.vlaanderen

Overview

.vlaanderen is a geographic generic top-level domain (gTLD) created for the region and community of Flanders (Vlaanderen). Introduced and delegated in 2014, the string is intended for entities connected with Flanders and is administered by DNS Belgium under a service-concession arrangement with the Flemish government.

History

• Origins
  • The gTLD was created as part of ICANN's new gTLD program that opened applications in 2012. The Flemish Government launched a request for proposals (RFP) in December 2011 to award a service-concession to a private partner to apply for and operate the string.
• Registry operator and contract
  • DNS.be (DNS Belgium) was selected and awarded the concession to apply for and manage .vlaanderen, with a registry contract for an initial 10-year term.
  • DNS Belgium worked with technical partners (including nic.at during the application) and managed technical and commercial operations.
• Key milestones
  • Early February 2014: DNS Belgium received/signed the registry agreement with ICANN.
  • March 2014: ICANN reported that the applications passed technical tests.
  • June 2014: .vlaanderen was delegated to the DNS root zone (mid‑June 2014).
  • July 2014: ICANN approved startup information for launch phases.
  • Launch phases and timeline (as recorded at startup):
    • Brand owner (Sunrise) phase: 01 Sep 2014 - 01 Oct 2014
    • Phase for local authorities and organizations: 02 Oct 2014 - 03 Nov 2014
    • Phase for individuals: 13 Nov 2014 - 15 Dec 2014
    • Landrush: 16 Dec 2014 - 15 Jan 2015
    • General availability/free registrations from 20 Jan 2015
• Adoption snapshot
  • By the end of January 2016 there were approximately 7,000 registrations, about 1,000 of which were allocated to Flemish government institutions and related organizations.

Usage and Audience

• Intended audience
  • Inhabitants, companies, organisations and local government institutions connected with Flanders.
• Purpose and goals cited by the applicant
  • Enable domain names closely linked to the Flanders region.
  • Enhance the digital presence and visibility of Flanders as a region and brand.
  • Allow parties inside and outside the region to reach customers with offers targeted to Flanders.
  • Support development of regional identity online and offline.
• Typical adopters
  • Local governments, municipalities, regional organisations, businesses and individuals who want a Flanders-specific domain.

Registration Rules

• General policy
  • The TLD launched with a standard set of phases (Sunrise, local/organizational phase, individual phase, Landrush) and moved to general availability in January 2015.
  • At the start of normal registration, domain names are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to the registry policies in force at the time of registration.
• Restrictions and availability
  • ICANNWiki and DNS Belgium notes indicate the domain moved to general availability "without restrictions." (No additional special eligibility restrictions are specified in the provided sources.)
• Launch partners and validation
  • Sunrise and Landrush phases used third-party providers for auctions and validation (Pool.com for auctions; Valideus for validation as noted in application materials).

SEO and Brand Impact

• Brand positioning
  • The Flemish government and the applicant positioned .vlaanderen as a tool to strengthen the visibility and brand of Flanders online and to provide geographically meaningful domain names.
• Perception and adoption
  • Surveys at the time showed mixed sentiment: a majority of municipalities expressed a positive attitude toward the extension, while a surveyed sample of Flemish companies showed significant criticism.
  • Early adoption was modest: roughly 7,000 registrations by January 2016, which fell short of government expectations.
• Search engines and trust
  • The provided sources describe intended branding and visibility goals but do not provide technical statements about search engine treatment specific to .vlaanderen.

Notable Cases or Examples

• Infrastructure and examples
  • The delegation created the first domain names such as nic.vlaanderen (and the related nic.brussels for the Brussels string).
• Related regional TLDs
  • .vlaanderen was created alongside other Belgian geographic gTLDs such as .brussels and .gent, each managed under equivalent regional arrangements.
• Operational notes
  • DNS Belgium leveraged existing registry experience (operator for .be and participant in other TLD operations) when launching .vlaanderen.

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

domain:       VLAANDEREN

organisation: DNS.be vzw
address:      Engels Plein 35, bus 01.01
address:      Leuven 3000
address:      Belgium

contact:      administrative
name:         CEO
organisation: DNS Belgium vzw
address:      Engels Plein 35, bus 01.01
address:      Leuven 3000
address:      Belgium
phone:        +32 16 284970
fax-no:       +32 16 284971
e-mail:       iana-admin@dnsbelgium.be

contact:      technical
name:         CTO
organisation: DNS Belgium vzw
address:      Engels Plein 35, bus 01.01
address:      Leuven 3000
address:      Belgium
phone:        +32 16 284970
fax-no:       +32 16 284971
e-mail:       iana-tech@dnsbelgium.be

nserver:      A.NSSET.VLAANDEREN 194.0.6.1 2001:678:9:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      B.NSSET.VLAANDEREN 194.0.37.1 2001:678:64:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      C.NSSET.VLAANDEREN 194.0.43.1 2001:678:68:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      D.NSSET.VLAANDEREN 194.0.44.1 2001:678:6c:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      Y.NSSET.VLAANDEREN 120.29.253.8 2001:dcd:7:0:0:0:0:8
nserver:      Z.NSSET.VLAANDEREN 194.0.25.19 2001:678:20:0:0:0:0:19
ds-rdata:     9286 8 2 f04e1190a18d3e63b8fd5261768ef06f8fa5f27f80f39c54aa81753b203e05e7

whois:        

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

created:      2014-06-05
changed:      2025-06-17
source:       IANA