View source for .uk

{{Short description|Internet country code top-level domain for the United Kingdom}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox top level domain | name=.uk
| image = DotUK domain logo.svg
| introduced= {{start date and age|1985|7|24|df=y}}
| type= [[Country code top-level domain]]
| status=Active
| registry=[[Nominet UK]]
| sponsor=[[Nominet UK]]
| intendeduse=Entities connected with the [[United Kingdom]]
| actualuse=Very popular in the United Kingdom
| registereddomains=10,508,932 (9,314,572 third level and 1,374,360 second level)
| dateregistereddomains=January 2024
| refregistereddomains=<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.nominet.uk/news/reports-statistics/uk-register-statistics-2024/ |title=.UK register statistics - 2024 |access-date=2024-02-15}}</ref>
| restrictions= No general restrictions.  Some second-level domains have specific restrictions.
| structure= {{plainlist|
*[name].uk
*[name].{{bracket|[[#Second-level domains|generic&nbsp;domain]]}}.uk}}
| disputepolicy= [https://www.nominet.uk/domain-support/uk-domain-disputes/ .UK Domain Disputes]
| website= {{URL|https://theukdomain.uk/}}
| dnssec=yes}}
'''.uk''' is the [[Internet]] [[country code top-level domain]] (ccTLD) for the [[United Kingdom]]. It was first registered in July 1985, seven months after the original [[generic top-level domain]]s such as [[.com]] and the first country code after [[.us]].

{{As of|2021|4}}, it is the fifth most popular [[top-level domain]] worldwide (after [[.com]], [[.cn]], [[.de]] and [[.net]]), with over 10&nbsp;million registrations.<ref name="denic-stats">{{cite web|author=DENIC|author-link=DENIC|url=https://www.denic.de/en/know-how/statistics/international-domain-statistics/|title=Comparison of international Domain Numbers|date=February 2016|access-date=29 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707193926/https://www.denic.de/en/know-how/statistics/international-domain-statistics/|archive-date=7 July 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17393008 |title=Landmark 10 millionth .uk site registered with Nominet |publisher=bbc.co.uk |date=16 March 2012 |access-date=26 February 2014|work=BBC News }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://domainnamewire.com/2012/03/16/uk-domain-hits-10-million-milestone/ |title=.Uk domain hits 10 million milestone |publisher=Domain Name Wire |date=16 March 2012 |access-date=26 February 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://research.domaintools.com/statistics/tld-counts/|title=Domain Count Statistics for TLDs}}</ref>

.uk has used [[OpenDNSSEC]] since March 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ripe62.ripe.net/presentations/219-uk_DNSSEC_Status_Ripe_62.pdf |title=.uk DNSSEC Status update |publisher=Nominet |date=2 May 2011 |access-date=6 April 2014}}</ref>

==History==
{{See also|Internet in the United Kingdom#History|Nominet UK#History}}
In October 1984, RFC 920 set out the creation of [[ccTLDs]] using country codes derived from the corresponding two-letter code in the [[ISO 3166-1]] list.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tools.ietf.org/rfc/rfc920.txt|title=Request for Comments: 920|author=J. Postel and J. Reynolds|publisher=Network Working Group|date=October 1984}}</ref>  "GB" is the UK's [[ISO 3166]] country code. However, the UK academic network Name Registration Scheme, [[JANET NRS]], had defined "UK" as the top-level domain a few months before the compilation of the ISO-derived list. Consequently, .uk was chosen and registered on 24 July 1985.<ref name=Mueller2002>{{citation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sMKmdJq7iE0C&pg=PA79|
title=Ruling the Root: Internet Governance and the Taming of Cyberspace|author=Milton Mueller|page=79|publisher=MIT Press|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|year=2002|isbn=9780262632980}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/uk.html|title=IANA — .uk Domain Delegation Data|website=www.iana.org|access-date=2020-02-01}}</ref> [[.gb]] was reserved but never widely used and it is no longer possible to register domains under that ccTLD.

