Country Code TLDs (ccTLDs)

Every country or territory in the world that has its own ISO31664 designation as the two-character version of that designation available as its ccTLD. Not all two-character country codes are actually delegated to an operating registry.

The ccTLDs have their nameserver delegations maintained via ICANN (see the Oversight Bodies section) but each one sets its own policies governing the registration of domains within their respective ccTLDs.

Some, such as Canada's .CA, China's .CN, and the USA's .US, have local presence requirements. This means that only citizens and entities native to those countries are permitted to register domains within the TLD.

Others, as we've seen, are wide open and may actively position their ccTLD as something other than their geographical context.