.za

.za

Introduced	7 November 1990
TLDtype	Country code top-level domain
Status	Active
Registry	ZA Central Registry
Sponsor	ZADNA
Intended use	Entities connected withSouth Africa
Actual use	Popular in South Africa
Registration restrictions	None in.co.za;various restrictions in other subdomains
Structure	Registrations are only taken at third level beneath various second-level labels
Documents	Articles of Association of ZADNA
Dispute policies	Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR),Additional information
Registry website	registry.net.za

.zais theInternetcountry codetop-level domain(ccTLD) forSouth Africa.The.za namespace is managed and regulated by the.za Domain Name Authority (ZADNA).Most domains are registered under thesecond-level domain.co.za.

ZA is an abbreviation of theDutchname for the country:Zuid-Afrika.

Management

None of theofficial names for South Africacan be abbreviated to ZA, which is an abbreviation of theDutchZuid-Afrika.Dutch was considered an official language in theUnion of South Africauntil 1961; it subsequently lost itssynonymousstatus withAfrikaansin 1983.Suid-Afrikais the standard spelling in Afrikaans, but the.sadomain is used bySaudi Arabia.Zuid-Afrikahas a history of usage: theinternational vehicle codefor South Africa has been "ZA" since 1936.ZARserves as theISO 4217currency code for theSouth African rand.South Africanaircraft registrationprefixes also start withZ.

Second-level domains

.ZA has a Second Level Domain (SLD) Structure.

Approved

• .ac.za:South African academic and tertiary societies
• .co.za:general use by South African and non-South African persons and entities
• .edu.za:South African further education training and private colleges
• .gov.za:South African government & its departments and entities
• .law.za:South African legal firms
• .mil.za:South African Department of Defence& its institutions
• .net.za:primarily for network & internet infrastructure providers
• .nom.za:personal names, not organisations
• .org.za:primarily for South African non-commercial entities.
• .school.za:for schools in South Africa
  • .ecape.school.za:Eastern Cape
  • .fs.school.za:Free State
  • .gp.school.za:Gauteng
  • .kzn.school.za:Kwazulu-Natal
  • .mpm.school.za:Mpumalanga
  • .ncape.school.za:Northern Cape
  • .lp.school.za:Limpopo
  • .nw.school.za:North West
  • .wcape.school.za:Western Cape
• .web.za:general use by South Africans & non–South Africans

Dormant

• .alt.za:Historical registrants
• .ngo.za:for non-governmental organisations. New registrations pending.za DNA public consultation process
• .tm.za:fortrademarks.On hold pending establishment of the.ZA DNA

Private

• .agric.za:ARC & Company
• .grondar.za:Mark R V Murray
• .nis.za:Network Information Systems

Former (deleted)

ZADNAremoved a number of domains from the.za zone on 7 August 2009:

• .bourse.za:for all companies which are listed on theJSE Securities Exchange
• .city.za:for municipal governments
• .cybernet.za:Infront Investments Five cc
• .db.za:De Beers
• .iaccess.za:Compustat
• .imt.za:Institute for Maritime Technology
• .inca.za:Internetworking Cape
• .landesign.za:Lan Design (no longer exists)
• .olivetti.za:Olivetti/Mark Elkins
• .pix.za:Proxima Information Exchange

Statistics

Currently around 29.39% of the.za internet is served via secured HTTPS protocol, with theLet's EncryptAuthority X3 being the most popular SSL certificate.Apache is the most popular web server, serving 66.56% of the.za domains, followed by Microsoft-IIS serving 11.60% of the total.za domains.The most common 1st character in domain names is "c", with 10.76% of.za domains starting with this character.

See also

• .africathe officially designated top-level domain (TLD) for theAfricanandPan Africandomains

External links

• ZADNA website
• IANA.za whois information