How this works

.ai: Anguilla (pop. 14,598, 2024)

About $85.3M a year reaching the government (2025). EC$230.5m per Ministry of Finance monthly figures (Anguilla Focus). 2024: EC$104.25m (about $39M). 2023: about $32M, just over 20% of government revenue (IMF). The tech minister expected about half of 2025 government revenue. Registry wholesale is about $140 for two years, most of which reaches the government. Registry: Government of Anguilla; back end run by Identity Digital (US) since Jan 2025 under a 5-year deal; before that a tiny local operation led by Vince Cate (DataHaven.Net). Does the money reach the country: yes.

In 2018 .ai earned Anguilla only about US$2.9m; the government says the windfall has paid for airport expansion, roads, GST relief and expanded health care for children and the elderly.

Sources: imf.org/en/news/articles/2024/05/15/cf-an-ai-powered-boo · anguillafocus.com/ai-domain-surge-brings-ec230m-windfall · anguillafocus.com/2025-budget-premier-outlines-key-figur · hlc.com/en/publications/ai-reaches-the-1-million-mark · san.com/cc/how-one-tiny-island-nation-is-making-millions · domainnamewire.com/2024/10/15/identity-digital-inks-ai-d · domainincite.com/tag/identity-digital/page/2 · worldometers.info/world-population/anguilla-population/

.so: Somalia (pop. 19,009,151, 2024)

No public annual figure. Registry: National Communications Authority (state telecom regulator) since March 2018; earlier SONIC / Cloudy Registry. Does the money reach the country: unclear.

After Somalia's regulator took control of .so in 2018, the breakaway region of Somaliland banned use of the domain.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.so · api.worldbank.org/v2/country/SOM/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?d

.io: Chagos Islands

No public annual figure. no public figure for any government income; UK government told the House of Lords in 2014 it 'receives no revenues' from .io. The registry company itself had revenue of GBP 31.6m (about US$42.4m) in 2024.. Registry: Internet Computer Bureau Ltd (UK), owned by Identity Digital (US); Afilias bought it in 2017 for US$70.17m. Does the money reach the country: no.

The UK signed a treaty on 22 May 2025 to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, which could eventually phase out .io, but ratification stalled in 2026 after the US withheld consent and the bill ran out of parliamentary time; Mauritius has threatened to sue.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.io · domainincite.com/31401-io-sales-almost-double-over-three · domainincite.com/31642-io-safe-for-now-as-trump-puts-cha · en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Indian_Ocean_Territory · yahoo.com/news/articles/mauritius-sue-britain-over-chago · bluehost.com/tlds/io

.tv: Tuvalu (pop. 9,646, 2024)

About $5M a year reaching the government (2016 to 2021). About US$5m a year under Verisign; .tv royalties were 8.4% of government revenue by 2019. GoDaddy's contract (Dec 2021) is revenue-share based and widely reported at about US$10m a year, but terms were not officially disclosed.. Registry: GoDaddy Registry (US) since 2021; marketing outsourced to Tuvalu Telecommunications Corporation in 2023. Does the money reach the country: partly.

In 1998 a Canadian startup promised Tuvalu US$50m to run .tv until 2048; Verisign later bought the business and Tuvalu earned only US$2-5m a year for two decades.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.tv · domainincite.com/27752-godaddy-formally-signs-tv-registr · pina.com.fj/2022/05/02/better-dottv-deal-for-tuvalu/ · api.worldbank.org/v2/country/TUV/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?d

.co: Colombia (pop. 52,886,363, 2024)

About $33M a year reaching the government (2020 to 2024 (average)). Derived: MinTIC says .co brought COP 507,000 million over Oct 2020 to Jul 2024; that averages about $33M a year. The state share rises from 81% to 92% under the 2025 contract. Registry: Registry.co (consortium led by CentralNic / Team Internet Group) since Oct 2025, contract to 2035; previously .CO Internet (GoDaddy). Does the money reach the country: yes.

Colombia's state lawyers defeated a US$350m claim brought by Neustar (Vercara), the former .co operator, in 2024.