As with other ccTLDs in the early days it was originally delegated by [[Jon Postel]] to a "trusted person" to manage. Andrew McDowell at [[University College London|UCL]] was assigned .uk, the first country code delegation.<ref name=Mueller2002/> In time, he passed it to Willie Black at the [[JANET|UK Education and Research Networking Association]] (UKERNA). Originally, domain requests were emailed, manually screened by and then forwarded to the [[UK Naming Committee]] before being processed by UKERNA. Membership of this committee was restricted to a group of high-end [[Internet service provider|ISPs]] who were part of a formal [[peering]] arrangement.

The Naming Committee was organised as a mailing list to which all proposed names were circulated. The members would consider the proposals under a ruleset that insisted that all domain names should be very close if not identical to a registered business name of the registrant. Members of the Naming Committee could object to any name, and if at least a small number of objections were received, the name was refused.

By the mid-1990s the growth of the Internet, and particularly the advent of the [[World Wide Web]] was pushing requests for [[domain name]] registrations up to levels that were not manageable by a group of part-time volunteers. Oliver Smith of [[Demon Internet]] forced the issue by providing the committee with a series of automated tools, called the "automaton", which formalised and automated the naming process end to end. This allowed many more registrations to be processed far more reliably and rapidly, and inspired individuals such as [[Ivan Pope]] to explore more entrepreneurial approaches to registration.

Various plans were put forward for the possible management of the domain, mostly [[Internet service provider]]s seeking to stake a claim, each of which were naturally unacceptable to the rest of the committee. In response to this Black, as the .uk Name, stepped up with a bold proposal for a not-for-profit commercial entity to deal with the .uk domain properly. Commercial interests initially balked at this, but with widespread support [[Nominet UK]] was formed in 1996 to be the .uk Network Information Centre, a role which it continues to this day.

The general form of the rules (i.e. which domains can be registered and whether to allow second level domains) was set by the Naming Committee. Nominet has not made major changes to the rules, although it has introduced a new second level domain .me.uk for individuals.

Until 10 June 2014 it was not possible to register a domain name directly under .uk (such as ''internet.uk''); it was only possible as a third-level domain (such as ''internet.co.uk'').

However, some domains delegated before the creation of Nominet UK were in existence even before 10 June 2014, for example ''mod.uk''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mod.uk|title=Ministry of Defence - GOV.UK|work=mod.uk}}</ref> ([[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]]), ''parliament.uk''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.uk|title=www.parliament.uk Home page|work=UK Parliament}}</ref> ([[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]]), ''bl.uk''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bl.uk|title=THE BRITISH LIBRARY - The world's knowledge|work=bl.uk}}</ref> and ''british-library.uk''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-library.uk/|title=THE BRITISH LIBRARY - The world's knowledge|work=british-library.uk|access-date=19 January 2005|archive-date=7 October 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071007050906/http://www.british-library.uk/|url-status=dead}}</ref> (the [[British Library]]), ''nls.uk''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nls.uk|title=National Library of Scotland|work=nls.uk}}</ref> (the [[National Library of Scotland]]), ''nhs.uk''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nhs.uk|title=NHS Choices - Your health, your choices|work=nhs.uk|date=15 August 2018}}</ref> (The [[National Health Service]]), and ''jet.uk''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jet.uk|title=JET Index Page|work=jet.uk}}</ref> ([[UKAEA]] as operator of the [[Joint European Torus]] experimental fusion [[tokamak]]).

Currently, management of the .uk domain name is delegated by [[Internet Assigned Numbers Authority|IANA]] to Nominet UK.<ref>{{Cite web|title=IANA — .uk Domain Delegation Data|url=https://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/uk.html|access-date=2021-03-23|website=www.iana.org}}</ref> It is possible to directly register a domain name with Nominet UK at £80+VAT as of 2021,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Becoming a UK namespace registrar|url=https://registrars.nominet.uk/uk-namespace/registration-and-domain-management/new-registrars/becoming-a-uk-namespace-registrar/|access-date=2021-07-06|website=Registrar Resources|language=en-GB}}</ref> but it is faster and cheaper to do it via a Nominet-accredited [[domain registrar]] costing in the region of £10+VAT in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|last=McCarthy |first=Kieren|title=Congrats from 123-Reg! You can now pay us an extra £6 or £12 a year for basically nothing|url=https://www.theregister.com/2018/10/25/123reg_privacy_fee/|access-date=2021-07-06|website=www.theregister.com|language=en}}</ref>

