If you've ever wondered where on earth a website you were visiting was located, you've come to the right place. Perhaps you were curious where that email with the strange country extension originated. While most folks recognize that .uk is the United Kingdom, .ca is Canada, .ru is Russia, .jp is Japan, and .au is Australia, many of the other internet country codes are downright perplexing.

Each country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is a top-level domain used and reserved for a specific country or a dependent territory. Understand that some countries allow anyone in the world to register domain names in their ccTLD, while others have strict rules specifically forbidding anyone other than residents from acquiring a domain with their internet country code. So, even if you know the country extension of a Web site or email, it's not always a guarantee that the site or email is actually located in, or originated from, that country.

If you examine server logs to monitor traffic trends, or merely examine your website logs to see where your visitors reside, you should also find the following alphabetical listing of two-letter country code top-level domain extensions helpful.

.ac - Ascension Island
.ad - Andorra
.ae - United Arab Emirates
.af - Afghanistan
.ag - Antigua and Barbuda
.ai - Anguilla
.al - Albania
.am - Armenia
.an - Netherlands Antilles
.ao - Angola
.aq - Antarctica
.ar - Argentina
.as - American Samoa
.at - Austria
.au - Australia
.aw - Aruba
.ax - Aland Islands
.az - Azerbaijan
.ba - Bosnia and Herzegovina
.bb - Barbados
.bd - Bangladesh
.be - Belgium
.bf - Burkina Faso
.bg - Bulgaria
.bh - Bahrain
.bi - Burundi
.bj - Benin
.bm - Bermuda
.bn - Brunei
.bo - Bolivia
.br - Brazil
.bs - Bahamas
.bt - Bhutan
.bv - Bouvet Island
.bw - Botswana
.by - Belarus
.bz - Belize
.ca - Canada
.cc - Cocos (Keeling) Islands
.cd - Congo, The Democratic Republic of the
.cf - Central African Republic
.cg - Congo, Republic of
.ch - Switzerland
.ci - Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
.ck - Cook Islands
.cl - Chile
.cm - Cameroon
.cn - China
.co - Colombia
.cr - Costa Rica
.cu - Cuba
.cv - Cape Verde
.cx - Christmas Island
.cy - Cyprus
.cz - Czech Republic
.de - Germany (Deutschland)
.dj - Djibouti
.dk - Denmark
.dm - Dominica
.do - Dominican Republic
.dz - Algeria
.ec - Ecuador
.ee - Estonia
.eg - Egypt
.eh - Western Sahara
.er - Eritrea
.es - Spain
.et - Ethiopia
.eu - European Union
.fi - Finland
.fj - Fiji
.fk - Falkland Islands
.fm - Micronesia, Federal State of
.fo - Faroe Islands
.fr - France
.ga - Gabon
.gb - Great Britain (also see .uk)
.gd - Grenada
.ge - Georgia
.gf - French Guiana
.gg - Guernsey
.gh - Ghana
.gi - Gibraltar
.gl - Greenland
.gm - Gambia
.gn - Guinea
.gp - Guadeloupe
.gq - Equatorial Guinea
.gr - Greece
.gs - South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
.gt - Guatemala
.gu - Guam
.gw - Guinea-Bissau
.gy - Guyana
.hk - Hong Kong
.hm - Heard and McDonald Islands
.hn - Honduras
.hr - Croatia/Hrvatska
.ht - Haiti
.hu - Hungary
.id - Indonesia
.ie - Ireland
.il - Israel
.im - Isle of Man
.in - India
.io - British Indian Ocean Territory
.iq - Iraq
.ir - Iran
.is - Iceland
.it - Italy
.je - Jersey
.jm - Jamaica
.jo - Jordan
.jp - Japan
.ke - Kenya
