View source for .ch

{{short description|Internet country code top-level domain for Switzerland}}
{{for|the Swiss newspaper|.ch (newspaper){{!}}''.ch'' (newspaper)}}
{{Infobox Top level domain|
name=.ch|
image=DotCH domain logo.png|
introduced=20 May 1987|
type=[[Country code top-level domain]]|
status=Active|
registry=[[SWITCH Information Technology Services]]|
sponsor=SWITCH Information Technology Services|
intendeduse=Entities connected with [[Switzerland]]|
registereddomains=2,564,228|
dateregistereddomains=2024-01-15|
refregistereddomains=<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-18 |title=Domain Names - Statistics |url=https://www.nic.ch/statistics/domains/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240118214737/https://www.nic.ch/statistics/domains/ |archive-date=2024-01-18 |access-date=2024-01-18 |website=Switch}}</ref>|
actualuse=Very popular in Switzerland and also used around the world for domain hacks| 
restrictions=Two letter domain names are restricted to [[Cantons of Switzerland|cantons]]|
structure=Registrations permitted at second level|
document=[https://www.nic.ch/en/terms/ Terms and conditions]|
disputepolicy=[https://www.nic.ch/en/terms/disputes/ Dispute Resolution Proceedings]|
website={{URL|https://www.nic.ch}} 
|dnssec=Yes
}}

'''.ch''' is the [[country code]] [[top-level domain]] ([[ccTLD]]) for [[Switzerland]] in the [[Domain Name System]] of the [[Internet]]. 

== Naming ==
The domain ''ch'', as with other ccTLDs, is based on the [[ISO 3166-2:CH|ISO 3166-2]] code for Switzerland derived from ''Confoederatio Helvetica'' (Helvetic Confederation),<ref name="unofficial">From the online [http://hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/d/D9826.php Historical Dictionary of Switzerland]</ref> the [[Latin]] name for the country, which was used because of its neutrality with regard to the four official [[languages of Switzerland]].

== Registration ==
Made available in 1987,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=EuropeID |date=5 July 2016 |title=.CH's Growing Popularity as Domain for China {{!}} EuropeID |url=https://europeid.com/global-domain-news/chs-growing-popularity-as-domain-for-china/ |access-date=2017-04-22 |website=europeid.com |language=en-US}}</ref> only two years after [[.com]], it is administered by [[SWITCH Information Technology Services]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Legal Info - Internet Domains |url=http://www.nic.ch/terms/ |access-date=2017-04-22 |website=www.nic.ch |language=en}}</ref>

Second-level domain names must be at least three letters long. Two-letter subdomain names are restricted to the [[Cantons of Switzerland|Swiss cantons]], as well as the domain ch.ch of the [[Federal Chancellery of Switzerland]]. 

The only exception has been the former domain of the [[Expo.02]] which was held in Switzerland, www.expo.02.ch.{{Citation needed|date=April 2017}}

Registrations of [[internationalized domain name]]s have been accepted since March 2004.{{Citation needed|date=April 2017}}

=== In the Chinese domain market ===
{{see also|.cn}}
.ch has been of a rising interest to Chinese domain investors for several reasons. According to EuropeID.com, the domain .ch still has many valuable English keywords and short letter and number combinations left. 

A contributing factor may be because the majority of .ch registrations are in German, leaving many English words available. 

In addition, with two million domains under .ch being registered, most of the reserved domains have the European market in mind, allowing valuable domains for other languages such as Chinese keywords in the Latin script being registered at a normal price.<ref name=":0" />

== Domain hacks ==
The .ch domain is very popular in [[Domain hack|domain hacks]], used to spell words and names that end in "ch". 

For example, [[Techcrunch]]'s tcrn.ch, as well as the [[University of Michigan]]'s myumi.ch and umresear.ch.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-18 |title=URL Shortener|url=https://vpcomm.umich.edu/resources/url-shortener/|access-date=2025-01-19|website=Switch}}</ref> 

This phenomenon is not limited to English; to take another example, the domain scha.ch (''Schach,'' [[German language|German]] for "[[chess]]") has been registered.

== .swiss ==
The [[Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications|Federal Office of Communications]] (OFCOM) has begun registering [[.swiss]] domains as of 7 September 2015<ref>{{cite web|title=Launch of the new .swiss internet domain|url=https://dot.swiss/en/news-en/launch-of-the-new-swiss-internet-domain/|website=dot.swiss|access-date=8 January 2016|date=2015-09-09}}</ref> meant to augment the traditional .ch TLD. 

Applicants must currently have a "registered place of business and a physical administrative base in Switzerland" to apply.<ref>{{cite web|title=Facts|url=https://dot.swiss/en/facts/|website=dot.swiss|access-date=8 January 2016}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/ch.html IANA .ch whois information]
* [https://www.nic.ch/ .ch NIC registry]

{{CcTLD}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ch}}
[[Category:Country code top-level domains]]
[[Category:Communications in Switzerland]]
[[Category:Council of European National Top Level Domain Registries members]]
[[Category:Internet in Switzerland]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 1987]]
[[sv:Toppdomän#C]]