.aq
Introduced | 1992 |
---|---|
TLD type | Country code top-level domain |
Status | Active |
Registry | Swizzle Limited |
Sponsor | Mott and Associates |
Intended use | Entities connected with Antarctica |
Actual use | Several scientific stations and projects in Antarctica have sites in this domain |
Registration restrictions | Must have physical presence in Antarctica or be a governmental organization signatory to the Antarctic Treaty |
Structure | Registrations are taken at second level |
Documents | Registration form |
Dispute policies | None |
Website | None |
.aq is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Antarctica. It is reserved for organizations that conduct work in Antarctica or promote the Antarctic and Southern Ocean regions. It is administered by Peter Mott of Mott and Associates of Auckland, New Zealand.
Internet communications with Antarctica itself can currently only be accomplished through satellite links.
The Australian government uses the .aq domain for its official site for the uninhabited Heard Island and McDonald Islands, "heardisland.aq". .hm, the TLD assigned to Heard and McDonald Islands, has instead been transferred to a private registry and opened for general registration.
External links
- IANA .aq whois information
- Google query for .aq websites. (As of March 8, 2014, about 264,000 web pages.)
- Top-Level-Domain .AQ (German) (Information site about .aq)