.kg - Kyrgyzstan
.kh - Cambodia
.ki - Kiribati
.km - Comoros
.kn - Saint Kitts and Nevis
.kp - North Korea
.kr - South Korea
.kw - Kuwait
.ky - Cayman Islands
.kz - Kazakhstan
.la - Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos)
.lb - Lebanon
.lc - Saint Lucia
.li - Liechtenstein
.lk - Sri Lanka
.lr - Liberia
.ls - Lesotho
.lt - Lithuania
.lu - Luxembourg
.lv - Latvia
.ly - Libya
.ma - Morocco
.mc - Monaco
.md - Moldova
.me - Montenegro
.mg - Madagascar
.mh - Marshall Islands
.mk - Macedonia
.ml - Mali
.mm - Myanmar (Burma)
.mn - Mongolia
.mo - Macau
.mp - Northern Mariana Islands
.mq - Martinique
.mr - Mauritania
.ms - Montserrat
.mt - Malta
.mu - Mauritius
.mv - Maldives
.mw - Malawi
.mx - Mexico
.my - Malaysia
.mz - Mozambique
.na - Namibia
.nc - New Caledonia
.ne - Niger
.nf - Norfolk Island
.ng - Nigeria
.ni - Nicaragua
.nl - Netherlands
.no - Norway
.np - Nepal
.nr - Nauru
.nu - Niue
.nz - New Zealand
.om - Oman
.pa - Panama
.pe - Peru
.pf - French Polynesia
.pg - Papua New Guinea
.ph - Philippines
.pk - Pakistan
.pl - Poland
.pm - Saint Pierre and Miquelon
.pn - Pitcairn Island
.pr - Puerto Rico
.ps - Palestine
.pt - Portugal
.pw - Palau
.py - Paraguay
.qa - Qatar
.re - Reunion Island
.ro - Romania
.rs - Serbia
.ru - Russia
.rw - Rwanda
.sa - Saudi Arabia
.sb - Solomon Islands
.sc - Seychelles
.sd - Sudan
.se - Sweden
.sg - Singapore
.sh - Saint Helena
.si - Slovenia
.sj - Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands
.sk - Slovakia
.sl - Sierra Leone
.sm - San Marino
.sn - Senegal
.so - Somalia
.sr - Suriname
.st - Sao Tome and Principe
.su - Soviet Union
.sv - El Salvador
.sy - Syria
.sz - Swaziland
.tc - Turks and Caicos Islands
.td - Chad
.tf - French Southern Territories
.tg - Togo
.th - Thailand
.tj - Tajikistan
.tk - Tokelau
.tl - East Timor (formerly .tp)
.tm - Turkmenistan
.tn - Tunisia
.to - Tonga
.tr - Turkey
.tt - Trinidad and Tobago
.tv - Tuvalu (also widely used in the television/entertainment industry)
.tw - Taiwan
.tz - Tanzania
.ua - Ukraine
.ug - Uganda
.uk - United Kingdom
.um - United States Minor Outlying Islands *
.us - United States
.uy - Uruguay
.uz - Uzbekistan
.va - Vatican City
.vc - Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
.ve - Venezuela
.vg - British Virgin Islands
.vi - U.S. Virgin Islands
.vn - Vietnam
.vu - Vanuatu
.wf - Wallis and Futuna Islands
.ws - Samoa
.ye - Yemen
.yt - Mayotte
.yu - Yugoslavia (still used in Montenegro and also Serbia -- also see .me and .rs)
.za - South Africa
.zm - Zambia
.zw - Zimbabwe

* NOTE: In 2007, the Internet's key oversight agency, ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), announced it was eliminating the ".um" domain.

.com - U.S. Commercial
.net - Internet network related
.org - organizations (usually non-profit)
.edu - U.S. Educational
.gov - U.S. Government
.mil - U.S. Military
.aero - air-transport industry
.asia - Asian sites
.biz - businesses
.cat - Catalan language
.coop - cooperatives
.info - informational sites
.int - international treaty organizations
.jobs - employment-related sites
.mobi - sites catering to mobile devices
.museum - museums
.name - personal/family sites
.pro - professionals, such as accountants, engineers, doctors, attorneys, etc.
.travel - travel and tourism industry