uk domain Domain

.uk The domain for the United Kingdom

The domain .uk is a country specific top level domain. It was introduced on 24 July 1985 and is valid for the United Kingdom. It is administered by Nominet, a British registrar. After .com, .cn, .net and .de, the United Kingdom domain is the fifth most popular top-level domain.

In total there are over 19 million websites registered under the domain. Direct registration is possible since 10 June 2014. Depending on the subject area of the website, a second level domain can also be registered. However, some of these can only be registered by certain persons or organisations. With the sub-domain .me, however, greater care is taken to ensure that these are actually natural persons.

The sub-levels .co.uk, .org.uk and .me.uk are particularly popular. Although these are intended for specific purposes, compliance is not binding. For example, .co.uk can also be used by private individuals. The allocation of domain names is based on a strict "first-come, first-serverd" principle as long as the applicant is qualified.

Although it is a country specific domain, there are no territorial restrictions. This means that you do not have to be connected to the United Kingdom to use this domain. However, it is desirable that it be used mainly by website operators from the United Kingdom, which includes England, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland.

The sub-domain .nic.uk, unlike the other sub-domains, cannot be used by the public, as it is exclusively reserved for the network use of Nominet UK. Furthermore, different domains belonging to the domain are subject to increased controls. This is the case if they are administered and used by government authorities. The domain is subject to payment since 2019. Payment of the applicable fee is made annually.

According to the registrar, the main reason for using the geographical domain is that potential buyers have more confidence in the companies in their own country. By using the domain, a company signals that it actually belongs to the United Kingdom, even if this is not necessarily the case.
The sub-domains for the Welsh Internet community .cym, which fall under the top domain, as well as those for Scotland, which were applied for as .scot for general purposes or .sco or .soc, were rejected by the operator Nominet as early as 2014.