - whois) |
| .AT - Austria (NIC - whois) |
| .AU - Australia (NIC - whois) |
| .AW - Aruba |
| .AZ - Azerbaijan |
| .BA - Bosnia and Herzegowina |
| .BB - Barbados |
| .BD - Bangladesh |
| .BE - Belgium (NIC - whois) |
| .BF - Burkina Faso (NIC) |
| .BG - Bulgaria (NIC - whois) |
| .BH - Bahrain |
| .BI - Burundi (NIC) |
| .BJ - Benin |
| .BM - Bermuda (NIC - whois) |
| .BN - Brunei |
| .BO - Bolivia |
| .BR - Brazil (NIC - whois) |
| .BS - The Bahamas |
| .BT - Bhutan |
| .BV - Bouvet Island (NIC) |
| .BW - Botswana |
| .BY - Belarus |
| .BZ - Belize |
| .CA - Canada (NIC - whois) |
| .CC - Cocos (Keeling) Islands (NIC - whois) |
| .CF - Central African Republic |
| .CG - Congo (NIC) |
| .CH - Switzerland (NIC - whois) |
| .CI - Cote d'Ivoire |
| .CK - Cook Islands |
| .CL - Chile (NIC - whois) |
| .CM - Cameroon (NIC) |
| .CN - China (NIC - whois) |
| .CO - Colombia (NIC) |
| .COM - Worldwide Commercial (NIC - whois) |
| .CR - Costa Rica (NIC - whois) |
| .CU - Cuba (NIC) |
| .CV - Cape Verde |
| .CX - Christmas Island (NIC - whois) |
| .CY - Cyprus |
| .CZ - Czech Republic (NIC) |
| .DE - Germany (NIC - whois) |
| .DJ - Djibouti |
| .DK - Denmark (NIC - whois) |
| .DM - Dominica |
| .DO - Dominican Republic (NIC - whois) |
| .DZ - Algeria |
| .EC - Ecuador |
| .EDU - Worldwide Education (NIC - whois) |
| .EE - Estonia (NIC) |
| .EG - Egypt (NIC) |
| .EH - Western Sahara |
| .ER - Eritrea |
| .ES - Spain (NIC - whois) |
| .ET - Ethiopia |
| .FI - Finland (NIC - whois) |
| .FJ - Fiji (NIC) |
| .FK - Falklands Islands (NIC) |
| .FM - Micronesia (NIC - whois) |
| .FO - Faroe Islands (NIC) |
| .FR - France (NIC - whois) |
| .FX - French, Metropolitan |
| .GA - Gabon |
| .GD - Grenada |
| .GE - Georgia (NIC - whois) |
| .GF - French Guiana (NIC) |
| .GG - Channel Islands: Guernsey, Alderney & Sark (NIC) |
| .GH - Ghana (NIC) |
| .GI - Gibraltar (NIC - whois) |
| .GL - Greenland (NIC) |
| .GM - Gambia |
| .GN - Guinea |
| .GOV - United States Government: non-military (NIC - whois) |
| .GP - Guadeloupe |
| .GQ - Equatorial Guinea (NIC) |
| .GR - Greece (NIC - whois) |
| .GS - South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (NIC) |
| .GT - Guatemala (NIC) |
| .GU - Guam (NIC - whois) |
| .GW - Guinea-Bissau |
| .GY - Guyana |
| .HK - Hong Kong (NIC) |
| .HM - Heard and Mc Donald Islands (NIC - whois) |
| .HN - Honduras |
| .HT - Haiti |
| .HU - Hungary (NIC - whois) |
| .ID - Indonesia (NIC) |
| .IE - Ireland (NIC - whois) |
| .IL - Israel (NIC) |
| .IM - Isle of Man (NIC - whois) |
| .IN - India (NIC) |
| .IO - British Indian Ocean Territory (NIC - whois) |
| .IQ - Iraq |
| .IR - Iran (NIC) |
| .IS - Iceland (NIC, NIC (English) - whois) |
| .IT - Italy (NIC) |
| .JE - Channel Islands: Jersey (NIC) |
| .JM - Jamaica |
| .JO - Jordan (NIC) |
| .JP - Japan (NIC - whois) |
| .KE - Kenya |
| .KG - Kyrgyzstan |
| .KH - Cambodia |
| .KI - Kiribati |
| .KM - Comoros |
| .KN - Saint Kitts and Nevis |
| .KP - Korea, Democratic People's Republic of |
| .KR - Korea, Republic of (NIC, NIC (English) - whois) |
| .KW - Kuwait |
| .KY - The Cayman Islands |
| .KZ - Kazakhstan (NIC - whois) |
| .LA - Laos |
| .LB - Lebanon |
| .LC - Saint Lucia |
| .LI - Liechtenstein (NIC - whois) |
| .LK - Sri Lanka (NIC - whois) |
| .LR - Liberia |
| .LS - Lesotho |
