Domain names (url address) are one of the quickest and most effective ways of identifying a web page. Learning to read domain names will enable you to quickly identity a web page’s country of origin (e.g. .au, .uk, .jp), and the entity (e.g. .edu, .gov, .org.) that has produced the page.
When you run a search using a search engine, often the full web address will be displayed along with the results. Before opening the web page, you can often check the web address and get an idea of the type of organisation or group who has published the site. This allows you to begin evaluating the quality of the information before you even open it
Domain |
What does it mean? |
An example |
edu |
An educational institution, e.g.: a university, colleges or high schools. (Primary schools also use .edu) |
yale.edu – Yale University, USA harvard.edu – Harvard University, USA uni-stuttgart.de – University of Stuttgart, Germany (Germany doesn’t use the edu domain) |
edu.au |
Australian educational institution |
anu.edu.au – ANU cit.act.edu.au – Canberra Institute of Technology unsw.edu.au – University of New South Wales in Sydney kurnaicollege.vic.edu.au – Kurnai College (high school), Victoria |
ac.uk |
The .ac refers to “academic” and is used by United Kingdom, Indian and Japanese universities |
ox.ac.uk – University of Oxford, England ed.ac.uk – University of Edinburgh, Scotland du.ac.in – University of Delhi u-tokyo.ac.jp – University of Tokyo |
gov (or go) |
Government departments |
defence.gov.au – Department of Defence, Australia dfat.gov.au – Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia deplu.go.id – Department of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Indonesia |
org |
An organisation, usually non-profit and community groups |
alia.org.au – Australian Library and Information Association satsonline.org – South African Theological Seminary |
asn |
An association |
kooyongltc.asn.au – Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club Incorporated apesma.asn.au – Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia |
com |
Commercial or company |
ebay.com.au – an online auction site webshots.com – lovely photographs! |
Domain |
What does it mean? |
An example |
co.uk |
United Kingdom commercial |
news.bbc.co.uk – British Broadcasting Commission bookshop.co.uk – WH Smith Internet Bookshop |
net |
A networked organisation |
abc.net.au – Australian Broadcasting Corporation blackdog.net – a fun, children’s game site |
Some country domains
au |
Australia |
in |
India |
pg |
Papua New Guinea |
ca |
Canada |
jp |
Japan |
uk |
United Kingdom |
cn |
China |
nz |
New Zealand |
vn |
Vietnam |
id |
Indonesia |
bw |
Botswana |
my |
Malaysia |
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