.va is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the State of the Vatican City, officially known as Vatican City State. Created in 1995 alongside Vatican’s formal recognition of the Internet as a channel for communication and information, the .va TLD is administered and restricted solely to the Holy See and its various bodies such as different departments, offices, and services operating under the Vatican jurisdiction.
Given its particular status as a city-state ruled by the Pope, Vatican City uses .va to connote the exclusivity of its websites. For instance, the official website of the Vatican City State – www.vatican.va – is a primary illustration of the domain’s use.
The Vatican Internet Office handles the technical administration of .va and ensures that usage is in line with Vatican Internet guidelines. Notably, due to its restricted and exclusive nature, the .va TLD is one of the few ccTLDs with only a tiny number of domains. Nonetheless, the domain’s use heightens the legitimacy and recognition of Vatican-operated websites.
The .va domain also hosts websites for various congregations, pontifical councils, and tribunals. Examples are the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith using www.doctrinafidei.va, and the Pontifical Council for Social Communications at www.pccs.va.
Notably, the Vatican Television Center (CTV), which oversees Vatican TV production, used to operate under the www.ctv.va domain. After the media outlets of the Holy See underwent restructuring and merged into the Dicastery for Communication, the previous domains were decommissioned. The new structure now maintains a primary presence at www.vaticannews.va, which includes Vatican Radio and Vatican Television content.
Using a specific TLD like .va allows the State of the Vatican City to control the dissemination of information that represents its views and objectives. It helps users and electronic receivers identify the lot of received information as officially coming from the Vatican.
Given its minimal and specific use by Vatican, verifying the number of registered .va domains and the significance of this TLD somewhat difficult. More detailed information is not public, significantly since available data on .va domains are limited.
Sources used for this response include the Vatican Internet Office’s website and official websites of the Vatican’s different departments, offices, and services, alongside the IANA’s Root Zone Database, and literature from ICANN – the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.
Sources:
1. IANA Root Zone Database – https://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/va.html
2. Vatican Internet Office – http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/pccs/documents/rc_pc_pccs_doc_20020228_ethics-internet-index_en.html
3. Vatican News – https://www.vaticannews.va/en.html
4. ICANN – https://www.icann.org/get-started
