.gl

Overview

• .gl is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Greenland.
• Introduced on 8 April 1994.
• Intended for entities connected with Greenland but available for registration worldwide.
• Registrations are handled via NIC.GL and ICANN-accredited registrars.
• DNSSEC is supported for .gl zones.

History

• Delegated and introduced on 8 April 1994.
• The registry/sponsor is listed as Tusass (Wikipedia). ICANN/Wikipedia/ICANNWiki material also references TELE Greenland A/S (operating under NIC.GL).
• Over time .gl has been marketed and used beyond Greenland, including as domain-hacks and by international services.

Usage and Audience

• Primary audience: entities and individuals connected with Greenland.
• Broader usage: marketed and used as a domain hack for phrases like "good luck", "graphics library", or as an abbreviation for "Gloucestershire."
• Notable usages by external services include Google's goo.gl URL shortener (using the .gl domain hack) and various international projects that chose .gl for branding.

Registration Rules

• No general residency or local presence restrictions are listed; the domain is available worldwide.
• Registrations are handled through ICANN-accredited registrars via NIC.GL.
• Structure: domain names can be registered directly at the second level (example.gl).
• Technical requirements and limits (per NIC.GL/ICANNWiki):
  • A domain must be served by at least two Domain Name Servers (DNS).
  • Allowed characters: letters A–Z, digits 0–9, and hyphen (-) as a separator.
  • Length: between 1 and 63 characters.
  • Registrants must not infringe existing copyright law (trademarks, etc.).
• The .gl registry has stated "no restrictions" in general, but enforces technical and legal terms as noted above.

SEO and Brand Impact

• .gl has been used for branding and domain-hack purposes (e.g., goo.gl), which can make it attractive for short, memorable URLs.
• The domain's use by recognizable services (such as Google's goo.gl shortener) has raised its visibility beyond Greenland.
• No explicit claims about search-engine ranking or trust metrics are provided in the source material; branding impact is primarily through memorable or context-specific uses.

Notable Cases or Examples

• goo.gl: Google's URL shortener used the .gl domain hack (service launched December 2009 and was shut down on 30 March 2019).
• The Pirate Bay: in April 2013 the .gl registry suspended resolution of thepiratebay.gl after it was intended to be used as a primary domain for The Pirate Bay.

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

domain:       GL

organisation: TELE Greenland A/S
address:      Farip Aqqutaa 8
address:      PO Box 1002
address:      Nuuk 3900
address:      Greenland

contact:      administrative
name:         Network Planning Department (NPL)
organisation: TELE Greenland A/S
address:      Farip Aqqutaa 8
address:      PO Box 1002
address:      Nuuk 3900
address:      Greenland
phone:        +299 341255
fax-no:       +299 322966
e-mail:       gl-admin@telepost.gl

contact:      technical
name:         Operations Support Systems Department (OSS)
organisation: TELE Greenland A/S
address:      Farip Aqqutaa 8
address:      PO Box 1002
address:      Nuuk 3900
address:      Greenland
phone:        +299 341255
fax-no:       +299 322966
e-mail:       gl-admin@telepost.gl

nserver:      A.NIC.GL 194.177.224.12
nserver:      B.NIC.GL 194.177.224.15
nserver:      D.NIC.GL 2001:500:14:6049:ad:0:0:1 204.61.216.49
nserver:      NS1.ANYCASTDNS.CZ 185.38.108.108 2a00:fea0:dead:0:0:0:0:beef
nserver:      NS2.ANYCASTDNS.CZ 185.28.194.194
ds-rdata:     11560 8 2 3d44df84c78a82e0e9824440f3e82b402551341dbff3bce72cd786435d15f1aa

whois:        whois.nic.gl

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

created:      1994-04-08
changed:      2024-12-19
source:       IANA