.BE Domain Extension

Why choose a .BE domain?

The registry’s own name tells you more about the country than a paragraph would. It is called DNS Belgium vzw/asbl: vzw in Dutch, asbl in French, two ways of saying non-profit association. The registry writes its own legal status twice, in both languages, because in Belgium you do not pick one. And the extension is old: delegated in August 1988, part of the very first generation, when the naming system still held a few dozen entries.

August 1988

Delegated when the naming system fitted on a short list. Seniority almost no generic extension can claim.

Two languages in one name

“vzw” in Dutch, “asbl” in French: the registry writes both. An administrative detail that says the essential thing about the country.

The English verb

“Be” is a verb: the word lends itself to very short wordplay. Many use it exactly for that, with no Belgian connection at all.

A country code

The rules are set by DNS Belgium, not by ICANN. Check the registry’s current terms before building on it.

Two letters

The shortest anything can be after the dot. The whole address stays brief even with a long name in front.

What it actually changes

• It is a country code, not a generic extension. Its terms come from the national registry and can change without ICANN.
• It dates from 1988. Thirty-seven years of seniority, where the rest of the catalogue dates from 2014.
• The word is also an English verb. “Be” suits short names, independently of any Belgian presence.
• Two letters, the absolute minimum. Only country codes offer extensions this short.