Every two-letter top-level domain is a country-code TLD (ccTLD), because ICANN reserves all two-character strings for the ISO 3166-1 country codes — so .us, .uk, .de, .io and .ai are all two letters by design. Generic extensions are never two letters; that space belongs exclusively to nations and territories. There are 61 two-letter TLDs in this list.
Why every 2-letter TLD is a country code
There is a simple, deliberate rule behind it: ICANN reserves all two-letter top-level domains for country-code TLDs. Those two-letter codes are not invented for the internet — they come straight from ISO 3166-1 alpha-2, the international standard that assigns every country and dependent territory a unique two-character code. The United States is US → .us, Germany is DE → .de, Japan is JP → .jp, and so on. IANA delegates each code to a national manager, producing a clean one-to-one map between the ISO list and the two-letter TLD space.
Because that space is fenced off for countries, generic TLDs must be three letters or longer. That is the structural reason you will never see a two-letter .xy generic: the moment a string is two characters, it belongs to a country code (real or reserved for future use). For the full background on how country codes are governed, see our ccTLD guide and the country-code TLD list organised by nation.
The globally-marketed two-letter codes
A handful of two-letter country codes happen to spell something useful, so their governments license them worldwide and most people never realise they are national extensions:
- .io — British Indian Ocean Territory, adopted everywhere by tech and SaaS.
- .ai — Anguilla, now the default extension for AI products.
- .co — Colombia, marketed as a short stand-in for .com.
- .me — Montenegro, perfect for personal "about me" sites.
- .tv — Tuvalu, the home of streaming and video brands.
- .cc — Cocos (Keeling) Islands, used as an open generic.
Every 2-letter TLD in the list
All two-character extensions — each one a country-code TLD. Sort by registry or price; open any for full detail.
| TLD | Type | Meaning / intended use | Registry | Example sites | Typical price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .ae | ccTLD | United Arab Emirates — UAE businesses and sites. | aeDA (TDRA) | UAE sites | $25/yr |
| .ai | ccTLD | Artificial intelligence — the go-to extension for AI products and startups. | Government of Anguilla (gov.ai) | x.ai, you.ai | $70/yr |
| .at | ccTLD | Austria — Austrian sites and businesses. | nic.at | Austrian sites | $15/yr |
| .au | ccTLD | Australia — requires an Australian presence/ABN. | auDA | Australian sites | $13/yr |
| .be | ccTLD | Belgium — Belgian sites; open registration. | DNS Belgium | Belgian sites | $9/yr |
| .br | ccTLD | Brazil — requires a Brazilian presence (CPF/CNPJ). | NIC.br / Registro.br | Brazilian sites | $9/yr |
| .ca | ccTLD | Canada — requires a Canadian presence to register. | CIRA | Canadian sites | $13/yr |
| .cc | ccTLD | Generic — a short ccTLD used as a generic alternative worldwide. | eNIC / Verisign | short links, profiles | $14/yr |
| .ch | ccTLD | Switzerland — Swiss sites and businesses; open to all. | SWITCH | Swiss sites | $11/yr |
| .cn | ccTLD | China — Chinese sites; registration requires real-name/ICP. | CNNIC | Chinese sites | $8/yr |
| .co | ccTLD | Company — a ccTLD marketed worldwide as a short .com alternative. | GoDaddy Registry (.CO Internet) | angel.co, vine.co | $11/yr |
| .de | ccTLD | Germany — the largest ccTLD; German sites and businesses. | DENIC eG | spiegel.de | $8/yr |
| .dk | ccTLD | Denmark — Danish sites; requires Danish NemID for admin. | DK Hostmaster | Danish sites | $14/yr |
| .ee | ccTLD | Estonia — open to individuals and organizations worldwide. | Estonian Internet Foundation (EIS) | postimees.ee, err.ee | $13/yr |
| .es | ccTLD | Spain — Spanish and Hispanic-market sites. | Red.es | Spanish sites | $8/yr |
| .eu | ccTLD | European Union — EU/EEA residents and organizations. | EURid | EU institution sites | $8/yr |
| .fi | ccTLD | Finland — Finnish sites; open registration. | Traficom | Finnish sites | $14/yr |
| .fm | ccTLD | Audio/radio — podcasts, radio and audio platforms. | FSM Telecom | anchor.fm | $80/yr |
| .fr | ccTLD | France — French and EU/EEA individuals and businesses. | Afnic | lemonde.fr | $10/yr |
| .gg | ccTLD | Gaming/'gg' — esports, gaming and creators. | Channel Islands Network (CIDR) | vrchat-style sites | $55/yr |
| .gr | ccTLD | Greece — Greek sites and businesses. | FORTH-ICS | Greek sites | $14/yr |
| .hk | ccTLD | Hong Kong — HK businesses and sites. | HKIRC | HK sites | $20/yr |
| .hr | ccTLD | Croatia — mainly for Croatian citizens, residents and companies. | CARNet | index.hr, jutarnji.hr | $82/yr |
| .hu | ccTLD | Hungary — open to persons and companies in Hungary or the EU. | CHIP — Council of Hungarian Internet Providers | index.hu, telekom.hu | $15/yr |
| .id | ccTLD | Identity/Indonesia — identity products and Indonesian sites. | PANDI | Indonesian sites | $25/yr |
| .ie | ccTLD | Ireland — Irish individuals and businesses. | Regist.ie (.IE) | Irish sites | $18/yr |
