Generic top-level domainsIDNDNSSEC
Overview
.helsinki is a geographic top-level domain (geoTLD) applied for and operated for the City of Helsinki. It was created under ICANN's New gTLD Program to provide a clear, city-branded namespace for Helsinki municipal services and organizations.
History
- Application and reveal: the City of Helsinki's application participated in ICANN's New gTLD Program (Reveal Day noted 13 June 2012).
- Delegation: the .helsinki string was delegated to the DNS Root Zone on 26 January 2016.
- Registry: listed registry operator is Afilias.
- Classification: a gTLD with a geographic (geo) subtype.
Usage and Audience
- Primary users: City of Helsinki departments, city units, subsidiaries and foundations.
- Purpose: to improve findability of official city services, websites and communications by providing a clear, city-branded domain space.
- Scale example from the application: the existing City site at www.hel.fi contained about 50,000 web pages and over 200 eServices and forms in six languages, which the city aimed to make easier to locate via .helsinki domains.
Registration Rules
- Eligibility: domain names under .helsinki are to be granted only to City of Helsinki departments and other units that belong to the City (including City subsidiaries and foundations).
- Cost: domain names are to be granted free of charge to eligible City entities.
- Allocation process:
- The City of Helsinki Communications Office evaluates proposed names for communication and marketing suitability.
- The City IT department evaluates proposed names for technical feasibility.
- If multiple applications are received for the same name, the Communications Office decides which City unit receives the name.
SEO and Brand Impact
- The City framed the gTLD as a solution to a findability and brand confusion problem: visitors often landed on the University of Helsinki site (www.helsinki.fi) instead of City pages (www.hel.fi).
- The .helsinki domain was expected to clarify the City’s online identity, making official services and information easier for residents and visitors to find.
Notable Cases or Examples
- Domain name history cited in the application:
- University of Helsinki registered www.helsinki.fi in 1987.
- City of Helsinki registered www.hel.fi in 1994, which the city described as hard for users to associate with municipal services.
- The City used the .helsinki application specifically to address the confusion between the university and city websites and to centralize municipal web identities under a city-branded gTLD.
Operator
Whois
% IANA WHOIS server % for more information on IANA, visit http://www.iana.org % This query returned 1 object domain: HELSINKI organisation: City of Helsinki address: P.O. Box 1 (Executive Office, Pohjoisesplanadi 11-13) address: Helsinki 00099 address: Finland contact: administrative name: Päivi Jalava, Product Owner organisation: Digitalization Unit, City of Helsinki address: Konepajankatu 8 address: Helsinki 00580 address: Finland phone: +358 9 3103 8427 e-mail: paivi.jalava@hel.fi contact: technical name: Senior Director, DNS Infrastructure Group organisation: Identity Digital Limited address: c/o Identity Digital Inc. address: 10500 NE 8th Street, Suite 750 address: Bellevue WA 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.NIC.HELSINKI 2a01:8840:d6:0:0:0:0:33 65.22.220.33 nserver: A2.NIC.HELSINKI 2a01:8840:d9:0:0:0:0:33 65.22.223.33 nserver: B0.NIC.HELSINKI 2a01:8840:d7:0:0:0:0:33 65.22.221.33 nserver: C0.NIC.HELSINKI 2a01:8840:d8:0:0:0:0:33 65.22.222.33 ds-rdata: 31639 8 2 069a71ef4b12265a44802fcf51b4531dc3835f8fbb68874fbf3565144a12770d whois: whois.nic.helsinki status: ACTIVE remarks: Registration information: http://www.hel.fi created: 2015-12-10 changed: 2025-08-27 source: IANA