The top-level domain (TLD) “.RW” is the country code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD) for Rwanda, a landlocked country located in the Great Rift Valley where the African Great Lakes region and East Africa converge. This ccTLD was assigned primarily for use by entities connected with Rwanda, just as .US is reserved for the United States, .FR for France, and .CA for Canada, based on the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 standard codes. Each country has one assigned ccTLD in this system, with “.RW” being assigned to Rwanda.
The responsibility of managing, maintaining and setting the policy for the “.RW” domain is handed over to Rwanda Information Society Authority (RISA). It is the regulatory authority for the .RW ccTLD assigned by Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), which is a department of Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
Regarding the technical management, the domain name registry for “.RW” is operated by NIC.RW. A domain name registry is a database of all domain names registered in a top-level domain. It’s the responsibility of the registry to manage, organize and oversee the operations of the .RW domain including the Domain Name System (DNS) settings for each individual domain and maintaining the operational stability and utility of the .RW TLD.
Like other TLDs, the “.RW” domain has secondary levels which can be used for different types of websites. For instance, “.co.rw” is typically used for business and corporations, “.org.rw” for organizations, and “.net.rw” for network services. This provides an organized structure under the .RW domain, segmenting it into different categories based on the type of entity the domain name is registered for.
In terms of eligibility, the registration of “.RW” domain names is open to all entities, similar to most other ccTLDs. It’s not restricted to only entities in Rwanda. However, it’s worth noting that preference may be given to local entities or entities having significant presence or business operations in Rwanda.
From business’s perspective, using a “.RW” ccTLD can give a website a more locally-focused identity, which can boost user trust, as well as search engine ranking within the country.
Sources:
1. Rwanda Information Society Authority (RISA) website
2. IANA Root Zone Database
3. Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
4. DNS Africa Ltd, the registry operator for .rw
5. ICANNWiki – .rw
