Controversial ccTLDs: .su, .ps, .tw, .eh

## Where Domain Policy Meets Geopolitics The ccTLD (Country-Code Top-Level Domain) system is built on ISO 3166-1 country codes, which seem like a neutral technical standard. In practice, the assignment of country codes — and by extension ccTLD delegations — reflects international political recognition at the time of assignment, and politics change. Some ccTLDs exist for countries that no longer exist. Some are delegated for territories whose political status is actively contested. Some are withheld from territories that claim statehood but lack broad recognition. The resulting collection of edge cases reveals how deeply internet governance is entangled with international law and politics. TLD Finder ## .su — The Soviet Union's Digital Afterlife The Soviet Union dissolved on December 25, 1991, yet `.su` — delegated to the USSR by IANA in 1990 — remains an active ccTLD in the DNS Root Zone more than three decades later. This makes `.su` the most prominent example of a ccTLD for a country that no longer exists. **Why it persists:** After the USSR's dissolution, Russia assumed the Soviet Union's obligations and international memberships, including its UN Security Council seat. Russia also began operating `.ru` as its new national ccTLD. IANA began a process to phase out `.su`, but this process stalled repeatedly due to technical complexity (hundreds of thousands of active registrations), commercial interests (the registry had been licensed commercially), and ultimately political inertia. **Scale and character:** `.su` has approximately **1.5 million registrations** as of 2026 — more than many active country ccTLDs. Its user base skews toward Russian internet users with nostalgic or ideological attachment to Soviet identity, certain commercial operators, and some technical/hobbyist communities. `.su` has also been used by cybercriminals who appreciated its ambiguous jurisdictional status, leading to it being flagged more frequently in threat intelligence reports than most ccTLDs. **Registry operations:** `.su` is operated by the Russian Institute for Public Networks (RIPN), a nonprofit. IANA's delegation record still lists `.su` as "Not Assigned" in the ISO 3166 sense, while acknowledging that it remains delegated due to historical precedent. **ICANN/IANA stance:** IANA considers `.su` a legacy delegation that continues only because removal is operationally disruptive. There is no active process to remove it as of 2026, though the Russian government's increasing assertions of internet sovereignty raise questions about the long-term governance trajectory. ## .ps — Palestine's Domain Under Occupation Palestine — officially the State of Palestine — received ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code "PS" following the Palestinian Authority's creation under the Oslo Accords in the 1990s. IANA delegated `.ps` correspondingly, and it has been an active ccTLD since 2000. **Political context:** The State of Palestine is recognized by 146 of 193 UN member states as of 2026 but is not a UN member (it holds non-member observer state status since 2012). It does not control its full claimed territory; significant portions are under Israeli military administration, and Gaza is governed by Hamas. This fragmented political reality has complex implications for internet governance. **Registry operations:** `.ps` is operated by the PNINA (Palestinian National Internet Naming Authority). Despite the challenging political and infrastructure environment, PNINA maintains technical registry operations and WHOIS services. Palestinian institutions, news organizations, and businesses use `.ps` actively. **Israel-Palestine and the namespace:** Israel operates `.il` as a separate, long-established ccTLD. The coexistence of `.il` and `.ps` in the root zone reflects the international community's formal position that both entities have legitimate claims to internet infrastructure, even while their political relationship remains unresolved. **Practical considerations:** Businesses registering `.ps` should be aware that Palestinian internet infrastructure can experience disruptions related to the political situation. However, for entities with genuine connections to Palestinian civil society, business, or media, `.ps` represents the appropriate national domain. ## .tw — Taiwan's Complex Status Taiwan presents one of the most politically sensitive cases in the ccTLD world. The island is governed by the Republic of China (ROC), which administers Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu. The People's Republic of China (PRC) claims Taiwan as a province of China. This contested status shapes every aspect of Taiwan's international