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About ICANN

If you're new to ICANN, this page is for you. It contains resources to help you quickly understand who we are and what we do.

Overview

ICANN is a California-based nonprofit, public-benefit organization accountable to a global community of stakeholders. Its enduring mission is to ensure the stable, secure operation of the Internet's unique identifier systems. ICANN's primary responsibilities include helping coordinate the Internet's unique identifiers – domain names and numbers that comprise the Internet's "address book" and ensure that users reach the right computer or device. As a part of this, ICANN coordinates the root zone of the Domain Name System (DNS) and performs IANA functions, specifically, the management of Internet domain names, numbers, and protocol assignments.

ICANN follows a multistakeholder model in which individuals, businesses, civil society, governments, and technologists play important roles in its community-based, consensus-driven, policymaking approach. ICANN includes a community of volunteers on topics ranging from technical Internet governance and policy development to programs that have enabled the secure expansion of the DNS to more than 1,200 generic top-level domains (gTLDs). Another expansion through the New gTLD Program: Next Round is planned for 2026, giving businesses, communities and other organizations the chance to create an online space tailored to their audience, culture, or region.

ICANN is also working to ensure the Universal Acceptance of all domain names, regardless of language or script, in all Internet-enabled devices so everyone can communicate using a domain name and email address that best suits their needs. ICANN was formed in 1998 and its history traces back to the creation and evolution of the Internet itself. Learn more about ICANN's history, as well as interesting Internet facts and milestones at https://www.icann.org/en/history.

What Does ICANN Do?

Infographic explaining how the Internet works with ICANN's technical partners.

Click to open the full PDF.

10 Key Facts About ICANN

  1. ICANN is open and free to everyone.
  2. There are "keys" to the Internet that are changed regularly.
  3. ICANN's staff, approximately 450 people, are based in more than 33 countries and speak over 40 languages fluently.
  4. The Internet is a network of networks – no one person or entity controls it.
  5. ICANN coordinates the Internet's unique identifiers including billions of domain names and IP addresses. These are critical elements used for Internet communication in every country in the world.
  6. More than 1,200 new gTLDs have been delegated into the root zone.
  7. 151 IDN TLDs have been delegated in 37 languages and 23 scripts.
  8. ICANN coordinates the world's time zone database used in locales across the world.
  9. The Internet has been up and running smoothly for several decades without fail, even as it has experienced significant growth in users and traffic.
  10. ICANN is not the Internet content police.

Learn More About ICANN

Learn more about our history, what we do, how we work, and how your talents, expertise, and enthusiasm can help advance ICANN's mission in your region and globally.

The History of ICANN - Discover ICANN's history, which traces back to the creation and the evolution of the Internet itself.

ICANN for Beginners - New to ICANN? Find valuable information to help you get started on your ICANN journey. Explore our learning courses, infographics, videos, and other resources.

New gTLD Program: 2026 Round - The New Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLD) Program: 2026 Round is an ICANN initiative to enable the expansion of the Internet's Domain Name System (DNS) through the introduction of new top-level domains.

ICANN Shorthand - A multilingual glossary is available to help people navigate many industry acronyms and terms.

ICANN Invites You to Participate

If you have an interest in ICANN and topics related to global Internet policy and the Domain Name System, we encourage you to participate. ICANN provides many online forums and through its Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees (SOs and ACs) including the following:

  • Address Supporting Organization (ASO)
  • At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC)
  • Country Code Domain Name Supporting Organization (ccNSO)
  • Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO)
  • Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC)
  • Root Server System Advisory Committee (RSSAC)
  • Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC)

ICANN on Social Media

X icon @icann
Facebook icon facebook.com/icannorg
YouTube icon youtube.com/icann.news
Flickr icon flickr.com/icann
LinkedIn icon linkedin.com/company/icann
Instagram icon instgram.com/icann.org

Domain Name System
Internationalized Domain Name ,IDN,"IDNs are domain names that include characters used in the local representation of languages that are not written with the twenty-six letters of the basic Latin alphabet ""a-z"". An IDN can contain Latin letters with diacritical marks, as required by many European languages, or may consist of characters from non-Latin scripts such as Arabic or Chinese. Many languages also use other types of digits than the European ""0-9"". The basic Latin alphabet together with the European-Arabic digits are, for the purpose of domain names, termed ""ASCII characters"" (ASCII = American Standard Code for Information Interchange). These are also included in the broader range of ""Unicode characters"" that provides the basis for IDNs. The ""hostname rule"" requires that all domain names of the type under consideration here are stored in the DNS using only the ASCII characters listed above, with the one further addition of the hyphen ""-"". The Unicode form of an IDN therefore requires special encoding before it is entered into the DNS. The following terminology is used when distinguishing between these forms: A domain name consists of a series of ""labels"" (separated by ""dots""). The ASCII form of an IDN label is termed an ""A-label"". All operations defined in the DNS protocol use A-labels exclusively. The Unicode form, which a user expects to be displayed, is termed a ""U-label"". The difference may be illustrated with the Hindi word for ""test"" — परीका — appearing here as a U-label would (in the Devanagari script). A special form of ""ASCII compatible encoding"" (abbreviated ACE) is applied to this to produce the corresponding A-label: xn--11b5bs1di. A domain name that only includes ASCII letters, digits, and hyphens is termed an ""LDH label"". Although the definitions of A-labels and LDH-labels overlap, a name consisting exclusively of LDH labels, such as""icann.org"" is not an IDN."