In this article, we will explore the fascinating history of .gb, a topic that has captured the attention of millions of people around the world. From its origins to its impact on today's society, .gb has left an indelible mark on different aspects of daily life. Over the next few pages, we will immerse ourselves in a journey through time to fully understand the importance of .gb and its influence in various areas. From his contributions in _var2 to the innovations he has pioneered in _var3, .gb has played a crucial role in shaping the world as we know it today. Join us on this exploration as we discover more about .gb's shocking story.
Reserved Internet country-code top level domain for the United Kingdom
The domain was introduced with RFC 920 in October 1984 that set out the creation of ccTLD generally using country codes derived from the corresponding two-letter code in the ISO 3166-1 list. However, the .uk domain had been created separately a few months before the compilation of this list. Consequently, .gb was never widely used. It is no longer possible to register under this domain.
.gb was used for a number of years, mainly by British government organisations and commercial e-mail services using X.400-based e-mail infrastructure. This simplified translating between DNS domains and X.400 addresses, which used "GB" as a country code.
With the demise of X.400 e-mail and IANA's general aim of one TLD per country, use of .gb declined; the domain remains in existence, but it is not currently open to new domain registrations.
As of November 2022, Central Digital and Data Office's (see Cabinet Office) intention is to inform ICANN early in 2023 that the UK wishes to retire .gb.