.gi

Overview

• .gi is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) assigned to Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory.
• Introduced on 5 December 1995.
• Intended for entities connected with Gibraltar; registrations are made directly at the second level or at the third level beneath defined second-level labels.
• DNSSEC is enabled for the .gi zone.

History

• Created on 5 December 1995 (IANA delegation record).
• Registry/sponsor listed as GibNet (nic.gi). Some sources (ICANNWiki) also reference Sapphire Networks in relation to management/registry functions.
• The registry publishes Terms & Conditions and a dispute policy for .gi registrations.

Usage and Audience

• Primary audience: Gibraltar-registered businesses, organisations and government bodies.
• Common use by:
  • Gibraltar commercial organisations and companies
  • Gibraltar government departments and associated public bodies
  • Educational institutions and non-commercial organisations within Gibraltar
• The TLD has also seen limited use by institutions in Girona (Spain) because the abbreviation "GI" matches the city name; this use began prior to the creation of the .cat TLD.

Registration Rules

• Second-level registrations (.example.gi) are restricted: direct second-level names are limited to Gibraltar companies and organisations; rules for third-level names vary by label.
• Specific restricted second-level labels and their intended purposes:
  • .com.gi — commercial organisations
  • .ltd.gi — registered Gibraltar limited companies (name must match registered company name)
  • .gov.gi — Gibraltar government departments and associated government-funded organisations
  • .mod.gi — Gibraltar Ministry of Defence departments
  • .edu.gi — schools and education departments
  • .org.gi — non-commercial organisations (charities, unions, community groups, etc.)
• Prohibited or restricted uses:
  • Domains may not be used for pornography or activities illegal in Gibraltar.
  • Names considered offensive or defamatory may be denied.
  • Top-level and second-level generic names (e.g. ".co", ".com", ".net") are banned from being used as 2nd- or 3rd-level names except if the registry committee decides to expand the namespace.
• Technical and character rules:
  • One- and two-character names are not allowed.
  • At least two nameservers must be operational and specified at the time of registration; there is no restriction on their physical location or IP addresses.
• Policy instruments:
  • The registry publishes registration rules, Terms & Conditions and a dispute policy that govern allocations and disputes.

Notable Cases or Examples

• Official use in Girona: some official domains for the Spanish city of Girona used .gi because of the abbreviation match; this occurred prior to the creation of the .cat TLD and before subsequent rules restricted new direct second-level registrations to entities connected with Gibraltar.
• The Gibraltar government uses .gi for its departments and related organisations (e.g., .gov.gi).

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

domain:       GI

organisation: Sapphire Networks
address:      Suite 3.0.3
address:      Eurotowers
address:      P.O. Box 797
address:      Gibraltar  GX11 1AA
address:      Gibraltar

contact:      administrative
name:         Jimmy Imossi
organisation: Sapphire Networks
address:      Suite 3.0.3
address:      Eurotowers
address:      P.O. Box 797
address:      Gibraltar  GX11 1AA
address:      Gibraltar
phone:        +350 47200
fax-no:       +350 47272
e-mail:       nic@sapphire.gi

contact:      technical
name:         Howard Eland, Senior Director, DNS Infrastructure Group
organisation: Identity Digital Inc.
address:      10500 NE 8th Street, Suite 750
address:      Bellevue Washington 98004
address:      United States of America (the)
phone:        +1.425.298.2200
fax-no:       +1.425.671.0020
e-mail:       tldtech@identity.digital

nserver:      A0.CCTLD.AFILIAS-NST.INFO 199.254.59.1 2001:500:25:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      A2.CCTLD.AFILIAS-NST.INFO 199.249.116.1 2001:500:44:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      B0.CCTLD.AFILIAS-NST.ORG 199.254.60.1 2001:500:26:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      B2.CCTLD.AFILIAS-NST.ORG 199.249.124.1 2001:500:4c:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      C0.CCTLD.AFILIAS-NST.INFO 199.254.61.1 2001:500:27:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      D0.CCTLD.AFILIAS-NST.ORG 199.254.62.1 2001:500:28:0:0:0:0:1
ds-rdata:     33934 8 2 3db5809de2e1052b00e010f54b404bd59cb5cba0c8306e1799623bda45a1cfb7

whois:        whois.identitydigital.services

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information: http://www.nic.gi

created:      1995-12-05
changed:      2024-06-24
source:       IANA