Originally all internet sites in the US were assigned with a .com (commercial) at the end of its name. This means one would know that a site is located in the US just by looking on its domain name ending with .com at the end. This was as a result of the opening of the .com registry to the public which coincided with the commercialization of the Internet which became very popular in the mid-1990s. Many internet businesses added .com to their name and were generally known as the dot-com companies. This happened with the boom of many internet companies (known as the dot-com bubble) that flourished from 1995 to 2001.

Even though the use of the .com domains were originally and officially intended to be designated for commercial entities purposes, there has not been a restriction on who can register and use a .com domain to this very day. As such, presently having a .com site means you can be from any country. The use of .com is now seen as the most popular top domain for websites worldwide.

Many countries worldwide have also nevertheless made use of a second-level domain to indicate their respective countries. This is known as the country code top-level domain (ccTLD). They are usually presented in the general format of : .com.xx or .co.xx, where xx is the ccTLD. For example, Argentina (.com.ar) and United Kingdom (.co.uk). One therefore has the option to use the ccTLD or the popular .com domain, provided that their respective country doesn’t put a restriction on where you can only use a ccTLD only.

Here is a list of international countries with their country code top-level domain (ccTLD):

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Internet Country Codes for Countries Worldwide

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A
.ac – Ascension Island
.ad – Andorra
.ae – United Arab Emirates
.af – Afghanistan
.ag – Antigua and Barbuda
.ai – Anguilla
.al – Albania
.am – Armenia
.an – Netherlands Antilles
.ao – Angola
.aq – Antarctica
.ar – Argentina
.as – American Samoa
.at – Austria
.au – Australia
.aw – Aruba
.ax – Aland Islands
.az – Azerbaijan

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B
.ba – Bosnia and Herzegovina
.bb – Barbados
.bd – Bangladesh
.be – Belgium
.bf – Burkina Faso
.bg – Bulgaria
.bh – Bahrain
.bi – Burundi
.bj – Benin
.bm – Bermuda
.bn – Brunei Darussalam
.bo – Bolivia
.br – Brazil
.bs – Bahamas
.bt – Bhutan
.bv – Bouvet Island
.bw – Botswana
.by – Belarus
.bz – Belize

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C
.ca – Canada
.cc – Cocos (Keeling) Islands
.cd – Congo, The Democratic Republic of the
.cf – Central African Republic
.cg – Congo, Republic of
.ch – Switzerland
.ci – Cote d'Ivoire
.ck – Cook Islands
.cl – Chile
.cm – Cameroon
.cn – China
.co – Colombia
.cr – Costa Rica
.cu – Cuba
.cv – Cape Verde
.cx – Christmas Island
.cy – Cyprus
.cz – Czech Republic

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D
.de – Germany
.dj – Djibouti
.dk – Denmark
.dm – Dominica
.do – Dominican Republic
.dz – Algeria

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E
.ec – Ecuador
.ee – Estonia
.eg – Egypt
.eh – Western Sahara
.er – Eritrea
.es – Spain
.et – Ethiopia
.eu – European Union

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F
.fi – Finland
.fj – Fiji
.fk – Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
.fm – Micronesia, Federated States of
.fo – Faroe Islands
.fr – France

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G
.ga – Gabon
.gb – United Kingdom
.gd – Grenada
.ge – Georgia
.gf – French Guiana
.gg – Guernsey
.gh – Ghana
.gi – Gibraltar
.gl – Greenland
.gm – Gambia
.gn – Guinea
.gp – Guadeloupe
.gq – Equatorial Guinea
.gr – Greece
.gs – South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
.gt – Guatemala
.gu – Guam
.gw – Guinea-Bissau
.gy – Guyana

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H
.hk – Hong Kong
.hm – Heard and McDonald Islands
.hn – Honduras
.hr – Croatia/Hrvatska
.ht – Haiti
.hu – Hungary

