About .is domains

About .is domains

.IS is a country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) in the DNS root zone. It is designated for Iceland. The IANA root zone lists the registry manager as ISNIC - Internet á Íslandi hf.. Registration policies (who may register, local presence, pricing) are set by the registry and its accredited registrars — not by IANA.

.is (dot is) is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Iceland. The country code is derived from the first two letters of Ísland, which is the Icelandic word for Iceland. Registration of .is domains is open to all people and companies without any special restriction. The first .is domain, hi.is, is the domain of Háskóli Íslands (University of Iceland). It was registered on 11 December 1986, making it one of the earliest ever domain registrations on the Internet. The domain is managed by ISNIC, a private corporation. According to the McAfee report "Mapping the Mal Web," .is was evaluated as one of the top 10 most secure TLDs in the world in the years 2007 and 2008. As of May 2024, there were just over 91,000 .is domains registered. As of October 2016, .is domains can be registered for up to five years.

Who can register .is 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 .is)

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

ISNIC - Internet á Íslandi hf.

Registration services

https://www.isnic.is/

WHOIS server

whois.isnic.is

RDAP server

https://rdap.isnic.is/rdap/

Root zone registration

1987-11-18

Record last updated

2026-02-18