af-domain Domain

The domain extension .af is the country-specific top-level domain from Afghanistan. It was launched on October 16, 1997 and is administered by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Ministry of Communications and IT based in Kabul. The Ministry has meanwhile handed over the domain extension to the so-called Afghanistan Network Information Center for administration.

Procurement guidelines and use

The domain ending .af had initially been used by only one private person from Kabul. However, IANA lost contact with this person during the Afghan civil war. It is suspected that this person was killed in the civil war. The registration of new addresses was initially suspended by IANA, but resumed in September 2020 due to cooperation with the Afghan transitional government. Access to domains ending in .af is now also open to private persons residing in Afghanistan who can register a domain under this ending. The top-level domains are reserved for private individuals and also for companies with headquarters or branch offices in Afghanistan. For companies, internet providers and educational institutions based outside Afghanistan, there are numerous specialised domains on the second level.

Meaning

Since Afghanistan is still under the protection of the United Nations because the security situation there has been very uncertain since the democratisation of the country and the end of Taliban rule, there are hardly any foreign companies investing in the country. Yet the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, as a landlocked state between Central and South Asia, still has a very great strategic importance today. The country borders on Iran, as well as Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. All these countries are themselves "powder kegs", as is the Afghan neighboring country Pakistan. China also borders Afghanistan.

The importance of the domain ending .af is also very low for this reason, since only a few of the approximately 34 million inhabitants have access to the WWW. The country's inhabitants belong to a variety of ethnic groups and tribes. In addition, the country's infrastructure is still heavily damaged.