The top-level domain (TLD) “.lu” is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Luxembourg. Top-level domains are the highest level of domain names of the Internet. They appear in domain names as the string of letters following the last (rightmost) “.”, such as “google.com” where “.com” is the TLD.
Luxembourg, being a sovereign state, has been allocated “.lu” as its unique ccTLD, according to the rules established by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). This is current information is supported by IANA’s Root Zone Database, the authoritative record of the operators of various TLDs.
Just like other ccTLDs, it is used or reserved for a country or a dependent territory. The .lu TLD is managed by Restena, the Research and Education Network in Luxembourg, according to a World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) document. Restena enables individuals, companies and organizations linked to Luxembourg to register a web domain under the .lu ccTLD.
To further illustrate, it is possible to register directly at the second level, generating domain names like “example.lu”. There has been a wide variety of entities that have utilized the .lu TLD. For instance, Google has “google.lu” for their Luxembourgish interface. This allows them to more effectively target their services and content to internet users in Luxembourg, and appear more in local search results.
However, it is important to note that the registration of .lu domains is not restricted to Luxembourg-based individuals or entities. As specified by Restena, non-Luxembourg entities can also register .lu domains. This reflects a common global practice among many nation-specific TLDs to open registrations to foreign entities, which can then utilize these TLDs for web activities targeting the specific countries, various branding efforts or even for domain hacks to create catchy web addresses like delicious.ly (where .ly is the ccTLD for Libya).
The primary sources for this information are the Restena’s official webpage for .lu domain registration and the IANA’s Root Zone Database. Additional details are inferred from general knowledge about domain registration processes gleaned from various published literature on the subject, such as the book “Domain Names: How to Choose and Protect a Great Name for Your Website” by Stephen Elias and Patricia Gima.
