Top Level Domain
Definition:
A top level domain, also known as a TLD, is a domain at the top of the Domain Name System hierarchy.
Under the
Domain Name System, an Internet address has four elements; a server prefix, a domain name, a domain suffix (or extension), and a country code (the only optional element). A TLD or top level domain, therefore, would consistently follow the naming convention of something such as "http://www.mybusiness.com", where ".com" is the Top Level Domain.
For years, there were only a few top level domains, such as .com (for commerce), .gov (for government), and .org (for organization). (You can see how the DNS simplified domain names; if you saw .gov as part of the web site address, you knew you were dealing with a government site.)
However, because of the explosive growth of the Internet, there’s been a corresponding growing need for new top level domains.
ICANN (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) has added six new top level domains to the DNS, and a seventh new top level domain, .pro (for professions), is in the works.
The "new" top level domains are .aero (for the air-transport industry), .biz (for businesses), .coop (for cooperatives), .info (for all uses), .museum (for museums) and .name (for individuals).
Besides TLDs, there are also country code top level domains (ccTLDs) in the DNS. These are specific to particular countries or geographic regions, such as .us for USA, .ca for Canada, .uk for the United Kingdom.
Also Known As: TLD
Common Misspellings: Top Level Domane.
Examples: .biz, .com and .info are just three examples of Top Level Domains (TLDs).
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