What is .қаз?
IANA delegated .қаз on March 3, 2012, as part of the effort to let people use domain names entirely in their own script.
A little context on Kazakhstan: the capital is Astana, languages include Kazakh and Russian, the currency is the Kazakhstani tenge (KZT) and the international dialing code is +7. It's landlocked.
Next door on the map, you'll find .cn for China, .kg for Kyrgyzstan, .ru for Russia, .tm for Turkmenistan and .uz for Uzbekistan.
IANA lists Association of IT Companies of Kazakhstan as the manager of .қаз, with an address in Kazakhstan. The registry's website is http://www.nic.kz. 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 3 name servers for .қаз, every one of them reachable over IPv6. The delegation is DNSSEC-signed, so resolvers can verify that answers for .қаз haven't been tampered with on the way. Registration data is published over WHOIS (the WHOIS server is whois.nic.kz).
Kazakhstan also has another country-code domain in the root zone: .kz.
Same registry, other endings
1 other TLD shares this operator.
.қаз FAQ
What country is .қаз?
.қаз is the country-code top-level domain for Kazakhstan, in Central Asia.
Who owns the .қаз domain?
IANA lists Association of IT Companies of Kazakhstan as the manager of .қаз: it runs the registry and sets the rules for Kazakhstan's ccTLD. Individual .қаз names belong to whoever registers them.
Can I register a .қаз domain from the US?
It depends on Association of IT Companies of Kazakhstan'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.kz) or an accredited registrar before you buy.
Is .қаз DNSSEC-signed?
Yes. The root zone has a DS record for .қаз, so DNSSEC validation works all the way down from the root.
How is .қаз written in the DNS?
As the ASCII "A-label" xn--80ao21a. Browsers convert it back to .қаз for display.
How do I look up who owns a .қаз domain?
Query the registry's registration data service: the WHOIS server is whois.nic.kz. Many registrants use privacy services, so personal details may be hidden.
Sources
Data from IANA root zone version 2026102000. Last changed March 7, 2023. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
