Every web site address (URL) on the Internet has a dot and then letters such as “com”, “net”, “us”, “info”, “gov”. Those are just to name a few. Here we will discuss top level domains and what that term means to you.

Every URL on the Internet is actually just a mask for and IP number. IP numbers are your Internet Protocol and everyone has a different IP address. This is how your computer is identified by sites. Ever wonder how a site remembers your settings? It knows your IP and places a cookie in your system so that it remembers what you were doing. IP numbers are just a string of numbers and dots and they would be a mess to remember for all of us. Think about how many different URL’s you know by heart and then think about what you would do if they were all just numbers and dots. Do you think you could still remember all of them quite as well and as quickly? Doubtful. So, we have domain names to hide the IP and give us something memorable and hopefully catchy. This system of naming is actually a way of organizing the Internet and is actually strictly supervised.

A top level domain is a fully qualified domain name. ICANN (the Internet Cooperation of Assigned Names and Numbers) came up with categories to organize the domains. For top level domains there are three categories.

1. Country Top Level Domains: These domain names are country specific. ICANN has over 250 assignments for countries. These are indicated by endings such as .us (United States), .ca (Canada) and obviously the list goes on.
2. Generic Top Level Domains: These are domain names used for general purposes such as .com or .net. These domains are much more common that the cTLD’s (country top level domains). In the 1980’s the Internet boom was happening and there were basically six general gTLD’s. These were .com, .gov, .edu, .int, .mil, .org and .net. Some are self explanatory like that .gov is for government agencies. In the beginning .org had to be for non-profit organizations and that has changed, these are now open to everyone.
3. Special Top Level Domains: The Internet Architecture Board regulates this as it has to do with the .arpa domains. These deal with computer infrastructures and are only open to certain technical people.

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