.bg

Overview

.bg is the country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Bulgaria. It is operated by Register.BG and is intended for entities connected with Bulgaria. The zone supports both Latin and Cyrillic labels and has DNSSEC enabled.

History

• Registry activity for .bg began in 1991; public registrations were introduced on 3 January 1995.
• Responsibility for managing the .bg namespace moved to Register.BG in 2001; Register.BG remains the official registry and sponsor.
• Domain registration was initially free for an early period; prices and procedures changed over time as the Bulgarian Internet ecosystem evolved.
• DNSSEC has been supported since October 2007, with full deployment across accredited registrars completed in 2023.
• Cyrillic (IDN) registrations in the .bg zone were accepted starting 5 September 2009; policy was expanded in 2022 to allow mixed-script domain names under certain conditions.

Usage and Audience

• Primary users are Bulgarian individuals, businesses and institutions, and entities with a local presence in Bulgaria.
• The TLD is popular in Bulgaria and commonly used to convey a Bulgarian identity or presence online.
• Register.BG operates third-level, low-cost letter/digit subdomains (e.g., a.bg, b.bg) introduced in 2006, targeted mainly at private individuals.

Registration Rules

Eligibility and general rules:

• Registrants may include private persons or legal entities with legal or commercial registration in the Republic of Bulgaria or an EU member state; holders of constituent acts issued by Bulgarian state authorities; entities established by agreements involving Bulgaria; and foreign companies with a registered branch or commercial representative office in Bulgaria.
• Bulgarian citizens, foreigners with permanent residence in Bulgaria, and citizens of EU member states can register.
• Legal entities registered abroad may register via an authorized third entity that meets the registry's criteria.
• Since 25 August 2008, registrations may be made without providing documentary grounds (such as trademarks or company names); disputes are handled by an Arbitration committee.
• Since 1 September 2024, rules prevent applying for more than 40 names under .bg in a single applicant workflow.

Restrictions and reserved names:

• Labels that would duplicate existing top-level domain names (e.g., com, net, org, arpa) are reserved.
• Names of municipalities and districts are reserved for respective district governors.
• Names of countries are reserved for their embassies or consulates.
• The registry maintains an extensive list of reserved labels (examples include nic, register, domain, registry and numerous Bulgarian-language variants).
• Obscene, abusive, or otherwise contrary-to-public-interest labels are prohibited; confusing labels may be rejected.

Character set, length and form:

• Accepted characters:
  • Latin: a–z, 0–9 and '-'
  • Cyrillic: а–я, 0–9 and '-'
• When a label is in Cyrillic it must use only Cyrillic characters and contain at least one character visually distinct from the Latin alphabet.
• The first and last character must be a letter or a number; it is recommended the first character be a letter.
• Label length: minimum 3 and maximum 63 characters. Two-character labels are discouraged unless a hyphen is used between characters (per registry recommendation).

Pricing and services:

• Published registration price is €30 per year (€36 including VAT).
• Third-level single-letter or digit subdomains (a.bg, b.bg, etc.) were offered at a lower cost (€12/year including VAT) from 18 September 2006.
• Since 2024, domain transfers and renewals can be processed fully online via the Register.BG portal.

SEO and Brand Impact

• .bg is the recognized country-code domain for Bulgaria and is commonly used to signal a Bulgarian presence online.
• Historically, higher registration costs and administrative hurdles led some Bulgarian organizations to use generic TLDs (.com, .org, .net); policy and pricing changes have since encouraged greater adoption.
• Support for DNSSEC and Cyrillic IDNs strengthens security and local brand alignment for organizations targeting Bulgarian audiences.

Notable Cases or Examples

• Register.BG is the official registry and sponsor for the .bg zone.
• The introduction of low-cost third-level single-letter/digit domains (a.bg, b.bg, etc.) in 2006 aimed to increase uptake among private individuals.
• The Cyrillic ccTLD counterpart (.бг) and the addition of Cyrillic label support in .bg are notable developments for Bulgarian-language domain use.

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

domain:       BG

organisation: Register.BG
address:      40, Slivnitsa blvd
address:      Varna 9000
address:      Bulgaria

contact:      administrative
name:         Dragomir Slavov
organisation: Register.BG
address:      40, Slivnitsa blvd
address:      Varna 9000
address:      Bulgaria
phone:        +359 52 702562
fax-no:       +359 52 702561
e-mail:       dhs@digsys.bg

contact:      technical
name:         Daniel Kalchev
organisation: Register.BG
address:      40, Slivnitsa blvd
address:      Varna 9000
address:      Bulgaria
phone:        +359 52 702563
fax-no:       +359 52 702561
e-mail:       daniel@digsys.bg

nserver:      A.NIC.BG 192.92.129.99 2a02:6a80:0:0:192:92:129:99
nserver:      B.NIC.BG 193.68.3.232 2a02:6a80:0:0:193:68:3:232
nserver:      C.NIC.BG 193.68.99.99 2a02:6a80:0:0:193:68:99:99
nserver:      D.NIC.BG 194.0.32.1 2001:678:3c:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      E.NIC.BG 185.143.80.1 2a02:6a80:530e:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      P.NIC.BG 2001:500:14:6110:ad:0:0:1 204.61.216.110
ds-rdata:     58606 8 2 305151ebb808cfa54a262403982d4c27e081b1c4accdad4b4d83ce091188b1a0

whois:        whois.register.bg

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information: http://www.register.bg

created:      1995-01-03
changed:      2021-02-24
source:       IANA