structure

This page looks at the shape and size of the dot-nz space - the New Zealand ccTLD.

It covers -

• current 2LDs
• new 2LDs
• the size of dot-nz

Like Australia, the New Zealand space is subdivided into a range of 2LDs.

     current

The current 2LDs within the dot-nz space are -

.ac.nz - tertiary educational institutions and related entities

.co.nz - companies and other comercialentities

.cri.nz - government research institutes

.gen.nz - individuals and other entities not covered elsewhere

.govt.nz - national, regional and local government agencies with statutory powers

.iwi.nz - a traditional Maori tribe, mandated by the local Iwi Authority

.maori.nz - a space for Indigenous-related entities (described here) that do not meet the .iwi.nz rule

.mil.nz - the New Zealand armed forces

.net.nz - ISPs and other entities "directly related to the NZ Internet"

.org.nz - not-for-profit organizations

.school.nz - primary, secondary and pre-schools and related entities

     new 2LDs

In 1997 the Council of InternetNZ (formerly ISOCNZ) accepted a paper on Future Development of the .NZ Domain Name Space, discussed in a historical background document. The paper identified principles that should govern all second level domain names and established a process for the creation of new 2LDs, involving a poll of the organisation's members (ie a few hundred votes)

Proposals for several new 2LDs arose in response to that process: the .maori.nz 2LD was approved in mid 2002 but a proposed .bank.nz - for financial institutions (described here) has failed to gain sufficient support in two polls. A .geek.nz proposal is being progressed as of November 2002.

     the size of dot-nz

As with Australia, normalisation of the web and the introduction of competition in the provision of domain name registration services (with associated lower prices) resulted in significant growth of some 2LDs

As with other jurisdictions, there's disagreement about the number of active and unique names in the dot-nz space.

One claim is that at August 2002 there were around 113,781 active domains - a figure that probably conflates dot-nz and gTLD domains (eg dot-coms and dot-orgs) in New Zealand.

State of the Domain (SotD) and Domains Worldwide claimed in October 2002 that the .co 2LD had 132,264 names. The Domain Name Commissioner suggested that there were 98,992 active names in that 2LD and it's likely that the SotD figure covers all historic registrations in the dot-nz space, active and otherwise.

The New Zealand government claimed that there were 60,966 dot-nz sites as of March 2001, of which 52,693 (86%) had been established by commercial entities.

Some figures for registrations are -

   next page  (administration)