.lk

Overview

• .lk is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Sri Lanka.
• It is managed and sponsored by the LK Domain Registry (Council for Information Technology / LK Domain Registrar).
• Registrations are available directly at the second level and at third level beneath a set of categorized second-level domains.
• Internationalized ccTLDs for Sri Lanka exist: .ලංකා (Sinhala) and .இலங்கை (Tamil), intended for Sinhala- and Tamil-language sites respectively.
• DNSSEC is supported for .lk.

History

• Introduced / implemented on 15 June 1990.
• Managed by the LK Domain Registry (Council for Information Technology / LK Domain Registrar).
• In September 2010 two internationalized top-level domains were registered for Sri Lanka; they became active in 2011:
  • .ලංකා — for Sinhala-language domain names (requires website in Sinhala).
  • .இலங்கை — for Tamil-language domain names (requires website in Tamil).

Usage and Audience

• .lk is primarily used by entities connected with Sri Lanka and is popular within the country.
• Registrants include governmental bodies, educational and research institutions, schools, ISPs, commercial organizations, non-profits, hotels and other local businesses.
• Foreign companies may reserve .lk names but must provide a Sri Lankan contact address (which can be supplied via an agent or law firm) to register and use the name.

Registration Rules

• Registry: LK Domain Registry (https://www.domains.lk/).

• Eligibility and restrictions:

  • Registrations are generally to organizations (statutory bodies, corporations, firms, associations), but individuals may also register.
  • Registrants must provide justification for particular names when required.
  • Certain names are explicitly disallowed under .lk (examples):
    • Names implying patronage of the President or direct connection with Government ministries/departments unless approved by the relevant authority.
    • Personal names (except where needed for professional use such as artists or political candidates).
    • Country names; names of towns, provinces and their abbreviations/codes.
    • Names that are offensive, obscene, or grossly misleading to recognized religions, genders, races, cultures or traditions of Sri Lanka.
    • Names denoting Internet services (e.g., internet.lk, mail.lk, www.lk, ftp.lk).
    • Names for sports (restricted to the authorised body/Ministry), activities requiring government licences (allowed only on production of the licence), or names that may infringe trademarks or others' rights.
    • Names that may confuse or grossly mislead the public or are not conducive to the public interest.
  • Exceptions: some otherwise disallowed names may be registered under open second-level domains, by representative organizations, or by adding prefixes/suffixes (e.g., e-).

• Second-level and categorized third-level structure:

  • Restricted/allocated second-level domains:
    • .gov.lk — Government departments and organisations.
    • .ac.lk — Research and higher-education institutions.
    • .sch.lk — Registered schools.
    • .net.lk — Licensed internet service providers.
    • .int.lk — International treaty organizations.
  • Open second-level domains available for registration:
    • .com.lk — Commercial entities.
    • .org.lk — Noncommercial organizations.
    • .edu.lk — Educational sites.
    • .ngo.lk — Non-governmental organizations.
    • .soc.lk — Registered societies.
    • .web.lk — Web sites.
    • .ltd.lk — Limited liability companies.
    • .assn.lk — Associations.
    • .grp.lk — Groups of companies.
    • .hotel.lk — Hotels.
  • A second-level registration blocks the same name from registration under any of the third-level names.

• Allowed characters and syntax (summary):

  • Letters a–z (case-insensitive), digits 0–9 and hyphens (-) are permitted.
  • Names should not begin or end with a hyphen.
  • Hyphenated and non-hyphenated forms are treated as distinct (e.g., abc-def.lk and abcdef.lk are different).
  • The domain string must contain at least two letters.
  • Names cannot start with the Punycode prefix (xn--) used for IDNs.

SEO and Brand Impact

• .lk is recognized as the national TLD for Sri Lanka and is commonly used by Sri Lankan organizations, which helps with local identity and trust for Sri Lanka-focused audiences.
• The Sinhala and Tamil IDN ccTLDs (.ලංකා and .இலங்கை) exist but see rare use; they are intended for sites in Sinhala and Tamil respectively.

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

domain:       LK

organisation: Council for Information Technology
organisation: LK Domain Registrar
address:      9 Clifford Avenue
address:      Colombo 00300
address:      Sri Lanka

contact:      administrative
name:         Gihan Dias
organisation: LK Domain Registry
address:      Bernard's Business Park,
address:      106, Dutugemunu Street
address:      Dehiwala 10350
address:      Sri Lanka
phone:        +94 11 4 216 065
e-mail:       gihan@domains.lk

contact:      technical
name:         Hostmaster
organisation: LK Domain Registry
address:      Bernard's Business Park,
address:      106, Dutugemunu Street
address:      Dehiwala 10350
address:      Sri Lanka
phone:        +94 11 4 216 061
e-mail:       hostmaster@domains.lk

nserver:      D.NIC.LK 123.231.6.18 2402:4000:479:c5:0:0:0:a
nserver:      H.NIC.LK 2404:8a00:0:a00:0:0:0:4005 43.252.12.206
nserver:      M.NIC.LK 202.129.235.229 2407:c00:21:8:202:129:235:229
nserver:      NS1.AC.LK 192.248.1.162 2401:dd00:1:0:0:0:0:162
nserver:      P.NIC.LK 2001:500:14:6027:ad:0:0:1 204.61.216.27
nserver:      PENDRAGON.CS.PURDUE.EDU 128.10.2.5
nserver:      T.NIC.LK 203.94.66.129 2402:d000:100c:0:0:0:0:129
nserver:      Z.NIC.LK 185.38.108.108 2a00:fea0:dead:0:0:0:0:beef
ds-rdata:     11103 13 2 7501eacaa82e0c06362c68bcdb7f794d5c050eac50417c298884ad69cb3055d4

whois:        

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information: http://www.domains.lk/

created:      1990-06-15
changed:      2025-08-04
source:       IANA