==.uk right of registration==
New registrations directly under .uk have been accepted by Nominet since 10 June 2014 08:00 [[British Summer Time|BST]]; however, there was a reservation period for existing customers who already had a .co.uk, .org.uk, .me.uk, .net.uk, .ltd.uk or .plc.uk domain to claim the corresponding .uk domain, which ran until 06:00 BST on 25 June 2019.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.theukdomain.uk/do-i-have-uk-rights/|title=Reserved .UK domain names – your .UK rights|website=The UK Domain|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427222159/https://www.theukdomain.uk/do-i-have-uk-rights/|archive-date=27 April 2019|url-status=live|access-date=27 April 2019}}</ref>

If a domain was registered before 23:59 UTC on 28 October 2013 the user had the rights to the equivalent .uk domain (providing there was no other corresponding .co.uk, .org.uk, me.uk, .ltd.uk, .plc.uk or .net.uk registered).<ref name=":0" /> For example, if "your-company.co.uk" was held since 2 October 2013, the registrant of 'your-company.co.uk' had the reserved right of registering "your-company.uk", up until 06:00 BST on 25 June 2019. [[123-reg]] and [[NamesCo]] both created such domains for their customers for free but then began demanding payment in September 2019.<ref>{{cite news |last1=McCarthy |first1=Kieren |title=Two years ago, 123-Reg and NamesCo decided to register millions of .uk domains for customers without asking them. They just got the renewal reminders... |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/09/16/123reg_namesco_uk_domains/ |access-date=16 September 2019 |work=theregister.co.uk |date=16 September 2019 |language=en}}</ref>

==Second-level domains==
<!-- Other articles link here. -->
{{redirect|.gov.uk|the government information website|gov.uk}}

===Active===
* '''.ac.uk''' &ndash; academic ([[British universities|tertiary education]], [[further education]] colleges, research establishments (such as the [[British Antarctic Survey]]) and [[learned societies]])
* '''.bl.uk''' &ndash; used solely for the [[British Library]]
* '''.co.uk''' &ndash; commercial entities and purposes (the most popular second-level domain for .uk, majority of .uk registrations are on ''.co.uk'' domain)
* '''.gov.uk''' &ndash; government ([[Government of the United Kingdom|central]], [[Devolution in the United Kingdom|devolved]] and [[local government in the United Kingdom|local]])
*'''.judiciary.uk''' &ndash; [[judiciary of England and Wales]]<ref>{{Cite news|date=2011-11-23|title=UK court systems set to adopt judiciary.uk domain names|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-15860533|access-date=2021-04-14}}</ref>
* '''.ltd.uk''' &ndash; [[limited companies]]
* '''.me.uk''' &ndash; personal names
* '''.mod.uk''' &ndash; armed forces and [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] establishments and systems<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nominet.uk/domains/our-domains/uk-domains/|title=UK Domain Names - Nominet|work=Nominet|access-date=7 August 2018|language=en-GB}}</ref>
* '''.net.uk''' &ndash; ISPs and network companies (unlike [[.net]], use is restricted to these users)
* '''.nhs.uk''' &ndash; [[NHS]] organisations and trusts
* '''.nic.uk''' &ndash; network use only (reserved exclusively for Nominet UK)
* '''.org.uk''' &ndash; not-for-profit entities
* '''.parliament.uk''' &ndash; [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] and the devolved national parliaments and assemblies
* '''.plc.uk''' &ndash; [[public limited companies]]
* '''.police.uk''' &ndash; police forces in the UK and law enforcement organisations. 
* '''.rct.uk''' &ndash; used solely for the [[Royal Collection Trust]]
* '''.royal.uk''' &ndash; used solely for the [[British royal family|royal family]] website
* '''.sch.uk''' &ndash; [[local education authorities]], schools, primary and secondary education, community education
* '''.ukaea.uk''' &ndash; used solely for the [[United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority]]

