Font size:
Page background:
Letter spacing:
Images:
Disable visually impaired version close
Version for visually impaired people
News

First Cyrillic domain .РФ marks 10th anniversary

On May 12, 2020 the Russian internet segment marks an important date: exactly 10 years ago the first Cyrillic TLD, .РФ, was delegated to Russia, which practically signified the beginning of a new era for the Runet and for the entire global internet. In early May 2010, four first top level IDNs (Internationalized Domain Names: domains containing the characters of national alphabets) were delegated to three Middle East countries – Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia – and Russia.

Work to create .РФ, a Russian-language ccTLD using Cyrillic characters, has been underway since 2008. In June 2008, at the 10th International Congress of the Russian Press, President Dmitry Medvedev supported the creation of Cyrillic domain names. “We must make every effort to achieve the delegation of Cyrillic domain names. This demonstrates the symbolic importance of the Russian language, and we have a good chance of obtain the necessary decision. We must use all technological capacities to promote the Russian-language space,” Dmitry Medvedev said.

Experts at the Coordination Center took part in the process of preparing, agreeing, and adopting the ICANN procedures to introduce IDNs. The Russian application filed by the Coordination Center, was among the first applications to create an IDN ccTLD right after ICANN approved the corresponding procedure. Preliminary registration in the new domain zone opened in early 2010. On May 12, 2010 the new domain zone was recorded in the internet root zone, so this day is considered the official birthday of the first ever Cyrillic TLD: .РФ. The first websites in the new zone opened on the same day: президент.рф and правительство.рф.

On November 11, 2010 registration in .РФ opened for everyone and it was nothing short of sensational: over 240,000 Cyrillic domain names were registered on the first day. Almost immediately, .РФ became one of the 20 largest European ccTLDs and it has never left the top 20 in the 10 years since.

.РФ has served as an example for many countries. To date, there are 17 Cyrillic TLDs: nine IDN ccTLDs and eight gTLDs. Most countries using Cyrillic alphabets have registered their Cyrillic TLDs (Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Serbia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia) as well as the European Union.

As of today, more than 730,000 domain names are registered in .РФ. Over 667,000, or 91 percent, are delegated. More than 31 percent point to a unique website (without a duplicate address in a different domain zone), 23 percent are linked to one-page websites (landings, advertising, etc.), 16 percent are parked websites, and 12 percent are used to redirect to websites with addresses in other domain zones. .РФ has been the leading IDN ccTLD both in terms of the number of registered domain names and the number of domains used for practical purposes.

“The .РФ domain is the pride of Russia. It not only shows the level of internet use in the country but also offers the opportunity of uniting all the world’s Russian speakers, of developing this community, and supporting the language and cultural diversity on the internet. The Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ works hard to make .РФ and other non-Latin domain available to as many users as possible. We find technical solutions, too, promoting the process of Universal Acceptance. The further development of the internet won’t be complete without it. Thanks to everyone who helped in the creation of .РФ and supported it on its way. Thanks to all our registrars that care about it and promote it actively on the Runet. Thanks to our users who actively use .РФ for their businesses and personal pages. Happy birthday, .РФ!” said Coordination Center Director Andrei Vorobyev.

On May 12, the entire day will be dedicated to the 10th anniversary of .РФ. An online quiz will begin on the anniversary website 10.кц.рф at 11 am Moscow time. At noon, TASS will hold a press conference on .РФ’s 10th anniversary and the role of Cyrillic domains in promoting Russian on the internet.

At 1 pm, the Cyrillic on the Internet roundtable discussion will be held. Its participants will recall how Russia gained .РФ, and what has happened to the Cyrillic internet over the course of .РФ’s 10-year history. They will also consider the role played by the Cyrillic internet in uniting, preserving and developing the Russian-speaking community in the online world.

At 2.30 pm, right after the roundtable discussion, the Digital Dictation dedicated to .РФ will begin. At 3 pm, Yulia Andreyeva, author of the book Russian Without Overloading, will give an online lecture on the modern rules of communication in the digital environment. The day will conclude with an online concert by the Orlov Band and an online quiz, 10 Years with .РФ.

Find a detailed program here

Previous News Next news