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    • .ελ

    Country-code top-level domains

    Overview

    • .ελ is the internationalized country-code top-level domain (IDN ccTLD) that represents Greece in the Greek script.
    • The ASCII-Compatible Encoding (ACE) for .ελ is xn--qxam. The Unicode code points are U+03B5 U+03BB.
    • The string transliterates to "el" in English and is expressed using the Greek script.
    • Registry operator: ICS-FORTH GR.

    History

    • 2010: An application was made to the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process to recognize the string "ελ" for Greece.
    • Initial review by the IDN ccTLD Fast Track DNS Stability Panel rejected the candidate string due to concerns about visual similarity to Latin letters (notably potential confusion with "ea"/"EA").
    • October 2014: The Extended Process Similarity Review Panel (EPSRP) found that the candidate string was not confusingly similar to any ISO 3166-1 entries.
    • May 4, 2015: ICANN announced that the proposed IDN ccTLD string for Greece passed string evaluation.
    • June 9, 2015: ICS-FORTH GR requested delegation of .ελ and the delegation was granted. The TLD was implemented in May 2015.

    Usage and Audience

    • Intended audience: Greek-language websites, entities and individuals wishing to use domain names in the Greek alphabet.
    • .ελ serves organizations and people in Greece as well as foreign registrants that want Greek-script domains.
    • It provides a native-script alternative to the ASCII ccTLD .gr for Greek-speaking users.

    Registration Rules

    • Eligible registrants: Natural or legal persons, Greek or foreign, whether established in Greece or not.
    • Character rules (summary):
      • Domain names may consist of Greek alphabet alphanumeric characters (Α–Ω, α–ω, 0–9) encoded via Punycode, plus the special characters "-" (hyphen) and "." (dot) as applicable.
      • Alternatively, names may combine Latin alphabet alphanumeric characters (A–Z, a–z, 0–9) in their variable field with Greek alphabet characters (encoded in Punycode) in their non-variable field, plus the special characters "-" and ".".
    • Deletion and lifecycle rules are defined by the registry and cross-referenced with the .gr management and assignment regulation (see ICS-FORTH registry documentation).

    SEO and Brand Impact

    • As a native-script ccTLD, .ελ positions sites for Greek-language relevance and local branding to Greek-speaking users.
    • During its delegation process there were concerns about visual similarity to Latin-letter combinations (e.g., "EA"), which influenced earlier review stages; those concerns were later resolved by evaluation panels.

    Notable Cases or Examples

    • The initial Fast Track DNS Stability Panel rejected .ελ because the uppercase form (ΕΛ) was considered potentially confusing with Latin-letter combinations. This was a significant factor during early review.
    • Subsequent review by the EPSRP (October 2014) and ICANN string evaluation (May 2015) cleared the string, leading to delegation to ICS-FORTH GR in June 2015.

    Operator

    ICS-FORTH GR

    Whois

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

domain:       ελ
domain-ace:   XN--QXAM

organisation: ICS-FORTH GR
address:      100 Nikolaou Plastira str.
address:      Vassilika Vouton
address:      Heraklion Crete GR-70013
address:      Greece

contact:      administrative
name:         Vaggelis Segredakis
organisation: ICS-FORTH GR
address:      100 Nikolaou Plastira str.
address:      Vassilika Vouton
address:      Heraklion Crete GR-70013
address:      Greece
phone:        +30 281 0391450
fax-no:       +30 281 0391451
e-mail:       gr-noc@ics.forth.gr

contact:      technical
name:         Panagiotis Sikas
organisation: ICS-FORTH GR
address:      100 Nikolaou Plastira str.
address:      Vassilika Vouton
address:      Heraklion Crete GR-70013
address:      Greece
phone:        +30 281 0391647
fax-no:       +30 281 0391451
e-mail:       gr-noc@ics.forth.gr

nserver:      ESTIA.ICS.FORTH.GR 139.91.191.3 2001:648:2c30:0:0:0:191:3
nserver:      GR-AT.ICS.FORTH.GR 78.104.145.227
nserver:      GR-C.ICS.FORTH.GR 194.0.1.25 2001:678:4:0:0:0:0:19
nserver:      GR-D.ICS.FORTH.GR 194.0.11.102 2001:678:e:102:0:0:0:53
nserver:      GRDNS.ICS.FORTH.GR 139.91.1.1
ds-rdata:     10384 8 2 10a432dbf0112ce38a83ced26f36ce36aac7a3d37cec8d07583c01a5e9fd8ed1

whois:        

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information: http://www.gr

created:      2015-05-06
changed:      2023-03-07
source:       IANA

    Registrars