What is .ch?
Why .ch? The letters come from Confoederatio Helvetica, Switzerland's official Latin name.
A little context on Switzerland: the capital is Bern, languages include French, Swiss German and Italian, the currency is the Swiss franc (CHF) and the international dialing code is +41. It's landlocked.
Switzerland shares land borders with 5 countries, so the ccTLDs next door are .at (Austria), .fr (France), .it (Italy), .li (Liechtenstein) and .de (Germany).
IANA lists SWITCH The Swiss Education & Research Network as the manager of .ch, with an address in Switzerland. The registry's website is https://www.nic.ch. 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.
On the technical side, .ch is served by 5 authoritative name servers, every one of them reachable over IPv6. It is also DNSSEC-signed: the root zone carries a DS record for .ch, which lets validating resolvers check its answers cryptographically. Registration data is published over WHOIS (the WHOIS server is whois.nic.ch).
Same registry, other endings
1 other TLD shares this operator.
.ch FAQ
What country is .ch?
.ch is the country-code top-level domain for Switzerland, in Western Europe.
What is Switzerland's domain extension?
Switzerland's website extension is .ch, its country-code top-level domain. The code comes from Confoederatio Helvetica, Switzerland's official Latin name.
Who owns the .ch domain?
IANA lists SWITCH The Swiss Education & Research Network as the manager of .ch: it runs the registry and sets the rules for Switzerland's ccTLD. Individual .ch names belong to whoever registers them.
Can I register a .ch domain from the US?
It depends on SWITCH The Swiss Education & Research Network's policy. Some ccTLDs are open to anyone in the world, while others require a local address, company or trademark. Check the registry (https://www.nic.ch) or an accredited registrar before you buy.
Is .ch DNSSEC-signed?
Yes. The root zone has a DS record for .ch, so DNSSEC validation works all the way down from the root.
How do I look up who owns a .ch domain?
Query the registry's registration data service: the WHOIS server is whois.nic.ch. Many registrants use privacy services, so personal details may be hidden.
Sources
Data from IANA root zone version 2026102000. Last changed July 1, 2026. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