| .LT - Lithuania (NIC - whois) |
| .LU - Luxembourg (NIC - whois) |
| .LV - Latvia (NIC) |
| .LY - Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (NIC - whois) |
| .MA - Morocco |
| .MC - Monaco (NIC - whois) |
| .MD - Moldova (NIC - whois) |
| .MG - Madagascar |
| .MH - Marshall Islands (NIC) |
| .MIL - United States Department of Defense (NIC - whois) |
| .MK - Macedonia |
| .ML - Mali |
| .MM - Myanmar (NIC - whois) |
| .MN - Mongolia |
| .MO - Macao (NIC) |
| .MP - Northern Mariana Islands |
| .MQ - Martinique |
| .MR - Mauritania |
| .MS- Montserrat (NIC - whois) |
| .MT - Malta (NIC - whois) |
| .MU - Mauritius |
| .MV - Maldives |
| .MW - Malawi (NIC) |
| .MX - Mexico (NIC, NIC (English) - whois) |
| .MY - Malaysia (NIC) |
| .MZ - Mozambique |
| .NA - Namibia |
| .NC - New Caledonia |
| .NE - Niger |
| .NET - Worldwide Network (NIC - whois) |
| .NF - Norfolk Island (NIC) |
| .NG - Nigeria |
| .NI - Nicaragua |
| .NL - Netherlands (NIC - whois) |
| .NO - Norway (NIC, NIC (English)) |
| .NP - Nepal |
| .NR - Nauru |
| .NU - Niue (NIC - whois) |
| .NZ - New Zealand (NIC - whois) |
| .OM - Oman |
| .ORG - Worldwide Organization (NIC - whois) |
| .PA - Panama (NIC - whois) |
| .PE - Peru (NIC - whois) |
| .PF - French Polynesia |
| .PG - Papua New Guinea |
| .PH - Philippines (NIC) |
| .PK - Pakistan (NIC - whois) |
| .PL - Poland |
| .PM - St. Pierre and Miquelon |
| .PN - Pitcairn |
| .PR - Puerto Rico (NIC) |
| .PT - Portugal (NIC - whois) |
| .PW - Palau |
| .PY - Paraguay (NIC) |
| .QA - Qatar |
| .RE - Reunion |
| .RO - Romania (NIC) |
| .RU - Russia (NIC - whois) |
| .RW - Rwanda (NIC) |
| .SA - Saudi Arabia |
| .SB - Solomon Islands |
| .SC - Seychelles |
| .SD - Sudan |
| .SE - Sweden (NIC - whois) |
| .SG - Singapore (NIC - whois) |
| .SH - St. Helena (NIC - whois) |
| .SI - Slovenia (NIC) |
| .SJ - Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands |
| .SK - Slovakia (NIC - whois) |
| .SL - Sierra Leone |
| .SM - San Marino (NIC) |
| .SN - Senegal (NIC) |
| .SO - Somalia |
| .SR - Suriname |
| .ST - Sao Tome and Principe (NIC - whois) |
| .SV - El Salvador |
| .SY - Syria |
| .SZ - Swaziland |
| .TC - Turks and Caicos Islands (NIC - whois) |
| .TD - Chad |
| .TF - French Southern Territories (NIC) |
| .TG - Togo |
| .TH - Thailand (NIC - whois) |
| .TJ - Tajikistan (NIC - whois) |
| .TK - Tokelau |
| .TM - Turkmenistan (NIC - whois) |
| .TN - Tunisia (NIC) |
| .TO - Tonga (NIC - whois) |
| .TP - East Timor (NIC) |
| .TR - Turkey (NIC - whois) |
| .TT - Trinidad and Tobago |
| .TV - Tuvalu (NIC) |
| .TW - Taiwan (NIC - whois) |
| .TZ - Tanzania |
| .UA - Ukraine (NIC) |
| .UG - Uganda (NIC) |
| .UK - United Kingdom (NIC - whois) |
| .UM - United States Minor Outlying Islands |
| .US - United States (NIC - whois) |
| .UY - Uruguay (NIC) |
| .UZ - Uzbekistan |
| .VA - Vatican City State |
| .VC - Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
| .VE - Venezuela (NIC - whois) |
| .VG - Virgin Islands (British) (NIC - whois) |
| .VI - Virgin Islands (US) |
| .VN - Vietnam |
| .VU - Vanuatu |
| .WF - Wallis and Futuna Islands |
| .WS - Samoa |
| .YE - Yemen |
| .YT - Mayotte |
| .YU - Yugoslavia (NIC - whois) |
| .ZA - South Africa (NIC - whois) |
| .ZM - Zambia |
| .ZR - Zaire (NIC) |
| .ZW - Zimbabwe |