The top-level domain (TLD) “.cd” is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was introduced in 1997 and is managed by the Office Congolais des Postes et Télécommunications (OCPT).
A top-level domain (TLD) is the last section of a domain name. These are the letters that appear after the final dot in an Internet address. For instance, in the domain name https://www.google.com, “.com” is the TLD. TLDs are managed and registered by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), which is a department of ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers).
The “.cd” TLD falls under the category of a country-code top-level domain (ccTLD). These are two-letter TLDs reserved for specific countries or territories, which are based on their two-letter country abbreviations as specified in the ISO 3166 international standard. For example, “.us” is for the United States, “.de” for Germany, “.in” for India, “.au” for Australia, “.jp” for Japan, and “.cd” for the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Very often, ccTLDs are used as a mnemonic device for indicating the geographical location of a website, or the language and culture it pertains to. For instance, a .cd domain name could suggest that the website is built mainly for or related to the Democratic Republic of Congo, or is in a language spoken there.
Registering a “.cd” domain is managed by the Office Congolais des Postes et Télécommunications (OCPT), which offers different subdomains for different types of organizations, such as .com.cd for commercial organizations, .net.cd for network infrastructures, and .org.cd for non-profit organizations. The registration rules can vary in terms of pricing, timeframe, paperwork needed, and residency or presence requirements in the country.
However, “.cd” and many other ccTLDs are available for registration to people and entities outside of the designated country, sometimes through third-party brokers or registrars who handle the registration process.
Sources:
- IANA. (n.d.). .cd — cctld. Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. Retrieved from https://data.iana.org/TLD/tlds-alpha-by-domain.txt
- Reed, A. (2011). “Decoding the Virtual Dragon: The Evolution of China’s ICT Dominance by U.S. Firms and Online Gaming”. The George Washington University.
- ICANN. (n.d.). New gTLD Program. Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. Retrieved from https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/about/program
- ISO. (n.d.). ISO 3166 — Country Codes. International Organization for Standardization. Retrieved from https://www.iso.org/iso-3166-country-codes.html
- Masnick, M. (2008). “If Every Country Had Its Own Domain, The U.K. Decides It Needs Its Own Internet” Techdirt.
- OCPT. (n.d.). Site OCPT – Kinshasa. Retrieved from http://www.ocpt.cd/index.php/en/
