.GR Domain Extension

Why choose a .GR domain?

Almost every extension is run by a company. This one is not. The registry is called ICS-FORTH, a Greek research institute, and its nameserver answers at grdns.ics.forth.gr: an entire country’s extension runs on a university laboratory’s infrastructure. It is a survival from the period when the network belonged to the universities. Delegated in February 1989, it dates from exactly that time, and has never really left it.

February 1989

Delegated when the network was still an academic tool. Seniority the generic catalogue, born in 2014, cannot offer.

An institute, not a company

ICS-FORTH is a research institute, and the zone runs there. The extension’s nameserver answers at grdns.ics.forth.gr.

A country code

The rules are set by the national registry, not by ICANN. Check its current terms before building on it.

Two letters

The shortest possible after the dot, as with every country code. The whole address stays brief even with a long name in front.

The diaspora

Restaurants, importers, associations, family businesses. The word ties an activity to a country without requiring you to be there.

What it actually changes

• The registry is a research institute. Rare: almost every other extension is administered by a company.
• It is a country code, not a generic extension. Its terms come from the national registry and can change without ICANN.
• It dates from 1989. Thirty-six years of seniority, where the generic catalogue dates from 2014.
• Two letters, the absolute minimum. Only country codes offer extensions this short.