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Apart from being easier to remember than numbers, domain names tell you whose server you are connected to, what type of organisation they are and which country the server is located.

In terms of understanding who the domain name belongs to, if we look at the domain name www.bmw.co.uk, we know it belongs to BMW. The .co.uk tells us that it that BMW is a company and they are based in the UK.

Top level domain names are the .co or the .com or the .net that forms part of the general domain name. American company websites for example www.disney.com may use the .com to indicate they are a company without adding further letters to indicate the country of origin. Many English companies also use this type of top level domain name. Here are some others top level domain names:

.co = A commercial company
.com = until recently an American company, now used for companies outside the states
.ac = An academic establishment (college, university ect)
.edu = An American college or university
.gov = A government agency
.mil = A military establishment
.net = A company specialising in Internet related services
.org = An organisation (as opposed to a commercial company)

New top level domain names are being issued all the time such as .info, .TV

Top level domain names are usually followed by a country code example:

.se = Sweden   .fr = France   .jp = Japan   .fi = Finland