.gr
 |
|
| Introduced | 1989 |
|---|---|
| TLD type | Country code top-level domain |
| Status | Active |
| Registry | FORTH-ICS |
| Sponsor | FORTH |
| Intended use | Entities connected with  Greece |
| Actual use | Very popular in Greece |
| Registration restrictions | second-level domains and .com.gr domain names may be registered without restrictions; some restrictions apply on some of the specific subdomains |
| Structure | Registrations are taken directly at the second level or at the third level beneath various second-level subdomains |
| Documents | Rules & regulations (el) |
| Website | .gr Registry |
| DNSSEC | yes |
| Introduced | not yet |
|---|---|
| TLD type | Internationalized country code top-level domain |
| Status | Not introduced |
| Intended use | Entities connected with Greece |
| Actual use | Not yet |
| Registration restrictions | Should be used with subdomains in the Greek alphabet |
.gr is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Greece. Registrations are processed via accredited registrars and domain names in Greek characters may also be registered.
Second level domains
There are eight official second level domains:
- com.gr: for those engaging in commercial activities.
- edu.gr: for educational institutions.
- net.gr: Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and network providers.
- org.gr: non-profit organizations.
- gov.gr: exclusively for governmental organizations.
- mil.gr: exclusively for military purposes.
- mod.gr: Ministry of Defence
- sch.gr: local education authorities, schools, primary and secondary education, community education.
There are some other not official second level domains that belong to registrars offering third level domain name registrations.
- co.gr: for commercial use (extremely rare use).[1]
Alternative top domain
Greece applied for the internationalized country code top-level domain (IDN ccTLD) .ελ (.ΕΛ in capital letters) for domain names composed of letters of the Greek alphabet. This was turned down by ICANN in April 2011 because it was too similar visually to .EA in Latin letters; ICANN had concerns that Web users who are unfamiliar with the Greek alphabet might be tricked into visiting a Web site masquerading as a site in the .ea TLD should ICANN ever implement such a TLD.[2] Any Latin two-letter combination is or might be used for ISO 3166-1 codes. Therefore, two-letter codes visually similar to Latin letters are not allowed, but three-letter codes such as .укр for Ukraine are allowed. As of 2012, the .ea top-level domain is not allocated but EA is an exceptionally reserved ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code element (Ceuta & Melilla). In 2014 ICANN decided to allow Greece to have the domain .ελ.[3] As of June 2015 the right to this top domain has not been handed over to Greece.