.co.uk, .ltd.uk, .me.uk, .net.uk, .nic.uk, .org.uk, .plc.uk and .sch.uk are managed by Nominet UK and except for .nic.uk are available for registration by the public (though they all carry various degrees of restrictions). Other second-level domains are managed by various government agencies, and generally more strongly controlled.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://media.nominet.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/22141819/dotUK-Rules-of-Registration.pdf|title=Rules of Registration}}</ref>

===Inactive===
* '''.govt.uk''' &ndash; former government domain, now deleted and replaced by .gov.uk.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}
* '''.orgn.uk''' &ndash; former non-profit organisations domain, now deleted and replaced by .org.uk.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}
* '''.lea.uk''' &ndash; local education authorities; since fallen out of use.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}
* '''.mil.uk''' &ndash; the Ministry of Defence have always used .mod.uk for their external domain, but use .mil.uk on their private network. .mil.uk exists only as a [[CNAME record|CNAME]] for .mod.uk in the .uk zone file.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}

===Rejected===
<!-- New links in alphabetical order please -->
* '''.cym.uk''' &ndash; A second-level domain for [[Wales]]; it did not have support of the Welsh Internet community, with a [[.cym]] domain being proposed, though later rejected. Top-level domains of [[.cymru]] and [[.wales]] have since been delegated to the root in 2014.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}
* '''.scot.uk''' &ndash; A second level domain for [[Scotland]]; it was rejected by Nominet.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}} A top-level domain of [[.scot]] approved on 10 June 2014<ref>{{cite web |title = Delegation Record for .SCOT |date = 7 August 2019 |website = [[Internet Assigned Numbers Authority]] |url = https://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/scot.html |access-date = 29 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title = Delegation Report for .scot |date = 10 June 2014 |website = [[Internet Assigned Numbers Authority]] | url = https://www.iana.org/reports/c.2.9.2.d/20140610-scot |access-date = 29 December 2021}}</ref> and been delegated to the root since 13 June 2014.<ref>{{cite web |title = DELEGATED STRINGS |website =New [[gTLD]] |publisher = [[ICANN]] |date = 17 October 2020 |url = https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/delegated-strings |access-date = 29 December 2021}}</ref>
* '''.sco.uk''' &ndash; A second level domain for Scotland.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/732199.stm |title=Scotland entering new domain |date=2000-05-01 |work=[[BBC News]]|access-date=2020-03-24}}</ref>
* '''.soc.uk''' &ndash; proposed for Social and Society use.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

==Allocation of domain names==
Allocations are on a strict [[first-come, first-served]] basis to qualified applicants. There are no territorial restrictions: applicants need not have any connection to the UK other than those outlined below for .ltd.uk and other restricted domains.

.co.uk is by far the most used of the domains, followed by .org.uk then .me.uk. .plc.uk and .ltd.uk are only rarely used. The number of new registrations for each of the different .uk domains on a month by month basis can be seen on the Nominet UK website.<ref>[http://www.nominet.org.uk/intelligence/statistics/registration/ www.nominet.org.uk/intelligence/statistics/registration/] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716155259/http://www.nominet.org.uk/intelligence/statistics/registration/ |date=16 July 2012 }}</ref>

The intended restriction of .co.uk to companies is purely nominal; in practice it is open to any and all applicants. Likewise, whilst .org.uk is for organisations, there are no restrictions on registering domains. While .me.uk originally had no restrictions on registrants it has since been tightened up to require registrants to be [[natural person]]s (i.e. not companies, etc.).

However, registrants in .ltd.uk must be, and remain, [[private limited companies]] incorporated under the UK [[Companies Act]]s. In addition, names can only be registered if they correspond (in accordance with the algorithm in the rules<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nominet.org.uk/uk-domain-names/registering-uk-domain/choosing-domain-name/rules
|title=Nominet .uk domain name rules |access-date=30 April 2014}}</ref> of registration) with the exact company name, as recorded at the companies registry at [[Companies House]]. The same conditions apply for [[public limited companies]] which wish to use a .plc.uk domain name. Neither of these domains is widely used.

.net.uk is more open, but the Nominet regulations still mean that a registrant must be an ISP, or a similar body, and that the domain is not used for providing services to end-users. .nic.uk, however, is limited solely to domains operated by Nominet.

