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    • .ch

    Country-code top-level domainsDNSSEC

    Overview

    • .ch is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Switzerland.
    • The code "ch" derives from the ISO 3166-2 code based on Confoederatio Helvetica (the Latin name for Switzerland).
    • The TLD is administered by SWITCH (SWITCH Information Technology Services / Swiss Education & Research Network).
    • DNSSEC is enabled for the zone.
    • Registered domains: 2,564,228 (data as of 2024-01-15).

    History

    • Introduced on 20 May 1987, two years after .com.
    • Managed by SWITCH since its delegation.
    • Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) have been accepted since March 2004.
    • The .swiss policy and TLD was launched on 7 September 2015 by the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) to augment the traditional .ch namespace; .swiss requires a registered place of business and a physical administrative base in Switzerland.

    Usage and Audience

    • Primary audience: entities connected with Switzerland (businesses, organisations, institutions, and residents).
    • Very popular within Switzerland and widely used internationally.
    • Frequently used for domain hacks (words or names ending in "-ch") and short/brandable domains.
    • Noted interest from Chinese domain investors because many valuable English keywords and short alphanumeric combinations remain available under .ch.

    Registration Rules

    • Registrations are permitted at the second level.
    • Second-level names must normally be at least 3 characters long; two-letter second-level names are restricted to Swiss cantons and the domain ch.ch (Federal Chancellery).
    • Length: minimum of 3 and maximum of 63 characters (subject to statutory exceptions or OFCOM-approved exceptions).
    • Character rules:
      • Acceptable characters: a-z, 0-9, hyphens and selected extended characters: á, à, ã, â, ä, å, æ, ç, é, è, ê, ë, í, ì, î, ï, ð, ñ, ó, ò, ô, õ, ö, ø, ú, ù, û, ü, ý, Þ, ÿ and œ.
      • Hyphen restrictions: cannot be the first character, cannot be the last character, and cannot appear as the third combined with the fourth character (examples given: "-hallo.ch", "ha--llo.ch", "hallo-.ch").
    • SWITCH may refuse registration if a name is reserved by OFCOM or if the designation infringes public order, moral standards, or applicable law.
    • SWITCH is entitled to administratively block a domain temporarily (e.g., on justified suspicion of phishing or malware) to prevent transfers or parameter changes while proceedings are ongoing.
    • Terms and dispute resolution procedures are defined by SWITCH and OFCOM policies.

    SEO and Brand Impact

    • .ch is well-established and trusted within Switzerland due to long-standing use and local relevance.
    • Its popularity for domain hacks and short names makes it attractive for brandable short URLs and memorable redirects.
    • The availability of many English keywords and short combinations has drawn international interest, particularly from Chinese domain investors seeking Latin-script keywords.
    • The introduction of .swiss provides an alternative namespace for entities that want an explicitly Swiss-branded TLD with stricter eligibility (business presence in Switzerland).

    Notable Cases or Examples

    • TechCrunch: tcrn.ch (example of a domain hack/short brand URL).
    • University of Michigan examples: myumi.ch and umresear.ch (used as short links).
    • German-language example: scha.ch (plays on "Schach", German for "chess").
    • An exception historically noted: the Expo.02 site used www.expo.02.ch.

    Operator

    SWITCH The Swiss Education & Research Network

    Whois

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

domain:       CH

organisation: SWITCH The Swiss Education & Research Network
address:      Werdstrasse 2
address:      Zurich CH-8021
address:      Switzerland

contact:      administrative
name:         SWITCH TLD Administration
organisation: SWITCH The Swiss Education & Research Network
address:      Werdstrasse 2
address:      Zurich CH-8021
address:      Switzerland
phone:        +41 44 268 15 40
fax-no:       +41 44 268 15 78
e-mail:       tld-admin@switch.ch

contact:      technical
name:         DNS Operations
organisation: SWITCH The Swiss Education & Research Network
address:      Werdstrasse 2
address:      Zurich CH-8021
address:      Switzerland
phone:        +41 44 268 15 40
fax-no:       +41 44 268 15 78
e-mail:       dns-operation@switch.ch

nserver:      A.NIC.CH 130.59.31.41 2001:620:0:ff:0:0:0:56
nserver:      B.NIC.CH 130.59.31.43 2001:620:0:ff:0:0:0:58
nserver:      D.NIC.CH 194.0.25.39 2001:678:20:0:0:0:0:39
nserver:      E.NIC.CH 194.0.17.1 2001:678:3:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      F.NIC.CH 194.146.106.10 2001:67c:1010:2:0:0:0:53
ds-rdata:     14051 13 2 abf0b9c56282f0558d59b5eef0f881b7db4f39043972411fdb06e66593a9e8b1

whois:        whois.nic.ch

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information: https://www.nic.ch/

created:      1987-05-20
changed:      2024-11-21
source:       IANA

    Registrars