.za

.za

Introduced	1990
TLD type	Country code top-level domain
Status	Active
Registry	ZADNA
Sponsor	ZADNA
Intended use	Entities connected with  South 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	Under development
Website	ZADNA

.za is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for South Africa. It is administered by the .za Domain Name Authority (ZADNA).

None of the official names for South Africa can be abbreviated to ZA, which is an abbreviation of the Dutch Zuid-Afrika. Dutch was considered an official language in the Union of South Africa until 1961; it subsequently lost its synonymous status with Afrikaans in 1983. Suid-Afrika is the standard spelling in Afrikaans, however, the .sa domain is used by Saudi Arabia and, incidentally, Zuid-Afrika has a history of usage: ZAR serves as the ISO 4217 currency code for the South African rand.

Even the international vehicle code for South Africa has been "ZA" since 1936.

2nd level domains

Open and active

• .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 Defense & its institutions
• .net.za - primarily for network & internet infrastructure providers
• .nom.za - personal names, not organizations
• .org.za - primarily for, but not limited to, 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 organizations. New registrations pending .za DNA public consultation process
• .tm.za - for trademarks. 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)

ZADNA removed a number of domains from the .za zone on the 7 August 2009^[1]

• .bourse.za - for all companies which are listed on the JSE 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

See also

• ISO 3166-2:ZA

References

1. http://www.zadna.org.za/documents/Announcement_of_removal_of_listed_dormant_domains_from_za_zonefile.pdf

External links

• ZADNA website
• IANA .za whois information
• .co.za domain registration website
• .nom.za domain registration website