.gov
Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox Top level domain The domain name gov is a sponsored top-level domain (sTLD) in the Domain Name System of the Internet. The name is derived from the word government, indicating its restricted use by US government entities. The TLD is administered by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA),[1] a component of the United States Department of Homeland Security.
gov is one of the original six top-level domains, defined in RFC 920.[2] Though "originally intended for any kind of government office or agency",[3] only U.S.-based government entities may register gov domain names, a result of the Internet originating as a U.S. government-sponsored research network.
Other countries typically delegate a second-level domain for government operations on their country-code top-level domain (ccTLD); for example, gov.uk is the domain for the Government of the United Kingdom, and gc.ca is the domain for the Government of Canada. The United States is the only country that has a government-specific top-level domain in addition to its ccTLD (us), a direct result of the United States federal government's role in the creation of the Internet.
gov domains are registered at get.gov.
History
gov is one of the original top-level domains created in 1984[4] (the other five being Template:Mono, Template:Mono, Template:Mono, Template:Mono, and Template:Mono). The first site registered was Template:Mono in June 1985.[5]
Beginning in 1997, the General Services Administration (GSA) began administering gov. In February 2011, the GSA selected Verisign to manage the registry services, replacing Native Technologies, Inc.[6]
Responsibility for the TLD was transferred to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) under the DOTGOV Online Trust in Government Act of 2020,[7] part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021.
In January 2023, CISA selected Cloudflare to replace Verisign in providing registry services. Cloudflare also provides authoritative DNS services for the gov domain.[8]
Use
Many governments in the United States use a gov domain, though most use .us (e.g., leg.state.nv.us), .com (e.g., myflorida.com), .org (e.g., lacity.org), or other TLDs (e.g., senate.mn).[9] The full list of registered gov domains is published at get.gov/data.[10]
During GSA's administration of gov, registration and annual renewal fees peaked at $400 per year.[11] When CISA began managing the TLD in April 2021, all fees were removed.[12]
Federal Executive branch policy requires the use of gov for civilian agencies,[13] but some U.S. government-related websites use other domain names, including the United States Postal Service (e.g., usps.com) and various recruiting websites for armed services (e.g., goarmy.com). The United States Department of Defense and its subsidiary organizations typically use the mil sTLD instead of gov.
Eligibility
U.S.-based government organizations and publicly controlled entities are eligible to obtain a gov domain. This includes federal, state, local, or territorial government, as well as any tribal government recognized by the federal government or a state government.[14]
To register a gov domain, an authorization letter must be submitted to CISA. The signer of the letter differs by entity type, but it is typically an agency's head, chief information officer (CIO), or highest-ranking or elected official.
Historically, only U.S. federal government agencies were allowed to register a gov domain. In May 2002, GSA proposed a change that would open registration to state, local, and tribal governments in the U.S.,[15] a change that went into effect in March 2003.[16]
In November 2019, before the transfer of gov to CISA, GSA's authorization process was shown to be weak after someone impersonated the mayor of Exeter, Rhode Island in an authorization letter and successfully gained control of exeterri.gov. In response, GSA said it had implemented additional fraud prevention controls, and CISA advocated for transferring the TLD from GSA.[17]
Policy
The DOTGOV Act requires that CISA maintain requirements that "minimize the risk of gov Internet domains whose names could mislead or confuse users".[18] These include:
- Requested names must correspond with the requesting entity's organization's name or services.
- Generic terms are reserved for federal agencies, though generic words can be combined with state or local municipality names.
- Most non-federal domain types require a two-letter United States postal abbreviations or state name equivalent, though exceptions are made. Rules have been established for municipalities whose names are unique, who are well-known, or that are among the most populous cities and counties in the nation.[19]
The Act also requires that gov domains not be used for political campaign or commercial purposes, and that domains are registered only by authorized individuals.
