.us

Q: What is .us used for?

The country-code TLD for the United States. Less popular than .com for American businesses due to .com's global dominance, but used by government agencies, local businesses, and URL shorteners.

Q: Who can register a .us domain?

Registrants must be US citizens, residents, or organizations.

Q: Who manages the .us top-level domain?

The .us TLD is managed by GoDaddy Registry (operated under NTIA authorization), which is responsible for the registry operations and maintaining the zone file.

Abstract

American companies overwhelmingly prefer .com, which has left the United States country code in an unusual position: large by absolute count at roughly 1.8 million domains, yet marginal relative to the size of the market it represents. GoDaddy Registry operates it under NTIA authorization. A nexus requirement applies, restricting registration to US citizens, residents, and organizations. Heaviest use comes from state and local government bodies, regional businesses, and URL shorteners exploiting the short string.