Sources: larepublica.co/economia/dominio-co-entre-los-mas-grandes · mintic.gov.co/portal/inicio/Sala-de-prensa/Noticias/4016 · registry.co/ · portafolio.co/tecnologia/en-2025-abriran-licitacion-del- · api.worldbank.org/v2/country/COL/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?d

.me: Montenegro (pop. 623,525, 2024)

No public annual figure. No annual figure. The state received EUR 41m of EUR 114m total .me revenue from 2008 to 2025 (33% of regular and 70% of premium sales). In August 2026 the government began creating a state company to take .me back. Registry: doMEn (joint venture mainly controlled by GoDaddy and Identity Digital, with local ME-net); in Aug 2026 the government began creating a state company to take it back. Does the money reach the country: partly.

Over 2008-2025 the private operator booked EUR 47m in net profit, more than the EUR 41m the state received, which is why Montenegro is now taking .me back.

Sources: domainincite.com/tag/montenegro · webhosting.today/2026/08/04/montenegro-is-taking-me-back · api.worldbank.org/v2/country/MNE/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?d

.sh: Saint Helena (pop. 4,439, 2021)

No public annual figure. Registry: Internet Computer Bureau (UK, owned by Identity Digital), same company as .io and .ac. Does the money reach the country: unclear.

Popular with programmers because .sh is the file extension for shell scripts; the Mac package manager Homebrew lives at brew.sh.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.sh · sainthelena.gov.sh/st-helena-population-and-housing-cens

.gg: Guernsey (pop. 63,463, 2021)

No public annual figure. Registry: Island Networks (private company that also runs Jersey's .je). Does the money reach the country: unclear.

Discord's server invite links (discord.gg) run on Guernsey's domain, because 'gg' means 'good game' to gamers.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.gg · gov.gg/population

.fm: Micronesia (pop. 113,160, 2024)

No public annual figure. Registry: dotFM, run by BRS Media Inc. (US), sponsored by FSM Telecommunications Corporation. Does the money reach the country: unclear.

Music site Last.fm uses Micronesia's domain; most .fm sites are radio and podcasts with no link to the islands.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.fm · dot.fm/1998/ · api.worldbank.org/v2/country/FSM/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?d

.md: Moldova (pop. 2,402,306, 2024)

No public annual figure. Registry: STISC (state IT and cybersecurity service); earlier state company MoldData. Does the money reach the country: yes.

In 2005 a New Jersey company, MaxMD, bought marketing rights to sell .md to American doctors; the domain is now also popular for Markdown apps like Obsidian.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.md · amednews.com/article/20050117/business/301179991/7/ · api.worldbank.org/v2/country/MDA/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?d

.ly: Libya (pop. 7,381,023, 2024)

No public annual figure. Registry: LYNIC, under Libya's state post and telecom company; Libya Telecom & Technology sells domains. Does the money reach the country: unclear.

Bit.ly runs on Libya's domain; in 2010 Libyan authorities seized the shortener vb.ly, saying its adult content broke Libyan law.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.ly · benmetcalfe.com/blog/2010/10/the-ly-domain-space-to-be-c · api.worldbank.org/v2/country/LBY/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?d

.tk: Tokelau (pop. 2,424, 2023)

No public annual figure. No recent figure. .tk revenue was reported as about 1/6 of Tokelau's income in 2016. Freenom exited in February 2024. Registry: Dot TK, run for years by Dutch company Freenom, which gave names away free and exited the business in Feb 2024; Tokelau's Teletok sought help from the .nz registry. Does the money reach the country: partly.

.tk was once the biggest country domain on Earth (31 million names in 2016), but free names drew phishers; Meta sued Freenom in 2023 and new registrations stopped.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.tk · bigthink.com/strange-maps/tokelau-the-worlds-online-supe · ourworldindata.org/profile/population-demography/tokelau

.nu: Niue (pop. 1,681, 2022)

No public annual figure. no public figure; Niue says it receives nothing and estimated the Swedish registry earned US$27-37m from .nu. Registry: Swedish Internet Foundation (IIS) since 2013; originally delegated in 1997 to a Massachusetts nonprofit (IUSN). Does the money reach the country: no.

'Nu' means 'now' in Swedish, so most .nu sites are Swedish; Niue sued in Sweden in 2018 and finally lost on appeal on 5 June 2025.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.nu · abion.com/the-nu-domain-debate-insights-from-the-recent- · niuestatistics.nu/census/population-housing/

.ws: Samoa (pop. 218,019, 2024)

No public annual figure. Registry: SamoaNIC (Computer Services Ltd), for the Government of Samoa; marketed abroad by WebSite.ws (US). Does the money reach the country: unclear.

