.gl Domain
Greenland's Arctic Domain
Register your .gl domain from just £46.99/yr. Free DNS management, email forwarding, and 10GB mailbox included with every domain.
This domain has registration restrictions
No Greenland connection is required, but the registry runs several unusual rules that will surprise anybody used to a generic top level domain. Read the full eligibility rules.
What is a .gl domain?
The .gl domain is the country code for Greenland, managed by TELE Greenland A/S. While Greenland's population is tiny (around 57,000), the .gl extension has gained traction internationally for its short, clean two-letter format. It's been adopted by URL shorteners and tech companies who value brevity. Registration is open to anyone worldwide with no restrictions, which has helped it find a second life far beyond the Arctic.
Who should register .gl?
Arctic tourism operators, tech companies wanting a short domain, URL shortener services, and businesses with Greenlandic connections.
Why choose .gl?
- Short two-letter domain with broad appeal
- Open to worldwide registration
- Popular with tech companies and URL shorteners
- Distinctive Arctic identity for tourism brands
Who runs .gl, and since when
Registry data from the .gl delegation record held by IANA, which maintains the internet's root zone. Eligibility comes from the registry's own policy, and the prices are ours.
- Extension type
- Country-code (ccTLD)
- Registry operator
- TELE Greenland A/S
- The organisation that runs the extension
- In the root zone since
- 1994
- Delegated 8 April 1994
- Who can register
- Open to anyone worldwide, with no Greenland residency or company requirement
- Checked against the registry's own policy
- Our price
- £46.99 a year
- Ex VAT. Renews at the same price
What Google thinks .gl means, and why it matters
Short two letter extensions get bought for their letters rather than their countries, and .gl has had more than its share of that. The trouble is that Google does not read it that way.
Google publishes a list of country code extensions it treats as generic, so that a site using one is not assumed to be aimed at that country. It runs .ad, .ai, .as, .bz, .cc, .cd, .co, .dj, .fm, .io, .la, .me, .ms, .nu, .sc, .sr, .su, .tv, .tk and .ws. Greenland is not on it. As far as Google is concerned a .gl address is a strong signal that the site is intended for Greenland, and there is no setting anywhere that talks it out of that.
The registry side is friendlier than most. The terms are written in the name of Tusass, while the root zone record still lists TELE Greenland A/S. Names run from one to sixty three characters, so single letter .gl names are permitted where nearly every other registry reserves them. There is a thirty day redemption period after deletion, zone changes publish inside about half an hour in normal operation, and internationalised names are not supported at all.
Who is allowed to register .gl?
No Greenland connection is required, but the registry runs several unusual rules that will surprise anybody used to a generic top level domain.
- One character names allowed
- The registry permits names from one to sixty three characters and describes its only limits as technical ones. Single letter and two letter .gl names are not reserved the way they are almost everywhere else, which is the main reason people go looking here.
- You cannot reserve a name
- Registration and activation are the same act. The terms state plainly that it is not possible to reserve a domain name for future use, and a name must be served by at least two DNS servers before it is registered as active.
- One or two years, and no longer
- The registry caps registrations at two years by choice, explaining that its pricing is under review and it does not want multi-year registrants to feel short-changed by the outcome. You cannot lock a .gl in for five or ten years.
- A transfer does not add a year
- Moving a .gl between registrars does not automatically extend the term, unlike a generic top level domain transfer. If you want the extra year you have to renew as well as transfer.
- No internationalised names
- The registry does not support internationalised domain names and states it has no plans to. Accented and non-Latin characters are simply unavailable.
Rules taken from the nic.gl terms and registry FAQ. Registry policy can change, so check before you buy if the answer matters to you.
Not sure whether you qualify? Ask us before you order and we will check the registry rules with you. We would rather answer the question than take an order the registry will refuse.
Is .gl the right choice for you?
We would rather sell you the right extension once than the wrong one twice.
.gl works well if
- You want a very short address, one or two letters included, and you accept a premium price every year in exchange for the length.
- You work in Arctic tourism, research, shipping or logistics, where a Greenland address is accurate rather than decorative.
- The name is for an internal tool, an API endpoint or a technical service where organic search visibility is not the point.
Look elsewhere if
- It is going on a public marketing site. Google reads .gl as Greenland, and Greenland is not on its list of country codes treated as generic.
- You are pricing against a .co.uk. A .gl costs several times as much every year, permanently, and there is no free transfer to fall back on.
- You want a long registration for stability. The registry caps you at two years deliberately, so paying ten years up front is not an option.
After a short address Google reads as generic? A .io or a .co is on Google's own list. A .gl is not. See .io pricing.
.gl vs .io: which should you register?
These look like the same purchase and they are not. Both are two letter country codes bought mostly for their letters, but Google names .io on its published list of country codes treated as generic and does not name .gl. That single difference decides most cases: a .io site carries no country assumption, a .gl site is read as intended for Greenland.
Pick .io for anything that has to be found in search by an international or technical audience. Pick .gl when brevity is the whole requirement and search is not, or when Greenland is part of the story rather than a coincidence of letters. .gl does have one thing .io does not: single character names are permitted, which is rare enough to be the deciding factor for a small number of buyers.
.gl domain questions, answered
What people ask us before registering a .gl domain.
Can't find what you're looking for?
Ask us directlyIt is the wrong signal rather than a bad one. Google says a country code extension is a strong signal that a site is explicitly intended for that country, and it maintains a list of country codes it treats as generic instead. That list includes .io, .co, .me and .tv. It does not include .gl. So a .gl site is read as aimed at Greenland, which is a problem if your customers are anywhere else and irrelevant if you are not chasing organic search at all.
Yes, in principle. The registry allows names from one to sixty three characters and describes its only restrictions as technical limits, which makes .gl unusual: most registries hold back one and two character names entirely, and India and South Africa both do. Whether any given single letter is still free is another matter, and the registry will not let you reserve one for later, because registration and activation are the same act.
The registry has capped it deliberately. Its published FAQ says it generally prefers one year registrations and has enabled two year ones, and gives the reason: pricing is being reconsidered and it does not want multi-year registrants to feel short-changed by the outcome. That is more candid than most registries manage, but it does mean you cannot fix your cost for a decade the way you can with a .com, and it is one more thing to keep an eye on at renewal.
Included with Your .gl Domain
DNS Management
Full DNS zone editor to manage A, CNAME, MX, TXT, and all record types.
Email Forwarding
Set up professional email addresses and forward to any inbox.
Auto-Renewal
Never lose your domain with automatic renewal protection.
Free 10GB Mailbox
One 10GB mailbox (POP3/IMAP) included with every domain, on any TLD.
Other Geographic Domains Extensions
Register your .gl domain today
Secure your .gl domain from just £46.99/yr. Free DNS management, email forwarding, and 10GB mailbox included.
