The top-level domain (TLD) for the “.gn” is the country code assigned to Guinea. This aligns with ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2 country codes created by the International Organization for Standardization that includes country codes for over 200+ countries (ISO, 2021). These codes are used to represent countries and dependent areas, and are primarily used as the top level of the Domain Name System of the Internet. Each country has a two-letter country code TLD. For example, “.us” for the United States, “.uk” for the United Kingdom, and “.fr” for France (RFC Editor, 2005).
In the case of .gn, it was created in 1994 as the country code for Guinea, a country located in West Africa. The official registry for .gn is maintained by Centre National des Sciences Halieutiques de Boussoura, according to the IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) (IANA, n.d.). Country Code TLDs (ccTLDs) like .gn are intended primarily for use within their respective countries. However, some ccTLDs have also gained popularity for other uses. For instance, “.tv” which is the ccTLD for Tuvalu, a small island nation, is popularly used for television-related websites due to the acronym ‘TV’ (Network Solutions, n.d.).
Different rules apply to different ccTLDs and the capacity for entities outside the country in question to be able to register a domain name under that county’s TLD often varies; typically depending on the rules established by the particular institution governing that ccTLD. In the case of .gn, there appears to be no restriction and can be registered by anyone, just like how .com, .net, and .org domains are treated.
In conclusion, the top-level-domain .gn is a ccTLD representing the West African country of Guinea. It was established in 1994 and is managed by the Centre National des Sciences Halieutiques de Boussoura.
Sources used:
- ISO (2021): https://www.iso.org/iso-3166-country-codes.html
- RFC Editor (2005): https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc920.txt
- IANA (n.d): https://data.iana.org/TLD/tlds-alpha-by-domain.txt
- Network Solutions (n.d): https://www.networksolutions.com/domain-name-registration/index.jsp
