.ga

Overview

• .ga is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Gabon (introduced 12 December 1994).
• Intended for entities connected with Gabon; it has seen some use within Gabon and relatively rare use as a general-purpose domain.
• The registry/sponsor is the Agence Nationale des Infrastructures Numériques et des Fréquences (ANINF). Technical operations are handled by AFNIC and domains are sold through accredited registrars.

History

• 12 December 1994: .ga was introduced as Gabon's ccTLD.
• Initial delegation in 1994 to the RIPE Network Coordination Centre.
• 1998–2004: Administered by the Office des Postes et Télécommunications de la République Gabonaise (OPT).
• 2004: Sponsorship transferred to Gabon Telecom.
• 2013: Partnership with international registrar Freenom enabled free registrations; ANINF became responsible for the .ga domain following redelegation in 2013.
• 2023: ANINF terminated its contract with Freenom, citing unsatisfactory service and missing data from the previous operator. A migration took place from 4–7 June 2023, free domain registration was removed, and ANINF indicated that upwards of seven million .ga domains would be deleted.
• Post-2023: Technical operations conducted by AFNIC; .ga registrations processed via accredited registrars.

Usage and Audience

• Primary audience: natural or legal persons and entities with a connection to Gabon.
• Common second-level labels and intended uses:
  • .gouv.ga — Government
  • .co.ga — Commercial organizations
  • .edu.ga, .univ.ga — Universities and educational institutions
• Historically attracted general-purpose registrations (including free registrations during the Freenom partnership), but such registrations are no longer offered.

Registration Rules

• Eligibility:
  • Registrant must be a natural person or legal entity able to demonstrate one of the following:
    • Residence in Gabon; or
    • Professional, personal, commercial or cultural activities in Gabon; or
    • Any other direct or indirect ties with Gabon.
• Permitted and prohibited uses:
  • Registrants must use names in good faith and for legitimate purposes.
  • Names likely to mislead the public (e.g., false geographical or official origin) are prohibited.
  • Use that infringes third-party rights (including intellectual property) is prohibited.
  • Use as a registry-like commercial service (offering third-level registrations) is forbidden.
  • Prohibited activities include distribution of malware, botnet misuse, phishing, piracy, fraudulent or deceptive practices, counterfeiting, and other activities contrary to law.
  • Registration for the sole purpose of selling or reselling a name is disallowed.
  • Use that may damage the reputation or image of the Gabonese state and its representatives is prohibited.
• Reserved names:
  • Names of public authorities, variants or abbreviations, and names directly or indirectly associated with specified public services are reserved for those authorities.
• Characters allowed:
  • Numbers, letters and hyphens are accepted; French-language characters are subject to the registry's syntax standards (sources note exceptions for accented and special characters).
• Dispute policy: .ga uses the UDRP (Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy).

SEO and Brand Impact

• Free-registration period (via Freenom) led to widespread free .ga registrations; those free-domain arrangements meant such registrations could be revoked and were not always treated as traditional registrant agreements.
• In 2023 ANINF ended the Freenom contract, removed free registrations and carried out a migration; these changes and the stated deletion of millions of domains represent a significant reassertion of registry control and affect the domain's availability and brand positioning.
• Technical operation by AFNIC and sales through accredited registrars indicate a move toward a more controlled, registrar-based model.

Notable Cases or Examples

• Kim Dotcom / me.ga: Kim Dotcom attempted to register me.ga for a relaunched Megaupload site; the registration was suspended by Gabonese authorities, who stated Gabon would not host platforms aimed at violating copyrights.
• Second-level namespace: the registry publishes intended second-level domains such as .gouv.ga, .co.ga, .edu.ga and .univ.ga for government, commercial and educational uses respectively.

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

domain:       GA

organisation: Agence Nationale des Infrastructures Numériques et des Fréquences (ANINF)
address:      Cours Pasteur, (Immeuble de la Solde)
address:      BP 798
address:      Libreville
address:      Gabon

contact:      administrative
name:         TLD Admin Contact
organisation: Agence Nationale des Infrastructures Numériques et des Fréquences (ANINF)
address:      Cours Pasteur, (Immeuble de la Solde)
address:      BP 798
address:      Libreville
address:      Gabon
phone:        +241 01 76 32 49
e-mail:       cctldga-admin@nic.ga

contact:      technical
name:         Manager ICT
organisation: Agence Nationale des Infrastructures Numériques et des Fréquences (ANINF)
address:      Cours Pasteur, (Immeuble de la Solde)
address:      BP 798
address:      Libreville
address:      Gabon
phone:        +241 01 76 32 49
e-mail:       cctldga-tech@nic.ga

nserver:      D.NIC.FR 194.0.9.1 2001:678:c:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      F.EXT.NIC.FR 194.146.106.46 2001:67c:1010:11:0:0:0:53
nserver:      G.EXT.NIC.FR 194.0.36.1 2001:678:4c:0:0:0:0:1
ds-rdata:     20588 13 2 11e86b193c6f284e61f3af76d42ad754852056e8183097a30e55ad580fd6a631

whois:        

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information: 

created:      1994-12-12
changed:      2025-06-11
source:       IANA