.ch

.ch

Introduced	20 May 1987
TLD type	Country code top-level domain
Status	Active
Registry	SWITCH Information Technology Services
Sponsor	SWITCH Information Technology Services
Intended use	Entities connected with Switzerland
Actual use	Very popular in Switzerland and also used around the world for domain hacks
Registered domains	2,564,228 (2024-01-15)[1]
Registration restrictions	Two letter domain names are restricted to cantons
Structure	Registrations permitted at second level
Documents	Terms and conditions
Dispute policies	Dispute Resolution Proceedings
DNSSEC	Yes
Registry website	www.nic.ch

.ch is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Switzerland in the Domain Name System of the Internet. Made available in 1987,^[2] only two years after .com, it is administered by SWITCH Information Technology Services.^[3]

The domain ch, as with other ccTLDs, is based on the ISO 3166-2 code for Switzerland derived from Confoederatio Helvetica (Helvetic Confederation),^[4] the Latin name for the country, which was used because of its neutrality with regard to the four official languages of Switzerland.

Second-level domain names must be at least three letters long. Two-letter subdomain names are restricted to the Swiss cantons, as well as the domain ch.ch of the Federal Chancellery of Switzerland. The only exception has been the former domain of the Expo.02 which was held in Switzerland, www.expo.02.ch.^{[citation needed]}

Registrations of internationalized domain names have been accepted since March 2004.^{[citation needed]}