.sh

Overview

• .sh is the country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) allocated to Saint Helena (part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha).
• Intended for entities connected with Saint Helena and Tristan da Cunha; in practice it is used widely elsewhere for domain hacks, regional abbreviations and sites related to Unix shell scripts.
• Registry branding: NIC.SH.
• Technical: supports internationalized domain names (IDNs) and DNSSEC.

History

• Introduced: 23 September 1997.
• Registry/Sponsor:
  • Registry listed as NIC.SH (infobox notes it is run by the Internet Computer Bureau).
  • Sponsor: Government of Saint Helena.
• On 22 February 2010 the ISO 3166-1 code for Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha was updated to reflect the SH code used by the ccTLD.

Usage and Audience

• Common uses:
  • Domain hacks (short, brandable domains such as smo.sh, babi.sh, skl.sh).
  • Technology and command-line related projects because ".sh" is the Unix shell script extension (examples include Homebrew's brew.sh).
  • Regional and abbreviation uses (e.g., SH is the official abbreviation for Schleswig-Holstein in Germany; sites like nah.sh, verbraucherzentrale.sh, spd.sh, wahlen.sh use .sh).
• Notable users and redirects:
  • DeviantArt's Sta.sh (sta.sh).
  • Smosh (smo.sh).
  • Babish Culinary Universe (babi.sh).
  • Skillshare (skl.sh redirect).
  • osu! and developer pages (ppy.sh and subdomains like osu.ppy.sh).
  • Popcorn Time fork hosted on a .sh domain.

Registration Rules

• Registration structure:
  • Registrations are accepted directly at the second level (example: example.sh) or at third level beneath various second-level labels (example: name.co.sh).
  • Second-level labels include: co.sh, com.sh, org.sh, gov.sh, edu.sh, net.sh, nom.sh.
• Eligibility and restrictions (as stated in registry rules):
  • Sources indicate direct registrations under .sh are available; specific SLDs (third-level under the listed second-level labels) have residency/documentation requirements tied to Saint Helena.
  • Wikipedia notes: a claimed restriction that second-level registrants must have a professional or academic qualification (apparently not actually enforced), and that third-level registrants must be resident on Saint Helena.
  • ICANNWiki / NIC.SH rules detail:
    • Registration under the offered SLDs is restricted to Saint Helena residents and requires documentation (e.g., British passport for individuals, local company registry for businesses).
    • .edu.sh and .gov.sh require valid documentation proving recognized educational institutions or government entities in Saint Helena.
  • Character rules:
    • One-letter third-level domains are reserved for future sub-domain usage; two-letter third-level names are available (some controlled one- or two-letter names exist directly under .sh).
    • IDN characters are supported per NIC.SH IDN policy.
• Acceptable use and enforcement:
  • NIC.SH rules prohibit use of any .sh domain for sexual/pornographic purposes or activities contrary to the laws of any nation.
  • NIC.SH reserves the right to issue notices and to suspend or delete .sh domains used for spam or other prohibited activities.

SEO and Brand Impact

• Brand positioning:
  • .sh is commonly used for short, memorable domain hacks and technology-related sites, which can aid branding and memorability.
  • Many .sh domains are unrelated to Saint Helena, which has made the TLD familiar to international projects and services.
• Trust and technical posture:
  • The registry supports DNSSEC and IDNs, which are positive technical attributes for security and internationalisation.

Notable Cases or Examples

• sta.sh — DeviantArt's file stash service.
• smo.sh — used by Smosh as a short redirect domain.
• babi.sh — Babish Culinary Universe site.
• skl.sh — Skillshare redirect.
• brew.sh — Homebrew package manager site (example of tech/shell-related use).
• ppy.sh and subdomains (osu! developer and services).
• nah.sh, verbraucherzentrale.sh, spd.sh, wahlen.sh — examples of use by or for Schleswig-Holstein resources.
• Popcorn Time fork hosted on a .sh domain (reported examples of high-profile projects hosted on .sh).

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

domain:       SH

organisation: Government of St. Helena
address:      The Castle
address:      Jamestown
address:      Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha

contact:      administrative
name:         Chief Secretary
organisation: Government of St. Helena
address:      The Castle
address:      Jamestown
address:      Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
fax-no:       +290 2598
e-mail:       administrator@nic.sh

contact:      technical
name:         Technical Director
organisation: Internet Computer Bureau Ltd
address:      Greytown House, 221-227 High Street
address:      Orpington Kent BR6 0NZ
address:      United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the)
phone:        +44 (0)1689 827505
fax-no:       +44 (0)1689 831478
e-mail:       admin@icb.co.uk

nserver:      A0.NIC.SH 2a01:8840:9e:0:0:0:0:9 65.22.160.9
nserver:      A2.NIC.SH 2a01:8840:a1:0:0:0:0:9 65.22.163.9
nserver:      B0.NIC.SH 2a01:8840:9f:0:0:0:0:9 65.22.161.9
nserver:      C0.NIC.SH 2a01:8840:a0:0:0:0:0:9 65.22.162.9
ds-rdata:     55297 8 2 ba339ad6e081dad292a3f473cbdd5adc53a0222769a7c6125f506dd6a813787f

whois:        whois.nic.sh

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

created:      1997-09-23
changed:      2023-01-18
source:       IANA