.pt

Overview

.pt is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Portugal. Managed by Associação DNS.PT, it is intended for entities connected with Portugal and is widely used within the country. Registrations are available directly at the second level and beneath various second-level labels.

History

• Introduced / implemented: June 30, 1988.
• Registry / sponsor: Associação DNS.PT (current manager).
• Early management: In the early years the Fundação para a Computação Científica Nacional (FCCN) applied stringent rules for registrations; policies and structure evolved over time.
• Key milestones:
  • July 1, 2005: Support for Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) with selected Portuguese diacritic characters was introduced.
  • May 1, 2012: Direct registrations at the second level became available without restrictions; about 28,984 new .pt domains were registered in the first week after the change.
  • March 2024: Registered domains reported at 1,818,537.

Usage and Audience

• Typical users: Portuguese businesses, government entities, organizations, and individuals with a connection to Portugal.
• Popularity: Very popular within Portugal; historically many companies and individuals prefer the shorter .pt domain as it is perceived as easier to remember and more authoritative locally.
• Common second-level labels and intended uses (historical/current):
  • .com.pt — no restrictions; online registration (heavily promoted by the registry)
  • .edu.pt — education (historically)
  • .gov.pt — Government of Portugal (managed and registered via CEGER)
  • .int.pt — international organizations or diplomatic missions in Portugal (historically)
  • .net.pt — telecommunications providers (historically)
  • .nome.pt — individuals ("nome" = name) (historically)
  • .org.pt — non-profit organizations (historically)
  • .publ.pt — publications (e.g., newspapers) (historically)
  • .co.pt, .lda.pt — company/limited liability forms

Registration Rules

• General prohibitions: Registration is not admissible when a domain name:
  • manifestly corresponds to obscene language or expressions contrary to law;
  • corresponds to a protected Portuguese or European designation of origin or to a geographical indication under applicable law;
  • corresponds to a geographical name (including country names, Portuguese civil parishes, municipalities or administrative regions, or highly notable foreign capitals/cities);
  • reproduces a trademark, name or designation widely known in a way that constitutes abusive appropriation of a legally protected third-party right done in bad faith.
• Second-level label status:
  • Some historic second-level domains (e.g., .net.pt, .int.pt, .publ.pt, .nome.pt, .org.pt, .edu.pt) are now considered extinct for new registrations — existing registrations remain and can be renewed.
  • .gov.pt registrations are handled separately by the Government Computer Network Management Centre (CEGER) and are limited to government entities.
• Character and syntax rules:
  • Length: 2 to 63 characters.
  • Allowed characters: letters a–z and digits 0–9; special Portuguese characters may be used via IDN.
  • Hyphen usage: hyphens may be used as word separators but cannot appear at the beginning or end of a domain; domain names starting with the ASCII prefix "xn" (IDN) cannot have two consecutive hyphens in the 3rd and 4th positions.
• IDN support: Since July 1, 2005, select Portuguese diacritics are permitted (à, á, â, ã, ç, é, ê, í, ó, ô, õ, ú, ü).

SEO and Brand Impact

• Local trust and memorability: .pt is perceived as authoritative and locally relevant in Portugal; many organizations prefer it for national branding.
• Popularity in Portuguese-language web: Historically the .pt suffix accounts for a significant share of Portuguese-language pages—reported as the third most popular Portuguese-language suffix after .br and .com in available summaries.
• Brand positioning: Short, country-specific .pt domains are often considered easier to remember and more trustworthy for Portuguese audiences compared with longer third-level alternatives.

Notable Cases or Examples

• Rapid adoption after policy change: When direct second-level registrations opened on May 1, 2012, roughly 28,984 new .pt domains were registered in the first week.
• Scale: The registry reported 1,818,537 registered .pt domains as of March 2024.
• Government namespace: .gov.pt is administered by CEGER for official government use.

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

domain:       PT

organisation: Associação DNS.PT
address:      Rua Eça de Queiroz, 29
address:      Lisboa 1050-095
address:      Portugal

contact:      administrative
name:         Luisa Ribeiro Lopes
organisation: Associação DNS.PT
address:      Rua Eça de Queiroz, 29
address:      Lisboa 1050-095
address:      Portugal
phone:        (+351) 211308200
fax-no:       (+351) 211312720
e-mail:       luisa@dns.pt

contact:      technical
name:         Assis Guerreiro
organisation: Associação DNS.PT
address:      Rua Eça de Queiroz, 29
address:      Lisboa 1050-095
address:      Portugal
phone:        (+351) 211308200
fax-no:       (+351) 211312720
e-mail:       assis.guerreiro@dns.pt

nserver:      A.DNS.PT 185.39.208.1 2a04:6d80:0:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      B.DNS.PT 194.0.25.23 2001:678:20:0:0:0:0:23
nserver:      C.DNS.PT 2001:500:14:6105:ad:0:0:1 204.61.216.105
nserver:      D.DNS.PT 185.39.210.1 2a04:6d82:0:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      E.DNS.PT 193.136.192.64 2001:690:a00:4001:0:0:0:64
nserver:      G.DNS.PT 193.136.2.226 2001:690:a80:4001:0:0:0:100
nserver:      H.DNS.PT 194.146.106.138 2001:67c:1010:35:0:0:0:53
nserver:      NS.DNS.BR 200.160.0.5 2001:12ff:0:a20:0:0:0:5
nserver:      NS2.NIC.FR 192.93.0.4 2001:660:3005:1:0:0:1:2
ds-rdata:     40155 13 2 b0ed28b7255e9880e7ce4665b75ae7271f7837899057f0d4b897ece2eb1eb494

whois:        whois.dns.pt

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information: http://www.dns.pt/

created:      1988-06-30
changed:      2023-08-02
source:       IANA