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    • .saarland

    Generic top-level domainsIDNDNSSEC

    Overview

    • .saarland (dotSAARLAND) is an ICANN-approved generic top-level domain (gTLD) in the geographic category (GeoTLD) intended for the German federal state of Saarland.
    • The TLD provides a regional Internet namespace for people, organizations and businesses connected with Saarland while remaining open to any natural person or legal entity.

    History

    • The application for .saarland was submitted and operated by dotSaarland GmbH, a company founded to apply for and run the TLD. The non-profit dotSaarland Association (dotSaarland e.V.), founded in 2009 and based in St. Ingbert, supports the registry and includes the Federal State of Saarland (represented by the Ministry of Economy) as a founding member.
    • Key milestones:
      • Registry Agreement with ICANN signed: 12 December 2013.
      • Delegated to the DNS Root Zone: 02 April 2014.
      • Registration launch phases began: 17 July 2014.
      • General availability / TLD online: 30 October 2014.
    • Technical backend: KSregistry GmbH (a subsidiary of Key-Systems GmbH) provides registry backend services for .saarland.
    • Leadership: Alexander Siffrin is listed as CEO of dotSaarland GmbH.

    Usage and Audience

    • Target audience:
      • Residents, businesses, organizations and institutions in the Saarland region.
      • Entities and individuals who want to promote Saarland-related cultural, economic or tourism content.
      • While regionally focused, registrations are open to anyone (no geographic restriction on registrants).
    • Intended uses:
      • Serve as a regional identifier and common Internet address for the Saarland community.
      • Promote local businesses, services, research institutes, tourism and cultural sites.
      • Support marketing and regional branding initiatives such as the "Umbrella Brand Saarland" campaign.

    Registration Rules

    • Eligibility:
      • .saarland domain names can be registered by anyone (natural persons and entities) — the TLD is open and unrestricted in eligibility.
    • Launch and allocation mechanisms:
      • The launch used phased allocation: Sunrise, Founders Program, Landrush (until 22 October 2014) and General Availability (from 30 October 2014).
      • A Founders Program allowed applicants to register premium names by presenting a binding concept for domain use.
    • Reserved and blocked names:
      • A number of domain names were reserved for exclusive use by the state government and local divisions.
      • The registry planned to blacklist domain names with high potential for illegal use or abuse and to reserve some names for exclusive registry use.

    SEO and Brand Impact

    • Regional branding:
      • .saarland is positioned to strengthen Saarland's online identity, making it easier to target and discover regional content.
      • The TLD was presented as a tool to support local marketing initiatives (e.g., the "Umbrella Brand Saarland") and to help attract talent and business attention to the region.
    • Business and discoverability:
      • The TLD aims to help local businesses and organizations obtain short, relevant second-level names that may be unavailable in larger TLDs, improving memorability and regional relevance.
    • Trust and positioning:
      • By associating sites clearly with the Saarland region and involving regional stakeholders (association and state government), .saarland is positioned as a community-focused namespace for regional content and services.

    Operator

    dotSaarland GmbH

    Whois

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

domain:       SAARLAND

organisation: dotSaarland GmbH
address:      Im Oberen Werk 1
address:      St. Ingbert 66386
address:      Germany

contact:      administrative
name:         Registry Service
organisation: dotSaarland GmbH
address:      Im Oberen Werk 1
address:      St. Ingbert 66386
address:      Germany
phone:        +49 6894 9396 250
fax-no:       +49 6894 93 96 251
e-mail:       info@nic.saarland

contact:      technical
name:         CTO
organisation: CentralNic
address:      Saddlers House, 4th Floor
address:      44 Gutter Lane
address:      London EC2V 6BR
address:      United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the)
phone:        +44 20 33 88 0600
fax-no:       +44 20 33 88 0601
e-mail:       tld.ops@centralnic.com

nserver:      A.NIC.SAARLAND 194.169.218.97 2001:67c:13cc:0:0:0:1:97
nserver:      B.NIC.SAARLAND 185.24.64.97 2a04:2b00:13cc:0:0:0:1:97
nserver:      C.NIC.SAARLAND 212.18.248.97 2a04:2b00:13ee:0:0:0:0:97
nserver:      D.NIC.SAARLAND 212.18.249.97 2a04:2b00:13ff:0:0:0:0:97
ds-rdata:     46559 8 2 ad4f2ac407e370565df690b65cc4db568a2f4396403fab61d2dcf21cf7d2d823
ds-rdata:     48752 8 2 4ca46968a784b92804d8b08d61ffa40a44c037863c90d8318faa32dd7d6f6a24

whois:        whois.nic.saarland

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information: http://www.nic-saarland.de

created:      2014-03-20
changed:      2023-09-08
source:       IANA

    Registrars