View source for .de

{{Short description|Internet country-code top level domain for Germany}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{For|The ccTLD associated with [[East Germany]]|.dd}}
{{Infobox Top level domain
| name          = .de
| image         = Logo DENIC.svg
| introduced    = {{start date and age|1986|11|5|df=yes}}
| type          = [[Country code top-level domain]]
| status        = Active
| registry      = [[DENIC]]
| sponsor       = [[DENIC|DENIC eG]]
| intendeduse   = Entities connected with [[Germany]]
| actualuse     = Overwhelmingly popular in Germany and gets some use overseas, also used for domain hacks (e.g. alongsi.de)
| registereddomains = 17,639,014

| dateregistereddomains = 2025-03-31
| refregistereddomains = <ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-04-02 |title=DENIC |url=https://www.denic.de/en/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240402170210/https://www.denic.de/en/ |archive-date=2024-04-02 |access-date=2024-04-02 |website=DENIC}}</ref>
| restrictions  = None
| structure     = May register at second level
| document      =
| disputepolicy = [https://www.denic.de/en/domains/dispute.html DISPUTE-Entries]
| website       = [https://www.denic.de/en/ denic.de]
| dnssec        = Yes
}}

'''.de''' is the [[country code top-level domain]] (ccTLD) for [[Germany]]. [[DENIC]] (the [[Network Information Centre]] responsible for .de domains) does not require specific [[second-level domain]]s, and there are no official [[Country code second-level domain|ccSLDs]] under .de ccTLD, as it is the case with the [[.uk]] domain range which until 2014 required [[.co.uk]] domain for example.

== Namesake ==
The name is based on the first two letters of the German name for Germany (''Deutschland''). Prior to 1990, [[East Germany]] had a separate [[ISO 3166-1]] code (''dd''), and had never delegated a ccTLD, [[.dd]].

== Usage ==
.de is currently the second most popular ccTLD in terms of number of registrations with [[.cn]] being the first most popular ccTLD and [[.uk]] being third. It is third after [[.com]] and .cn among all TLDs.<ref name="denic-stats">{{cite web|author=DENIC|author-link=DENIC|title=Comparison of International Domain Numbers|url=https://www.denic.de/en/know-how/statistics/monthly-analytics-international-domains/|date=September 2018|access-date=2018-10-29|archive-date=29 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181029191836/https://www.denic.de/en/know-how/statistics/monthly-analytics-international-domains/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The first point of registration for .de domains was at the Department of Computer Science of the [[Technical University of Dortmund|University of Dortmund]]. ''uni-dortmund.de'' was among the first registered .de-domains.

.de registrations may be directly ordered from [[DENIC]] but it is faster and cheaper to do so via a [[DENIC]] member ([[Domain name registrar|registrar]]).{{Citation needed|date=August 2015}}

== Registration ==
Previously, domain names had to be at least three letters long. 

There were a few two-letter domains registered before the rule was put in place: db.de ([[Deutsche Bahn]], German Railways), ix.de (the German computing magazine [[IX (magazine)|iX]]), and hq.de. Another domain, bb.de ([[Bilfinger Berger]]), was later deregistered (and after 2009 registered by another company). 

As a result of a lawsuit by [[Volkswagen]], which wanted to register the two-letter domain "vw.de",<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2013-06-14 |author=Daniel Dingeldey |date=2008-06-26 |title=DENIC muss vw.de an Volkswagen vergeben |url=http://www.domain-recht.de/domain-recht/sonstiges-domain-recht/urteil-denic-muss-vw-de-an-volkswagen-vergeben-11382.html |website=domain-recht}}<!-- auto-translated from German by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> after 23 October 2009, DENIC was forced to allow the registration of single- and two-letter domains as well as number-only domains, such as 123.de, xx.de or v.de.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.denic.de/en/whats-new/press-releases/article/denic-eg-eases-domain-guidelines/ |title=DENIC eG Eases Domain Guidelines |publisher=[[DENIC]]}}</ref>

Registrations of [[internationalized domain name]]s (IDN) are also accepted so that all [[German alphabet#Extra letters|diacritics of German]], many diacritics of other languages and the eszett, [[ß]], may be used.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.denic.de/en/know-how/idn-domains#code-195-0 |title=IDN character list |publisher=[[DENIC]]}}</ref>

In many of the [[Romance languages]], e.g., Spanish, French, [[Romanian language|Romanian]] and [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], "''de''" expresses the [[genitive]] of a noun (like "''of''" in English). This is exploited in domain registrations under the German TLD for romance language [[webhost]]s that offer customized sites, like ''elforo.de'' (theforum.of), encoding the site name into the [[Uniform resource locator|URL]] path, such as ''elforo.de/wikipedia'', meaning theforum.of/Wikipedia.

==See also==
* [[Internet in Germany]]
* [[.dd]]
* [[.ag]]
* [[.eu]]&nbsp;–ccTLD for the [[European Union]]

=== Generic geographic domains, connected to Germany ===
*[[.bayern]]
*[[.berlin]]
*[[.hamburg]]
*[[.nrw (domain)]]
*[[.koeln]] / [[.cologne]]
*[[.ruhr]]
*[[.saarland]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.denic.de/en/ DENIC]
* [https://www.denic.de/en/about-denic/members/member-list/ List of DENIC members]
* [https://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/de.html IANA .de whois information]
* [https://www.denic.de/en/know-how/dnssec/ DNSSEC in the .de Zone]

{{CcTLD}}
{{Germany topics}}
{{Europe topic|Internet in }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:De}}
[[Category:Country code top-level domains]]
[[Category:Internet in Germany]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 1986]]
[[Category:Mass media in Germany]]
[[Category:Council of European National Top Level Domain Registries members]]
[[Category:1986 establishments in West Germany]]

[[sv:Toppdomän#D]]