Introduced 1990 Actual use Popular in Hong Kong | Status Active | |
TLD type Country code top-level domain Registry Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Ltd. Intended use Entities connected with:
Hong Kong
(1990–1997)
Hong Kong
(1997–present) | ||
.hk is the designated Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Hong Kong. Although Hong Kong is part of the People's Republic of China, the transitional "One Country, Two Systems" policy allows Hong Kong to retain a separate top-level domain distinct from the mainland .cn. Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation (HKIRC) is the only organization endorsed by the Hong Kong Government to undertake the administration of 'hk' domain names. Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation (HKIRC) is a non-profit making, non-statutory, member-based corporation established in 2001.
Contents
Map of Hong Kong
History
From its inception in 1990 until 2002, the domain was administered by the Joint University Computer Centre. In 2002, through a "Memorandum of Understanding" with the Hong Kong government, HKIRC took over the administration of '.hk', while the Hong Kong Domain Name Registration Corporation Limited (HKDNR), its wholly owned subsidiary of HKIRC, is responsible for the day-to-day management of the registration service for Specific '.hk' Domain Names and Generic '.hk' Domain Name (e.g., www.myname.hk). '.hk' domain names can be registered at both the second and third level.
On June 25, 2010, ICANN approved the use of the internationalized country code top-level domain .香港 (hongkong in simplified Chinese characters and traditional Chinese characters; DNS name: .xn--j6w193g) by HKIRC. This TLD was added to the DNS in July 2010. The Pre Launch Priority Registration for .香港 was started on February 22, 2011. The first .香港 domain was activated on March 23, 2011. 香港 domain categories were opened for public registration since May 31, 2011.
Domain categories
A Chinese domain name must contain at least one Chinese character while English domain names must not contain any Chinese characters. All domain names could contain English letters, Arabic numerals (0-9) and hyphen.
Accredited registrars
As of December 06,2016.