What is .bj?
A little context on Benin: the capital is Porto-Novo, the main language is French, the currency is the West African CFA franc (XOF) and the international dialing code is +229.
Next door on the map, you'll find .bf for Burkina Faso, .ne for Niger, .ng for Nigeria and .tg for Togo.
IANA lists Autorité de Régulation des Communications Electroniques et de la Poste du Bénin (ARCEP BENIN) as the manager of .bj, with an address in Benin. The registry's website is http://www.nic.bj. ccTLD managers set their own policies — who can register, which second-level names exist, pricing to registrars — so those rules differ from country to country.
Under the hood, the root zone points to 5 name servers for .bj, 3 of them reachable over IPv6. The delegation is DNSSEC-signed, so resolvers can verify that answers for .bj haven't been tampered with on the way. Registration data is published over WHOIS (the WHOIS server is whois.nic.bj).
.bj FAQ
What country is .bj?
.bj is the country-code top-level domain for Benin, in Western Africa.
What is Benin's domain extension?
Benin's website extension is .bj, its country-code top-level domain. "BJ" is its ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code.
Who owns the .bj domain?
IANA lists Autorité de Régulation des Communications Electroniques et de la Poste du Bénin (ARCEP BENIN) as the manager of .bj: it runs the registry and sets the rules for Benin's ccTLD. Individual .bj names belong to whoever registers them.
Can I register a .bj domain from the US?
It depends on Autorité de Régulation des Communications Electroniques et de la Poste du Bénin (ARCEP BENIN)'s policy. Some ccTLDs are open to anyone in the world, while others require a local address, company or trademark. Check the registry (http://www.nic.bj) or an accredited registrar before you buy.
Is .bj DNSSEC-signed?
Yes. The root zone has a DS record for .bj, so DNSSEC validation works all the way down from the root.
How do I look up who owns a .bj domain?
Query the registry's registration data service: the WHOIS server is whois.nic.bj. Many registrants use privacy services, so personal details may be hidden.
Sources
Data from IANA root zone version 2026102000. Last changed April 14, 2023. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