gov has been used to serve certain policy goals. As an action following Executive Order 13571,[20] President Barack Obama restricted executive branch agencies from registering new gov domains in an attempt to eliminate unnecessary, redundant, or outdated sites.[21] US government agencies used the gov registrar to make it easy for new registrants to opt-in to HTTPS preloading [22] and to make it easier for the public to report potential security issues.[23]
Use by states and territories
since August 2025[update]Template:Dated maintenance category (articles)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters"., all states, the District of Columbia, and all territories except for the Northern Mariana Islands have operational domains in gov:
| State or territory | Domain |
|---|---|
| Alabama | al.gov and alabama.gov |
| Alaska | alaska.gov |
| American Samoa | americansamoa.gov |
| Arizona | az.gov and arizona.gov |
| Arkansas | ar.gov and arkansas.gov |
| California | ca.gov |
| Colorado | co.gov and colorado.gov |
| Connecticut | ct.gov |
| Delaware | de.gov and delaware.gov |
| District of Columbia | dc.gov |
| Florida | fl.gov, florida.gov and myflorida.gov |
| Georgia | ga.gov and georgia.gov |
| Guam | guam.gov |
| Hawaii | hawaii.gov and ehawaii.gov |
| Idaho | idaho.gov |
| Illinois | illinois.gov |
| Indiana | in.gov and indiana.gov |
| Iowa | iowa.gov |
| Kansas | kansas.gov |
| Kentucky | ky.gov and kentucky.gov |
| Louisiana | la.gov and louisiana.gov |
| Maine | maine.gov |
| Maryland | md.gov and maryland.gov |
| Massachusetts | ma.gov, mass.gov and massachusetts.gov |
| Michigan | mi.gov and michigan.gov |
| Minnesota | mn.gov and minnesota.gov |
| Mississippi | ms.gov and mississippi.gov |
| Missouri | mo.gov and missouri.gov |
| Montana | mt.gov and montana.gov |
| Nebraska | ne.gov and nebraska.gov |
| Nevada | nv.gov and nevada.gov |
| New Hampshire | nh.gov |
| New Jersey | nj.gov and newjersey.gov |
| New Mexico | nm.gov and newmexico.gov |
| New York | ny.gov |
| North Carolina | nc.gov and northcarolina.gov |
| North Dakota | nd.gov and northdakota.gov |
| Ohio | ohio.gov |
| Oklahoma | ok.gov and oklahoma.gov |
| Oregon | oregon.gov |
| Pennsylvania | pa.gov |
| Puerto Rico | pr.gov |
| Rhode Island | ri.gov |
| South Carolina | sc.gov |
| South Dakota | sd.gov |
| Tennessee | tn.gov and tennessee.gov |
| Texas | texas.gov |
| Utah | utah.gov |
| Vermont | vt.gov and vermont.gov |
| Virgin Islands | vi.gov |
| Virginia | virginia.gov |
| Washington | wa.gov |
| West Virginia | wv.gov and westvirginia.gov |
| Wisconsin | wi.gov and wisconsin.gov |
| Wyoming | wy.gov, wyo.gov and wyoming.gov |
International equivalents
While the use of gov as a top-level domain is restricted to the United States, several other countries have second-level domains of the same name or similar semantics for governmental purposes, such as official government email systems or online information portals (like GOV.UK or u.ae). Note that the governments of some jurisdictions use alternate domains in public communications (for example, the Government of Canada adopted canada.ca as its main public-facing URL in the 2010s, and some Canadian provinces have made similar changes).
| Country or Territory | Domain | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan | gov.af | |
| Åland | gov.ax | Part of Finland |
| Albania | gov.al | |
| Algeria | gov.dz | |
| Andorra | gov.ad | |
| Angola | gov.ao | |
| Antigua and Barbuda | gov.ag | |
| Argentina | gob.ar | Stands for the Spanish word gobierno |
| Armenia | gov.am | |
| Australia | gov.au | |
| Austria | gv.at | |
| Azerbaijan | gov.az | |
| Bahamas | gov.bs | |
| Bahrain | gov.bh | |
| Bangladesh | gov.bd | |
| Barbados | gov.bb | |
| Belarus | gov.by | |
| Belgium | gov.be | gov.be is for national matters, the Belgian Federal Government is using fgov.be and belgium.be |
| Belize | gov.bz | |
| Benin | gouv.bj | Stands for the French word gouvernement |
| Bhutan | gov.bt | |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | gov.ba | |
| Botswana | gov.bw | |
| Brazil | gov.br | |
| Brunei | gov.bn | |
| Bulgaria | gov.bg | Only the Council of Ministers uses this site. |
| Burundi | gov.bi | |
| Cambodia | gov.kh | |
| Canada | gc.ca | |
| Script error: No such module "String".New Brunswick | gnb.ca | Part of Canada. The previous gov.nb.ca remains active but deprecated due to the province's official bilingualism. |
| Script error: No such module "String".Quebec | gouv.qc.ca | Part of Canada |
