<s>
An	O
internationalized	B-General_Concept
country	I-General_Concept
code	I-General_Concept
top-level	I-General_Concept
domain	I-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
top-level	O
domain	O
in	O
the	O
Domain	B-Protocol
Name	I-Protocol
System	I-Protocol
(	O
DNS	B-Protocol
)	O
of	O
the	O
Internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
IDN	B-General_Concept
ccTLDs	I-General_Concept
are	O
specially	O
encoded	O
domain	O
names	O
that	O
are	O
displayed	O
in	O
an	O
end	O
user	O
application	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
a	O
web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
,	O
in	O
their	O
language-native	O
script	O
or	O
alphabet	B-Application
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
Arabic	O
alphabet	B-Application
,	O
or	O
a	O
non-alphabetic	O
writing	O
system	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Chinese	O
characters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
IDN	B-General_Concept
ccTLDs	I-General_Concept
are	O
an	O
application	O
of	O
the	O
internationalized	B-Language
domain	I-Language
name	I-Language
system	O
to	O
top-level	O
Internet	O
domains	O
assigned	O
to	O
countries	O
,	O
or	O
independent	O
geographic	O
regions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
August	O
2018	O
there	O
are	O
59	O
approved	O
internationalized	B-General_Concept
country	I-General_Concept
code	I-General_Concept
top-level	I-General_Concept
domains	I-General_Concept
,	O
of	O
them	O
at	O
least	O
47	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Still	O
as	O
of	O
2018	O
around	O
20	O
countries	O
using	O
non-Latin	O
script	O
do	O
not	O
have	O
an	O
internationalized	B-General_Concept
country	I-General_Concept
code	I-General_Concept
top-level	I-General_Concept
domain	I-General_Concept
,	O
including	O
Japan	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ICANN	B-Application
board	O
approved	O
the	O
establishment	O
of	O
an	O
internationalized	O
top-level	O
domain	O
name	O
working	O
group	O
within	O
the	O
Country	O
Code	O
Names	O
Supporting	O
Organization	O
(	O
ccNSO	O
)	O
in	O
December	O
2006	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
resolved	O
in	O
June	O
2007	O
inter	O
alia	O
to	O
proceed	O
and	O
asked	O
the	O
IDNC	O
Working	O
Group	O
to	O
prepare	O
a	O
proposal	O
,	O
which	O
the	O
group	O
delivered	O
in	O
June	O
2008	O
,	O
"	O
to	O
recommend	O
mechanisms	O
to	O
introduce	O
a	O
limited	O
number	O
of	O
non-contentious	O
IDN	B-General_Concept
ccTLDs	I-General_Concept
,	O
associated	O
with	O
the	O
ISO	O
3166-1	O
two-letter	O
codes	O
in	O
a	O
short	O
time	O
frame	O
to	O
meet	O
near	O
term	O
demand.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Identify	O
technical	O
basis	O
of	O
the	O
TLD	O
strings	O
and	O
country	O
code	O
specific	O
processes	O
,	O
select	O
IDN	B-General_Concept
ccTLD	I-General_Concept
personnel	O
and	O
authorities	O
,	O
and	O
prepare	O
documentation	O
;	O
</s>
<s>
Perform	O
ICANN	B-Application
due	O
diligence	O
process	O
for	O
technical	O
proposal	O
and	O
publish	O
method	O
;	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
October	O
2009	O
,	O
ICANN	B-Application
resolved	O
to	O
start	O
accepting	O
applications	O
for	O
top-level	O
internationalized	B-Language
domain	I-Language
names	I-Language
from	O
representatives	O
of	O
countries	O
and	O
territories	O
in	O
November	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Starting	O
16	O
November	O
2009	O
,	O
nations	O
and	O
territories	O
could	O
apply	O
for	O
IDN	B-General_Concept
ccTLDs	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Egypt	O
,	O
Saudi	O
Arabia	O
,	O
the	O
United	O
Arab	O
Emirates	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
Russian	O
Federation	O
were	O
among	O
the	O
first	O
countries	O
to	O
apply	O
for	O
the	O
new	O
internationalized	B-Language
domain	I-Language
name	I-Language
country	O
code	O
top-level	O
domains	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
January	O
2010	O
ICANN	B-Application
announced	O
that	O
these	O
countries	O
 '	O
IDN	B-General_Concept
ccTLDs	I-General_Concept
were	O
the	O
first	O
four	O
new	O
IDN	B-General_Concept
ccTLDs	I-General_Concept
to	O
