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    • .al

    Country-code top-level domains

    Overview

    .al is the country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Albania. It is administered by the Electronic and Postal Communications Authority (AKEP). .al is used widely within Albania and has also been adopted externally as short names and domain hacks.

    History

    • Introduced on 21 April 1992.
    • Establishment initiated by the University of Tirana, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Informatics; technical setup performed by CNUCE in Pisa, Italy under Francesco Gennai.
    • In 1998 the Albanian Telecommunication Regulatory Entity (TRE) became the sponsoring organization and defined registry rules and procedures.
    • The master DNS server and administration were transferred to AKEP in Albania and domain administration software was implemented to manage the zone locally.
    • From 2012 registrars began reselling .al widely, increasing its use outside Albania (including as domain hacks).
    • In November 2014 the registry released two-character domain names via a landrush period.

    Usage and Audience

    • Intended for entities connected with Albania; very popular within the country.
    • Also used internationally, notably sometimes in the U.S. state of Alabama and as domain hacks.
    • Domain count: 27,275 registered .al domains as of the end of 2022.

    Registration Rules

    • Registry: Electronic and Postal Communications Authority (AKEP).
    • General availability: Free for anyone to register, though some restrictions apply at certain second-level domains.
    • Second-level domains available (examples): .com.al, .net.al, .org.al, .gov.al, .mil.al, .edu.al.
    • Restrictions for certain second-level domains: some (for example .com.al) are allowed only for Albanian citizens and businesses registered in Albania.
    • Prohibited/reserved names: Domains listed on AKEP's List of Prohibited Names or List of Reserved Names cannot be registered; names matching registered trademarks/patents may also be blocked.
    • Allowed characters: letters A–Z, digits 0–9, and the hyphen (-).
    • Naming rules:
      • Domain names must be between 2 and 63 characters in length.
      • One-character names cannot be registered.
      • Names cannot start or end with a hyphen.
      • Names may not begin with two alphanumeric characters followed by two hyphens ("xy--" format).
      • Internationalized domain name (IDN) characters are not enabled (registry has not enabled use of Albanian special characters).
    • WHOIS / contact verification: As of 1 November 2019, AKEP mandated that all AKEP-accredited registrars verify and update WHOIS contact information for new registrations and registrant contact modifications.

    Notable Cases or Examples

    • A small number of second-level domains were grandfathered and pre-existed broader second-level policies: uniti.al, tirana.al, soros.al, upt.al, inima.al.
    • Historically, registrations were mostly under second-level labels (e.g., .com.al, .net.al, .org.al, .edu.al), but many registrations now exist directly at the second level (example: example.al).
    • The .al zone has seen external adoption as domain hacks and short-name domains following increased reseller activity since 2012 and the release of two-character names in 2014.

    Operator

    Electronic and Postal Communications Authority - AKEP

    Whois

    % IANA WHOIS server
% for more information on IANA, visit http://www.iana.org
% This query returned 1 object

domain:       AL

organisation: Electronic and Postal Communications Authority - AKEP
address:      Rruga Myslym Shyri, Nr 42
address:      Tirana 1001
address:      Albania

contact:      administrative
name:         Technical Director
organisation: Electronic and Postal Communications Authority - AKEP
address:      Rruga Myslym Shyri, Nr 42
address:      Tirana 1001
address:      Albania
phone:        +355 4 2250926
fax-no:       + 355 4 2259106
e-mail:       domain@akep.al

contact:      technical
name:         Arli Minga
organisation: Electronic and Postal Communications Authority - AKEP
address:      Rruga Myslym Shyri, Nr 42
address:      Tirana 1001
address:      Albania
phone:        +355 4 2250926
fax-no:       +355 4 2259106
e-mail:       arli.minga@akep.al

nserver:      MUNNARI.OZ.AU 2001:3c8:9007:1:0:0:0:21 2001:3c8:9009:181:0:0:0:2 202.29.151.3
nserver:      NS1.NIC.AL 194.1.149.230
nserver:      NSX.NIC.AL 194.0.11.108 2001:678:e:108:0:0:0:53
nserver:      RIP.PSG.COM 147.28.0.39 2001:418:1:0:0:0:0:39

whois:        

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information:
remarks:      https://akep.al/e-aplikime-domain/

created:      1992-04-21
changed:      2023-10-12
source:       IANA

    Registrars