The top-level domain (TLD) “XN—80ADXHKS” is an internationalized country code (ccTLD) for Russia. It is represented as “.москва”, which translates to “.moscow” in English. This type of domain is also referred to as Punycode, which is a method of encoding internationalized domain names (IDNs), enabling them to be represented in non-ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) characters.
IDNs allow web users to access domain names in their own language, catering to countries that use non-Latin scripts, such as Cyrillic, Arabic, Chinese, among others. The naming scheme “XN—80ADXHKS” follows the encoding format required by the Punycode system to represent the Cyrillic words as ASCII text. This allows the domain to be recognized and understood by the Domain Name System (DNS) that underpins the internet.
The “.москва” (“.moscow”) domain was officially delegated by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to the Foundation for Assistance for Internet Technologies and Infrastructure Development (FAITID). Its purpose is to provide an online identity for entities associated with Moscow, Russia. Entities that wish to use the TLD must comply with the policies set by FAITID.
Here is an example of this: ‘газета.москва’ would be the domain for a newspaper (“газета” translates to “newspaper” in English) based in Moscow. In Punycode, it would look something like this: ‘xn—80abucjiibhv9a.xn—80adxhks’.
The usage of IDNs, like ‘.москва’, can have myriad benefits. Specifically, it can boost the presence of local businesses, uphold cultural diversity, and increase web usability. It also supports SEO (search engine optimization) initiatives because search engines often rank local TLDs higher for searches performed in the region relating to the TLD.
Sources used for constructing this answer are as follows:
- RFC 3492, Punycode: A Bootstring Encoding of Unicode for Internationalized Domain Names in Applications (IDNA), March 2003 (https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc3492)
- ICANN’s database for TLDs (https://data.iana.org/TLD/tlds-alpha-by-domain.txt)
- Foundation for Assistance for Internet Technologies and Infrastructure Development (https://faitid.org/projects/dotmoscow)
- World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on Internationalized Domain Names (https://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/idn/)
- Demys’s guide on internationalized domain names (https://www.demys.com/news/2017/04/a-guide-to-internationalised-domain-names/)
Using this TLD allows websites to engage with users in their local language, which makes the internet more accessible and inclusive. It can be a valuable tool for businesses and organizations operating specifically in Moscow.
