Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs)

Recently, many efforts have gone into making domain names available in character sets other than ASCII, making the Internet more accessible while preserving a naming system that is globally unique and resolvable. Existing country code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs) are going to continue to function as usual with new IDN country codes extensions created. Existing and new generic TLDs (such as .com or .xyz) are also accepting non-Latin characters in the domain name.

There are two types of IDN domains: partial (IDN.xx) or full (IDN.IDN). With a partial IDN, the domain ending is in Latin-based characters, while full IDNs are completely represented in that language's native character set.

Full IDNs offer an advantage in having the same character set on both sides of the dot. This allows the client to type the full domain name without the keyboard setting being changed.

Many countries have started registrations for full IDN domains. Demand is greatest for Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic, India, and Latin language domains, with more than half of internet users now using non-Latin scripts. Register your IDN domain name before someone else does.