relations, including its internet governance. **ISO and IANA treatment:** ISO 3166-1 assigns "TW" as the alpha-2 code for Taiwan, described as "Taiwan, Province of China" — a formulation that reflects PRC's political position. Despite the name, IANA delegated `.tw` to Taiwan's TWNIC (Taiwan Network Information Center), which operates it as Taiwan's national ccTLD. **Registry operations:** TWNIC operates `.tw` effectively and professionally. Taiwan's tech sector — home to TSMC, Foxconn, MediaTek, and the world's most sophisticated semiconductor ecosystem — is deeply internet-dependent. `.tw` has approximately **1.5 million registrations**, and Taiwanese businesses use it as their primary national domain. **The PRC sensitivity:** The PRC periodically objects to international treatment of Taiwan as a separate internet governance entity. ICANN has navigated this by maintaining `.tw`'s delegation to TWNIC while acknowledging PRC's political position in certain governance documents. This compromise satisfies neither side fully but preserves internet service continuity. **IDN variants:** Taiwan operates `.台灣` (traditional Chinese) and `.台湾` (simplified Chinese script) as IDN ccTLDs, both delegated to TWNIC. Interestingly, both simplified and traditional versions exist for Taiwan, though Taiwan itself uses traditional characters — the simplified version was delegated to accommodate user input variations. ## .eh — Western Sahara's Unresolved Status Western Sahara is a territory on Africa's northwestern coast that has been the subject of a decolonization dispute since Spain withdrew in 1975. Morocco claims and administers most of the territory; the Polisario Front claims it as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and controls a smaller eastern portion. **ISO code without delegation:** Western Sahara has the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code "EH," which would make `.eh` the logical ccTLD. However, IANA has never delegated `.eh` — it appears in the root zone WHOIS as "Not assigned." The primary reason is that there is no internationally recognized government to receive the delegation. Morocco's claim is not internationally recognized as legitimate by most bodies (the UN considers Western Sahara a Non-Self-Governing Territory), and the SADR lacks the international recognition needed to make a IANA delegation practical. **The governance vacuum:** The absence of `.eh` means Sahrawi institutions either use `.ma` (Morocco's ccTLD, which the Polisario Front refuses to use as it implies Moroccan sovereignty) or generic extensions like `.org` and `.info`. The SADR's official institutions typically use `.org`. **Implications for IANA policy:** `.eh`'s non-delegation illustrates an important principle: IANA does not create ccTLDs — it delegates them to recognized operators. Without a clear, internationally recognized authority to receive the delegation, a territory with an ISO code can remain without a ccTLD indefinitely. ## Other Contested Cases **`.kp` (North Korea):** Delegated to North Korea, technically operated (intermittently) by a North Korean entity. International access to `.kp` registration is virtually nonexistent due to North Korea's extreme internet isolation. The ccTLD exists technically but is inaccessible commercially. **`.va` (Holy See/Vatican City):** Delegated to the Holy See, operated by the Vatican. Unique as the world's smallest state and only non-UN member with a ccTLD (the Holy See has permanent observer status at the UN). `.va` is used exclusively for official Vatican entities; no public registration. **`.aq` (Antarctica):** Delegated under unusual circumstances — Antarctica has no permanent population and no single governing authority. The delegation is managed by the Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty System. Used primarily for research stations and scientific programs. **`.um` (US Minor Outlying Islands):** ISO code assigned, never properly delegated; the domain was removed from the root zone in 2008 after years of dormancy. ## What Controversial ccTLDs Reveal The contested ccTLDs in the root zone collectively reveal that the internet's technical infrastructure is not politically neutral. Every ccTLD delegation is a political act — recognizing, implicitly or explicitly, the legitimacy of the entity receiving it. IANA's historical decisions about what to delegate, what to withhold, and how to describe contested territories in its database reflect the international political consensus at the time of decision and the path dependence of technical systems that are expensive to change. See Country Code TLDs: The Complete Guide for the governance framework that shapes all ccTLD delegation decisions.