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I
.id – Indonesia
.ie – Ireland
.il – Israel
.im – Isle of Man
.in – India
.io – British Indian Ocean Territory
.iq – Iraq
.ir – Iran, Islamic Republic of
.is – Iceland
.it – Italy

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J
.je – Jersey
.jm – Jamaica
.jo – Jordan
.jp – Japan

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K
.ke – Kenya
.kg – Kyrgyzstan
.kh – Cambodia
.ki – Kiribati
.km – Comoros
.kn – Saint Kitts and Nevis
.kp – Korea, Democratic People's Republic
.kr – Korea, Republic of
.kw – Kuwait
.ky – Cayman Islands
.kz – Kazakhstan

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L
.la – Lao People's Democratic Republic
.lb – Lebanon
.lc – Saint Lucia
.li – Liechtenstein
.lk – Sri Lanka
.lr – Liberia
.ls – Lesotho
.lt – Lithuania
.lu – Luxembourg
.lv – Latvia
.ly – Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

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M
.ma – Morocco
.mc – Monaco
.md – Moldova, Republic of
.me – Montenegro
.mg – Madagascar
.mh – Marshall Islands
.mk – Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of
.ml – Mali
.mm – Myanmar
.mn – Mongolia
.mo – Macao
.mp – Northern Mariana Islands
.mq – Martinique
.mr – Mauritania
.ms – Montserrat
.mt – Malta
.mu – Mauritius
.mv – Maldives
.mw – Malawi
.mx – Mexico
.my – Malaysia
.mz – Mozambique

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N
.na – Namibia
.nc – New Caledonia
.ne – Niger
.nf – Norfolk Island
.ng – Nigeria
.ni – Nicaragua
.nl – Netherlands
.no – Norway
.np – Nepal
.nr – Nauru
.nu – Niue
.nz – New Zealand

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O
.om – Oman

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P
.pa – Panama
.pe – Peru
.pf – French Polynesia
.pg – Papua New Guinea
.ph – Philippines
.pk – Pakistan
.pl – Poland
.pm – Saint Pierre and Miquelon
.pn – Pitcairn Island
.pr – Puerto Rico
.ps – Palestinian Territory, Occupied
.pt – Portugal
.pw – Palau
.py – Paraguay

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Q
.qa – Qatar

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R
.re – Reunion Island
.ro – Romania
.rs – Serbia
.ru – Russian Federation
.rw – Rwanda

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S
.sa – Saudi Arabia
.sb – Solomon Islands
.sc – Seychelles
.sd – Sudan
.se – Sweden
.sg – Singapore
.sh – Saint Helena
.si – Slovenia
.sj – Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands
.sk – Slovak Republic
.sl – Sierra Leone
.sm – San Marino
.sn – Senegal
.so – Somalia
.sr – Suriname
.st – Sao Tome and Principe
.su – Soviet Union (being phased out)
.sv – El Salvador
.sy – Syrian Arab Republic
.sz – Swaziland

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T
.tc – Turks and Caicos Islands
.td – Chad
.tf – French Southern Territories
.tg – Togo
.th – Thailand
.tj – Tajikistan
.tk – Tokelau
.tl – Timor-Leste
.tm – Turkmenistan
.tn – Tunisia
.to – Tonga
.tp – East Timor
.tr – Turkey
.tt – Trinidad and Tobago
.tv – Tuvalu
.tw – Taiwan
.tz – Tanzania

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U
.ua – Ukraine
.ug – Uganda
.uk – United Kingdom
.um – United States Minor Outlying Islands
.us – United States
.uy – Uruguay
.uz – Uzbekistan

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V
.va – Holy See (Vatican City State)
.vc – Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
.ve – Venezuela
.vg – Virgin Islands, British
.vi – Virgin Islands, U.S.
.vn – Vietnam
.vu – Vanuatu

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W
.wf – Wallis and Futuna Islands
.ws – Samoa

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Y
.ye – Yemen
.yt – Mayotte
.yu – Yugoslavia

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Z
.za – South Africa
.zm – Zambia
.zw – Zimbabwe

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