The official “ICANN list of TLDs” is the IANA Root Zone Database — the master list of every top-level domain, maintained by IANA on behalf of ICANN, currently holding about 1,440 active TLDs. It splits into roughly 1,150 generic (gTLD), 310 country-code (ccTLD), a handful of sponsored (sTLD), and one infrastructure TLD (.arpa).
ICANN, IANA and the root zone
These three terms get used interchangeably, but they are distinct — and understanding the difference is the key to reading the official list. ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is the non-profit that governs the domain name system and sets policy. IANA (the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) is the technical function, operated under ICANN, that actually maintains the records. The root zone is the file IANA maintains: the single, authoritative master list of every top-level domain and the nameservers that run it. When people say "the ICANN TLD list", they almost always mean the IANA root zone database.
That database is the ground truth of the namespace. Every DNS resolver on earth ultimately traces back to it to answer "does this TLD exist, and where do I ask about it?". It is why .com works identically worldwide and why a string that is not in the root — like a Web3 blockchain name — does not resolve in normal browsers.
What the official list contains
The IANA root zone holds roughly 1,440 delegations as of 2026, broken down like this:
| Type | What it is | Approx. count | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| gTLD | Generic — open, global, not tied to a country. | ~1,150 | .com, .org, .io, .app, .xyz |
| ccTLD | Country-code — two-letter national codes (ISO 3166-1). | ~310 | .us, .uk, .de, .jp |
| sTLD | Sponsored — run for a defined community under rules. | ~14 | .gov, .edu, .museum, .aero |
| Infrastructure | Reserved for technical use (not for websites). | 1 | .arpa |
Last updated 20 June 2026 · Counts are approximate and change as ICANN delegates or retires TLDs. The single infrastructure TLD, .arpa, is reserved for technical use and never registered by the public.
How a TLD gets onto the list
New entries arrive through defined processes. Country-code TLDs are added when IANA delegates a two-letter ISO 3166-1 code to a national manager — the list grows (or, rarely, shrinks) with the roster of recognised territories. Generic TLDs arrive through ICANN's New gTLD Program: applicants apply, pass evaluation, sign a registry agreement, and are then delegated into the root. That programme, opened in 2012 with delegations from 2013, is responsible for the jump from a few hundred TLDs to roughly 1,440 — and a new application round opened in April 2026, so the list will keep expanding. Sponsored TLDs like .gov and .edu are long-standing community delegations with their own eligibility rules.
Downloading and using the official data
If you need the raw, authoritative list, IANA publishes two forms: a human-readable database at iana.org/domains/root/db, and a plain-text machine list of every valid TLD at data.iana.org/TLD/tlds-alpha-by-domain.txt, refreshed whenever the root changes. Those are perfect for validation but contain no context — just the strings. For a version that pairs each extension with its type, registry, meaning, examples and price, this site curates the 141 most relevant TLDs and offers them as free JSON. For what technically qualifies as a valid TLD, see list of valid TLDs.