.gov
The domain name gov is a sponsored top-level domain (sTLD) in the Domain Name System of the Internet. The name is derived from the word government, indicating its restricted use by government entities. The TLD is administered by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a component of the United States Department of Homeland Security.
| Introduced | January 1, 1985 |
|---|---|
| TLD type | Sponsored top-level domain |
| Status | Active |
| Registry | Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency |
| Sponsor | Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency |
| Intended use | Governmental entities |
| Actual use | Only the United States government; formerly only federal government but later expanded to include state and local government |
| Registration restrictions | Must meet eligibility requirements and submit authorization letter |
| Structure | Registrations at second level permitted |
| Documents | RFC 920; RFC 1591; RFC 2146 |
| Dispute policies | None |
| DNSSEC | yes |
| Registry website | get |
.gov is one of the original six top-level domains, defined in RFC 920. Though "originally intended for any kind of government office or agency", only U.S.-based government entities may register .gov domain names, a result of the Internet originating as a U.S. government-sponsored research network.
Other countries typically delegate a second-level domain for government operations on their country-code top-level domain (ccTLD); for example, .gov.uk is the domain for the Government of the United Kingdom, and .gc.ca is the domain for the Government of Canada. The United States is the only country that has a government-specific top-level domain in addition to its ccTLD (.us), and this distinction is due to the Internet itself originating as a project of the government of the United States.
.gov domains are registered at get.gov.