About .gov domains

About .gov domains

.GOV is a top-level domain delegated in the IANA root zone. See the official IANA delegation record for manager and technical contacts.

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 in the United States. The TLD is administered by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a component of the United States Department of Homeland Security. 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), a direct result of the United States federal government's role in the creation of the Internet. gov domains are registered at get.gov.

Who can register .gov domains?

Eligibility is defined by the registry operator and its registrars. Most gTLDs are open to anyone worldwide. Many ccTLDs are also open globally; some require local presence, citizenship, or trademark rights. Always confirm current policy with the registry or your registrar.

Registration restrictions

Character rules below follow common ICANN LDH conventions. Individual registries and registrars may impose extra eligibility, length, or residency rules.

Length

2 – 63 characters (label before .gov)

Can use

Letters (a–z), numbers (0–9), and hyphens (not first/last or consecutive in restricted cases)

Cannot use

Special characters (e.g. & # @) in standard LDH labels

IDNs

Varies by registry — check IDN support with the registry or your registrar

Features

Operational features (privacy, parking, protection) are registrar-level, not defined by the IANA root zone record.

Registry information

Sponsor / manager

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

Registration services

https://get.gov

WHOIS server

whois.nic.gov

RDAP server

https://rdap.nic.gov/rdap/

Root zone registration

1985-01-01

Record last updated

2026-03-10