.ws stands for 'Western Samoa', the country's old name, but is sold as 'website'; it was one of the first to sell emoji domains (about 25,000 by 2018).

Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.ws · api.worldbank.org/v2/country/WSM/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?d

.cc: Cocos Islands (pop. 593, 2021)

No public annual figure. Registry: eNIC, a Verisign (US) subsidiary. Does the money reach the country: unclear.

An island group of under 600 people has its domain run by Verisign, marketed as 'the next .com'; in 2011 Google dropped over 11 million spammy .co.cc sites from search.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.cc · abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/90102

.to: Tonga (pop. 104,175, 2024)

No public annual figure. Registry: Tonga Network Information Center (Tonic), sponsored by the Government of Tonga. Does the money reach the country: unclear.

Commercialised in 1997 by a San Francisco company with the Crown Prince's blessing at US$100 a name; it later became a favourite of torrent sites.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.to · salon.com/1999/05/17/tonga · api.worldbank.org/v2/country/TON/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?d

.ac: Ascension (pop. 894, 2023)

No public annual figure. Registry: Internet Computer Bureau (UK, owned by Identity Digital), same as .io and .sh. Does the money reach the country: unclear.

Ascension has no permanent native population; residents are there on work contracts, mainly with the UK and US military.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Computer_Bureau · citypopulation.de/en/sthelena/cities/ · cia.gov/the-world-factbook/about/archives/2023/countries

.rs: Serbia (pop. 6,586,476, 2024)

No public annual figure. no government revenue; registry is a non-profit foundation funded only by domain fees (turnover over RSD 200m a year, about US$2m). Registry: RNIDS (non-profit foundation). Does the money reach the country: no.

Popular with programmers because .rs is the file extension of the Rust language; it replaced Yugoslavia's .yu, which expired in 2010.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.rs · rnids.rs/en/rnids · webhostingsrbija.rs/en/?p=6891 · api.worldbank.org/v2/country/SRB/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?d

.si: Slovenia (pop. 2,127,400, 2024)

No public annual figure. Registry: ARNES (Academic and Research Network of Slovenia, public institution). Does the money reach the country: unclear.

'Si' means 'you are' in Slovene, so names like zadovoljna.si read as 'you are satisfied'.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.si · api.worldbank.org/v2/country/SVN/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?d

.gl: Greenland (pop. 56,836, 2024)

No public annual figure. Registry: Tusass (Greenland's state-owned telecom/post company). Does the money reach the country: unclear.

Google's goo.gl link shortener ran on Greenland's domain from 2009 to 2019; in 2013 the registry suspended thepiratebay.gl.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.gl · api.worldbank.org/v2/country/GRL/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?d

.is: Iceland (pop. 386,506, 2024)

No public annual figure. no public figure; registry is privately owned. Registry: ISNIC (Internet á Íslandi hf., private company owned by investors). Does the money reach the country: no.

hi.is, registered in December 1986 for the University of Iceland, is one of the oldest domains on the internet.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.is · isnic.is/en/about/isnic · api.worldbank.org/v2/country/ISL/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?d

.vc: St Vincent (pop. 100,616, 2024)

No public annual figure. Registry: Afilias, now Identity Digital (US); contract originally awarded to Tucows in 2000. Does the money reach the country: unclear.

Startups buy it as 'venture capital'; it is sometimes mistaken for Vatican City's domain (that is .va).

Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.vc · api.worldbank.org/v2/country/VCT/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?d

.la: Laos (pop. 7,769,819, 2024)

No public annual figure. Registry: LA Names Corporation (marketing; registry services on CentralNic), sponsored by the Lao National Internet Committee. Does the money reach the country: unclear.

Sold as 'the internet address for Los Angeles'; the world's first emoji domain (a pile of poo) was registered on .la in 2011.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.la · api.worldbank.org/v2/country/LAO/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?d

.am: Armenia (pop. 3,033,500, 2024)

No public annual figure. no public figure; revenue goes to the Internet Society of Armenia's budget via its company ITC (per a 2013 ISOC post). Registry: AMNIC, run by ISOC-AM (Internet Society Armenia, non-profit). Does the money reach the country: partly.

AM radio stations buy Armenia's domain; over 62% of .am names are still registered from Armenia.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.am · elists.isoc.org/pipermail/chapter-delegates/2013-May/012 · isoc.am/?p=11290 · api.worldbank.org/v2/country/ARM/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?d