| .il | ccTLD | Israel — Israeli sites, often under co.il. | ISOC-IL | Israeli sites | $15/yr |
| .im | ccTLD | Isle of Man — open to anyone; popular as an 'I'm' domain hack. | Isle of Man Government (Domicilium) | gov.im, nic.im | $8/yr |
| .in | ccTLD | India — Indian businesses and sites; open to all. | NIXI | Indian sites | $10/yr |
| .io | ccTLD | Tech & startups — a ccTLD used generically by developers, SaaS and Web3. | Internet Computer Bureau / ICANN-administered | github.io, itch.io | $35/yr |
| .is | ccTLD | Iceland — open to anyone; popular as an English 'is' domain hack. | ISNIC — Internet á Íslandi hf. | this.is, government.is | $48/yr |
| .it | ccTLD | Italy — EU/EEA individuals and Italian businesses. | IIT-CNR (Registro.it) | Italian sites | $9/yr |
| .jp | ccTLD | Japan — requires a Japanese presence for general .jp. | JPRS | Japanese sites | $35/yr |
| .ke | ccTLD | Kenya — open with verifiable contact; short .ke and .co.ke available. | KeNIC | safaricom.co.ke, standardmedia.co.ke | $30/yr |
| .kr | ccTLD | South Korea — Korean sites; local presence for some. | KISA | Korean sites | $18/yr |
| .lt | ccTLD | Lithuania — open to anyone; no local-presence requirement. | DOMREG — Kaunas University of Technology | delfi.lt, 15min.lt | $10/yr |
| .ly | ccTLD | Generic/'ly' — verb-style domains (bit.ly). | Libya Telecom (LTT) | bit.ly | $75/yr |
| .me | ccTLD | Personal/me — personal brands, portfolios and 'about me' sites. | doMEn (GoDaddy Registry) | about.me, t.me | $10/yr |
| .mx | ccTLD | Mexico — Mexican businesses and sites. | NIC México | Mexican sites | $25/yr |
| .ng | ccTLD | Nigeria — open registration; short .ng and .com.ng (google.ng). | NiRA | google.ng, konga.ng | $20/yr |
| .nl | ccTLD | Netherlands — Dutch sites; very high local adoption. | SIDN | nu.nl | $9/yr |
| .no | ccTLD | Norway — requires a Norwegian organization number. | Norid | Norwegian sites | $18/yr |
| .nu | ccTLD | Niue — open to anyone; popular in Scandinavia where 'nu' means 'now'. | The Swedish Internet Foundation (IIS) | svt.nu, pippi.nu | $17/yr |
| .nz | ccTLD | New Zealand — NZ sites; open registration. | InternetNZ | NZ sites | $18/yr |
| .pl | ccTLD | Poland — Polish sites and businesses. | NASK | Polish sites | $6/yr |
| .pt | ccTLD | Portugal — Portuguese sites and businesses. | DNS.PT | Portuguese sites | $12/yr |
| .ro | ccTLD | Romania — open to anyone; no local-presence requirement. | ROTLD (ICI Bucharest) | emag.ro, google.ro | $10/yr |
| .ru | ccTLD | Russia — Russian-language and Russian-market sites. | Coordination Center for TLD RU | Russian sites | $7/yr |
| .sa | ccTLD | Saudi Arabia — requires a Saudi presence, representative or trademark. | SaudiNIC (CITC) | stc.com.sa, mobily.com.sa | $63/yr |
| .se | ccTLD | Sweden — Swedish sites; open registration. | Internetstiftelsen (IIS) | Swedish sites | $14/yr |
| .sg | ccTLD | Singapore — requires a Singapore presence. | SGNIC | Singapore sites | $25/yr |
| .sh | ccTLD | Shell/sh — a ccTLD used generically by developers and Git tools. | Government of Saint Helena | git.sh-style tools | $40/yr |
| .sk | ccTLD | Slovakia — for Slovak citizens and companies; non-residents need a local contact. | SK-NIC, a.s. (CentralNic) | google.sk, aktuality.sk | $16/yr |
| .so | ccTLD | Generic/'so' — short, brandable extension used globally. | Somali registry | brand sites | $35/yr |
| .to | ccTLD | Generic/'to' — short links and creative redirects (go.to, etc.). | Tonic / Tonga | short-link sites | $30/yr |
| .tr | ccTLD | Türkiye — Turkish sites; many under com.tr (documented). | TRABIS / BTK | Turkish sites | $10/yr |
| .tv | ccTLD | Television/video — streaming, video and media brands. | Verisign (for Tuvalu) | twitch.tv | $30/yr |
| .ua | ccTLD | Ukraine — Ukrainian sites and businesses. | Hostmaster Ltd | Ukrainian sites | $12/yr |
| .uk | ccTLD | United Kingdom — UK businesses, sites and individuals. | Nominet UK | bbc.co.uk, gov.uk | $9/yr |
| .us | ccTLD | United States — US individuals, businesses and organizations. | GoDaddy Registry (Registry Services) | US gov & business sites | $8/yr |
| .za | ccTLD | South Africa — SA sites, usually under co.za. | ZA Central Registry | South African sites | $10/yr |
Last updated 20 June 2026 · Source: IANA root zone database & public registry data · methodology. Click a column header to re-sort. Machine-readable: /tld-list.json.
Two-letter vs longer extensions
The two-letter constraint is the cleanest dividing line in the whole namespace. If an extension is two characters, it is a country code — geographic by origin, even when used globally. If it is three or more, it is generic or sponsored. That single fact answers a surprising number of questions: why .io behaves like a tech generic despite "being a country" (it is a repurposed ccTLD), why there is no two-letter .ap for apps (reserved space → ICANN created the three-letter .app instead), and why the shortest possible domains all end in a country code. For the absolute shortest extensions overall, see shortest TLDs.