European domains: Netherlands (.nl)

Restrictions: Dutch domains, Registrants must provide contact address in Netherlands

.nl is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the Netherlands. Registrations are processed via a network of participants. It is one of the more popular ccTLD's, ranked 4th in the quarterly VeriSign Domain Name Industry Brief of June 2008, after .de, .cn and .uk.

It was the first ccTLD ever to be registered. The authority for the .nl domain was handed over to Piet Beertema of the Centrum voor Wiskunde en Informatica in 1986.

Since January 31, 1996 .nl domains are registered by the Stichting Internet Domeinregistratie Nederland (SIDN). Registrants have to pay the SIDN a fee for each domain since April 1, 1996, until then registration was free. In the early days, most of the registrants were universities and research departments of large companies, such as Philips Research.

Individuals are allowed to register a second-level .nl domain since 2003. As a forerunner, individuals were allowed to register a third-level domain since 2000. Such 'personal domains' had the form of janjansen.123.nl. They never became popular, andregistration has been suspended since 2006. Because there are only around 500 of such domains registered, in contrast to about 2 million second-level domains, SIDN announced the discontinuance of personal domains as of 2008 on July 4th, 2007. Owners of such domains will be contacted by SIDN and offered a small fee if they cooperate.

The cost of a .nl domain varies, but depending on the registrar the price is around 10 to 15 euros. 70% of the .nl domains are used by businesses. A survey by SIDN showed that at least 62% of all .nl domains have a website.

Background Information :

Population

2008 estimate 16,440,113 (61st) - Density 396/km2 (25th) 1,025/sq mi

GDP

(PPP) 2007 estimate - Total $647.966 billion (20th) - Per capita $38,994 (IMF) (10th)

National Anthem

"Het Wilhelmus"

Area

Total 41,526 km2 (135th) 16,033 sq mi - Water (%) 18.41

International Dialling Code

31

Currency

Euro (€)

Population type

80.9% Ethnic Dutch 19.1% various others

Government

Parliamentary democracy and Constitutional monarchy - Monarch Queen Beatrix - Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende (CDA)

Language

Dutch

Motto

: "Je maintiendrai" (French) "Ik zal handhaven" (Dutch) "I shall stand fast"

Time Zone

CET (UTC+1) - Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2). The Netherlands (Dutch:, ) is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba in the Caribbean. The Netherlands is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy, located in Western Europe. It is bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east.

The Netherlands is often called Holland, which is formally incorrect as North and South Holland are merely two of its twelve provinces. For more on this issue see terminology of the Netherlands. The word Dutch is used to refer to the people, the language, and anything appertaining to the Netherlands.

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