Berlin Is The First City In The World To Get Its Own Internet Domain Name

In spite of the fact that there has been a lot of debating regarding which generic top-level domain (gTLD) will have a better chance to survive the domain expansion that just started to form, now we have a confirmation: Berlin is the first city in the world to get its own internet domain name. What this means is that, if you live or have your company registered in Germany’s capital, you can now request an internet address ending in .berlin.

How did Berlin manage to beat its tough competition?

According to the founder of InterNetX, Hakan Ali, .berlin managed to win the race for the first city to get its own internet domain name mostly due to the city’s broad range of startup companies. To be more precise, not only has the idea been on the table since 1999, but the German capital managed to get over 500 interested users during the pre-registration phase.

Given the growing numbers of users willing to give up the .com, .org or .de suffixes, obtaining a .berlin website address comes with a cost of 50 Euros or $70 per year. But do hurry, as the addresses are granted on a first come, first served basis.

.berlin is only the beginning

While the .berlin suffix became available on March 18, 2014, you should know that several other metropolises are in the process of getting their own domain names in the near future. Paris, Tokyo and London also applied with ICANN and are scheduled to receive their own domain names this year.

New York City is scheduled to open its own domain name – .nyc – to large businesses in May and to the large public in October this year. Similarly to Berlin, companies and individuals requesting a .nyc suffix will need to undergo a strict verification and will be requested to provide proof their headquarters/homes are physically located in New York City.