Absolutely! The top-level domain (TLD) .AX is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Åland Islands. This domain is managed by Ålands Penningautomatförening (Ålands PAF), a publicly governed gaming company based in Mariehamn, Åland Islands.
Here is a little background. Åland Islands is a Swedish-speaking region of Finland. It possesses autonomous, demilitarized, and free-trade status within Finland. Given its autonomy, Åland Islands was granted its country-specific top-level domain, .AX, in 2006.
Prior to the creation of .AX, entities from Åland Islands typically used the Finnish .FI domain. The Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority (FICORA) regulated the .FI domain use. As a means of elevating the autonomy and identity of Åland Islands on the digital landscape, ICANN approved the creation of its unique domain, .AX. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is a non-profit corporation that is responsible for Internet Protocol (IP) address space allocation, protocol identifier assignment, generic (gTLD) and country code (ccTLD) Top-Level Domain name system management, and root server system management functions. These services were originally provided by the U.S. Government.
The first .AX domain was registered in March 2006 by the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority. Since then, countless entities based in the Åland Islands or those affiliated with this autonomous region have registered .AX domains, further strengthening the online representation of the Åland Islands. Notably, having a .AX domain enables an entity to strongly identify itself with the Åland Islands. This is similar to how a .EU domain indicates a strong association with the European Union or a .CA domain points toward a Canadian association.
The process of acquiring a .AX domain is straightforward and offered through various accredited registrars. For instance, many international top hosting companies, like Bluehost, 1and1, and others allow potential .AX domain owners to check the availability of their desired domain and register it directly.
As a means to maintain control over domain registration and prevent misuse, Ålands Penningautomatförening (Ålands PAF) monitors the .AX domain registration. For efficient management of these domains, Ålands PAF has engaged various recognized domain name registrars such as Loopia, Binero, Domaininfo to handle registrations.
Sources used for this answer include: The official website of The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), The Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority (FICORA) official website, and the website of .AX domain registry, Managed by Ålands Penningautomatförening (Ålands PAF).