| Script error: No such module "String".Other provinces and territories | gov.{xx}.ca | Parts of Canada. '{xx}' is the applicable province or territory's postal abbreviation. |
| Chile | gob.cl or gov.cl | Stands for the Spanish word gobierno |
| China | gov.cn | |
| Script error: No such module "String".Hong Kong | gov.hk | Part of China |
| Script error: No such module "String".Macau | gov.mo | Part of China |
| Colombia | gov.co | |
| Croatia | gov.hr | |
| Cyprus | gov.cy | |
| Czechia | gov.cz | |
| Egypt | gov.eg | |
| El Salvador | gob.sv | Stands for the Spanish word gobierno |
| Estonia | gov.ee | |
| Fiji | gov.fj | |
| Finland | gov.fi | |
| France | gouv.fr | Stands for the French word gouvernement |
| Georgia | gov.ge | |
| Germany | gov.de | |
| Ghana | gov.gh | |
| Greece | gov.gr | |
| Guatemala | gob.gt | Stands for the Spanish word gobierno |
| Hungary | gov.hu | |
| Iceland | government.is | |
| India | gov.in | |
| Indonesia | go.id | |
| Iran | gov.ir | |
| Iraq | gov.iq | |
| Script error: No such module "String".Kurdistan Regional Government | gov.krd | Part of Iraq |
| Ireland | gov.ie | |
| Israel | gov.il | |
| Italy | gov.it | |
| Jamaica | gov.jm | |
| Japan | go.jp | |
| Jordan | gov.jo | |
| Kazakhstan | gov.kz | |
| Kenya | go.ke | |
| Kuwait | gov.kw | |
| Latvia | gov.lv | |
| Lebanon | gov.lb | |
| Libya | gov.ly | |
| Lithuania | gov.lt | |
| Malaysia | gov.my | |
| Maldives | gov.mv | |
| Malta | gov.mt | |
| Mexico | gob.mx | Stands for the Spanish word gobierno |
| Moldova | gov.md | |
| Monaco | gouv.mc | Stands for the French word gouvernement |
| Morocco | gov.ma | |
| Myanmar (Burma) | gov.mm | |
| Nepal | gov.np | |
| Netherlands | gov.nl or government.nl | |
| Script error: No such module "String".Aruba | gov.aw | Part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands |
| New Caledonia | gouv.nc | Part of French overseas |
| New Zealand | govt.nz | |
| Nigeria | gov.ng | |
| North Korea | gov.kp | |
| Oman | gov.om | |
| Pakistan | gov.pk | |
| Palestine | gov.ps | |
| Paraguay | gov.py | |
| Peru | gob.pe | Stands for the Spanish word gobierno |
| Philippines | gov.ph | |
| Poland | gov.pl | |
| Portugal | gov.pt | |
| Qatar | gov.qa | |
| Romania | gov.ro | |
| Russia | gov.ru | |
| Rwanda | gov.rw | |
| Saudi Arabia | gov.sa | |
| Senegal | gouv.sn | Stands for the French word gouvernement |
| Serbia | gov.rs | |
| Singapore | gov.sg | |
| Slovakia | gov.sk | |
| Slovenia | gov.si | |
| Somalia | gov.so | |
| South Africa | gov.za | |
| South Korea | go.kr | |
| Spain | gob.es | Stands for the Spanish word gobierno |
| Sri Lanka | gov.lk | |
| Sweden | gov.se | |
| Switzerland | admin.ch | |
| Taiwan (Republic of China) | gov.tw | |
| Thailand | go.th | |
| Tonga | gov.to | |
| Trinidad and Tobago | gov.tt | |
| Turkey | gov.tr | |
| Turkmenistan | gov.tm | |
| Ukraine | gov.ua | |
| United Arab Emirates | gov.ae or govu.ae | |
| United Kingdom | gov.uk | |
| Script error: No such module "String".Scotland | gov.scot | Part of the United Kingdom |
| Script error: No such module "String".Wales | gov.wales | |
| Script error: No such module "String".Guernsey | gov.gg | Crown dependency |
| Script error: No such module "String".Jersey | gov.je | |
| Script error: No such module "String".Isle of Man | gov.im | |
| Script error: No such module "String".Anguilla | gov.ai | British overseas territory |
| Script error: No such module "String".Bermuda | gov.bm | |
| Script error: No such module "String".British Virgin Islands | gov.vg | |
| Script error: No such module "String".Cayman Islands | gov.ky | |
| Script error: No such module "String".Falkland Islands | gov.fk | |
| Script error: No such module "String".Pitcairn Islands | government.pn | |
| Script error: No such module "String".Turks & Caicos Islands | gov.tc | |
| Uruguay | gub.uy | |
| Uzbekistan | gov.uz | |
| Venezuela | gob.ve | Stands for the Spanish word gobierno |
| Vietnam | chinhphu.vn or gov.vn | |
| Zambia | gov.zm | |
| Zimbabwe | gov.zw |
See also
References
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- ↑ RFC 920, Domain Requirements, J. Postel, J. Reynolds, The Internet Society (October 1984)
- ↑ Template:Cite IETF
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External links
- Official gov registration site
- IANA gov whois information
- Template:IETF RFC Domain Requirements (defined the original top-level domains)
- Template:IETF RFC U.S. Government Internet Domain Names
- Complete list of gov domains
Template:United States top-level domains Script error: No such module "Navbox".