The Virtual World of Nations

naenara.kp/en/

.euWho expected that the toughest aspect of European integration would be found on the Internet? While .eu is the official domain for the European Union, a majority of companies and organizations still opt to use individual country codes (such as Britains .uk and Frances .fr). Companies such as eBay and Amazon own the rights to their corresponding .eu Web sites, but dont market them. Visit them, and you will be rerouted to the appropriate country-specific page for your location. The domain is mainly popular with those hoping to appeal to pan-European audiences. You can, for instance, read up on the latest European news at www.neurope.eu or access health information at www.eurohealthnet.eu.

.tpEast Timor, or Timor Portugues, once used .tp as its domain. That is, before the tiny island country changed its name in 2002 to the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste. After the switch, the country was officially assigned .tl. But citizens might not have gotten the messagethere are still twice as many sites registered on .tp. Surfers nostalgic for the days when the Portuguese ruled East Timor can still visit the Web site of the Portuguese Embassy, www.embpor.tp. And the current governments Web sites can still be accessed under the old domain at www.gov.tp.

.yuLike East Timor, the former Yugoslavia proves that a countrys name can change quicker on paper than on the Web. Yugoslavias .yu domain is still widely used. Both Serbia and Montenegro feature official government Web sites on .yu. If you need to rent a car, try www.budget.co.yu, Budget Rent a Cars Yugoslav site. The Serbian Orthodox Church, www.spc.yu, and the University of Belgrade, www.bg.ac.yu, also havent moved. But enjoy the .yu domain while you can. It is slated to be discontinued on September 30, 2009.

.kpKim Jong Ils North Korea thinks so little of the Internet that it has just one site registered on the entire domainthe governments own propaganda-filled Web site, www.naenara.kp/en. There you can find a (purportedly accurate) brief on Kims daily routine, including what he ate for breakfast. Naenara, my country in Korean, also includes information on tourist attractions youll likely never visit, given that the country allows so few Western tourists, as well as a copy of the countrys constitution.

.laPoor Laos. Following the model of many small governments hoping to cash in on marketable top-level domains, such as Tuvalus .tv and Djiboutis .dj, Laos granted a Britain-based company the right to sell sites within its .la domain. But in a case of marketing gone bad, the company now claims that the .la domain officially belongs to Los Angeles, California. At www.la, anyone in Southern California can purchase a site with a .la domain for less than a dollar a week. A few Laotian sites still exist on the domain, but most dont have anything to do with Laos. The Laotian government has complained to the international governing authority in an attempt to once again become master of its domain.