have	O
passed	O
the	O
Fast	O
Track	O
String	O
Evaluation	O
within	O
the	O
domain	O
application	O
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
5	O
May	O
2010	O
,	O
the	O
first	O
implementations	O
,	O
all	O
in	O
the	O
Arabic	O
alphabet	B-Application
,	O
were	O
activated	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Egypt	O
was	O
assigned	O
the	O
مصر	B-General_Concept
.	I-General_Concept
</s>
<s>
ICANN	B-Application
CEO	O
Rod	O
Beckstrom	O
described	O
the	O
launch	O
as	O
"	O
historic	O
"	O
and	O
"	O
a	O
seismic	O
shift	O
that	O
will	O
forever	O
change	O
the	O
online	O
landscape.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Senior	O
director	O
for	O
internationalised	B-Language
domain	I-Language
names	I-Language
Tina	O
Dam	O
said	O
it	O
was	O
"	O
the	O
most	O
significant	O
day	O
"	O
since	O
the	O
launch	O
of	O
the	O
Internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
ICANN	B-Application
,	O
Arabic	O
was	O
chosen	O
for	O
the	O
initial	O
roll	O
out	O
because	O
it	O
is	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
most	O
widely	O
used	O
non-Latin	O
languages	O
on	O
the	O
Internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additional	O
IDN	B-General_Concept
ccTLDs	I-General_Concept
had	O
been	O
implemented	O
by	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
June	O
2010	O
:	O
one	O
using	O
Cyrillic	O
,	O
.рф	O
(	O
for	O
Russia	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
five	O
using	O
Chinese	O
characters	O
(	O
the	O
first	O
using	O
a	O
non-alphabetical	O
writing	O
system	O
)	O
approved	O
by	O
the	O
ICANN	B-Application
board	O
on	O
25	O
June	O
2010	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
.中国	O
(	O
encoded	O
as	O
"	O
.xn--fiqs8s	O
"	O
)	O
and	O
.中國	B-General_Concept
(	O
encoded	O
as	O
"	O
.xn--fiqz9s	O
"	O
;	O
"	O
.zhongguo	O
"	O
)	O
,	O
delegated	O
to	O
China	O
Internet	O
Network	O
Information	O
Center	O
(	O
CNNIC	O
)	O
,	O
the	O
registrar	O
for	O
ccTLD	O
.cn	O
;	O
</s>
<s>
.香港	B-General_Concept
(	O
encoded	O
as	O
"	O
.xn--j6w193g	O
"	O
;	O
"	O
.hongkong	O
"	O
)	O
,	O
delegated	O
to	O
Hong	O
Kong	O
Internet	O
Registration	O
Corporation	O
(	O
HKIRC	O
)	O
,	O
the	O
registrar	O
for	O
ccTLD	O
.hk	B-General_Concept
;	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
new	O
country	O
codes	O
were	O
available	O
for	O
immediate	O
use	O
,	O
although	O
ICANN	B-Application
admit	O
they	O
may	O
not	O
work	O
properly	O
for	O
all	O
users	O
initially	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
Egypt	O
's	O
communication	O
and	O
information	O
technology	O
minister	O
,	O
three	O
Egyptian	O
companies	O
were	O
the	O
first	O
to	O
receive	O
domain	O
licenses	O
on	O
the	O
new	O
"	O
masr	B-General_Concept
"	O
[ مصر	O
transliterated ]	O
country	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bulgaria	O
's	O
.бг	B-Language
was	O
rejected	O
by	O
the	O
ICANN	B-Application
due	O
to	O
its	O
visual	O
similarity	O
with	O
.br	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
.бг	B-Language
was	O
eventually	O
approved	O
in	O
2014	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Ukrainian	O
string	O
.укр	O
was	O
approved	O
by	O
the	O
ICANN	B-Application
Board	O
on	O
28	O
February	O
2013	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Bulgarian	O
string	O
.бг	B-Language
was	O
rejected	O
a	O
second	O
time	O
in	O
March	O
2011	O
but	O
was	O
approved	O
by	O
the	O
ICANN	B-Application
Board	O
in	O
2014	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
Greek	O
.ελ	O
string	O
in	O
2015	O
,	O
both	O
after	O
controversies	O
about	O
possibilities	O
of	O
confusion	O
with	O
existing	O
Latin	O
strings	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
was	O
approved	O
by	O
the	O
ICANN	B-Application
BOARD	O
on	O
7	O
January	O
2011	O
to	O
represent	O
Pakistan	O
in	O
Arabic	O
script	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
4	O
February	O
2017	O
,	O
IDN	B-General_Concept
ccTLD	I-General_Concept
پاکستان	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
European	O
Union	O
applied	O
in	O
2016	O
for	O
the	O
Cyrillic	O
domain	O
.ею	O
and	O
the	O
Greek	O
domain	O
.ευ	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