.ac.uk domains are intended for the use of higher education institutions and further education colleges, and are also used by some academic support bodies such as the [[Universities and Colleges Admissions Service]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ucas.ac.uk/%7ctitle=Undergraduate%7cwork=UCAS|title=Undergraduate|work=UCAS}}</ref> public research establishments, and learned societies such as the [[Royal Society]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/ |title=Welcome to the Royal Society |access-date=25 October 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050604075524/http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/ |archive-date=4 June 2005 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Primary and secondary education uses .sch.uk.

==sch.uk==
Unusually, [[.sch]].uk domains are allocated at the fourth level, with the third level being taken up by the name of the [[local authority]] (LA, previously LEA or [[local education authority]]) e.g. schoolname.leaname.sch.uk. For example, the [[Little Ilford School]] in [[Newham]] has the domain name littleilford.newham.sch.uk and the [[West Exe School]] in [[Exeter, Devon]] has the domain name westexe.devon.sch.uk. Previously applications were made in the normal way, but after Nominet came to an arrangement with the education authorities, one domain per school was issued automatically. Those that had already used another domain were still given one and were able to redirect it to their main domain.

==United Kingdom-related top level domains (TLDs)==
===Country-Code TLDs (ccTLDs)===
{| class="wikitable"
!Domain
!Territory
|-
|[[.ac]]
|{{Flag|Ascension Island}}
|-
|[[.ai]]
|{{Flag|Anguilla}}
|-
|[[.aq]]
|{{Flag|British Antarctic Territory}}
|-
|[[.bm]]
|{{Flag|Bermuda}}
|-
|[[.fk]]
|{{Flag|Falkland Islands}}
|-
|[[.gb]]
|{{Flag|United Kingdom}} (formerly)
|-
|[[.gg]]
|{{Flag|Bailiwick of Guernsey}}
|-
|[[.gi]]
|{{Flag|Gibraltar}}
|-
|[[.gs]]
|{{Flag|South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands}}
|-
|[[.im]]
|{{Flag|Isle of Man}}
|-
|[[.io]]
|{{Flag|British Indian Ocean Territory}}
|-
|[[.je]]
|{{Flag|Bailiwick of Jersey}}
|-
|[[.ky]]
|{{Flag|Cayman Islands}}
|-
|[[.ms]]
|{{Flag|Montserrat}}
|-
|[[.pn]]
|{{Flag|Pitcairn Islands}}
|-
|[[.sh]]
|{{Flag|Saint Helena}}
|-
|[[.tc]]
|{{Flag|Turks and Caicos Islands}}
|-
|[[.vg]]
|{{Flag|British Virgin Islands}}
|}

===GeoTLDs===
{| class="wikitable"
!Domain
!Territory
|-
|[[.cymru]]
| rowspan="2" |{{Flag|Wales}}  ([[Welsh language|Welsh]]: {{lang|cy|Cymru}})
|-
|[[.wales]]
|-
|[[.london]]
|{{Flag|London}}
|-
|[[.scot]]
|{{Flag|Scotland}}
|}

==See also==
{{Portal|United Kingdom}}
* [[Internet Provider Security|Internet Provider Security (IPS) tags]]
<!-- New links in alphabetical order please -->
* [[.ac (second-level domain)]]
* [[.edu (second-level domain)]]
* [[.eng]]
* [[.eu]]
* [[.gb]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [https://www.nominet.uk/domain-solutions/ Nominet .uk Registry Website]
* [https://theukdomain.uk/ .uk Official Website]
* [https://nominet.uk/lookup/ .uk Official Domain Registration Data Lookup] 
* [https://whois.uk/ .uk Whois service]
* [https://rdap.uk/ .uk RDAP service]

{{UK top-level domains}}
{{CcTLD|state=collapsed}}
{{United Kingdom topics}}
{{Europe topic|Internet in }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uk}}
[[Category:Country code top-level domains]]
[[Category:Domain names of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Council of European National Top Level Domain Registries members]]
[[Category:Internet in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 1985]]
[[Category:1985 establishments in the United Kingdom]]