If the applied-for string matches any of the following criteria, it will be considered a Geographic Name application:
- It is the name (in any language) of a capital city of any country or territory listed in the ISO3166-1 standard;
- It is a city name, where the applicant declares that it intends to use the gTLD for purposes associated with the geographic name;
- It is an exact match of a sub-national place name such as a county, province, or state listed in the ISO3166-2 standard; or
- It is a name listed as a UNESCO region or appearing on the UN Geographic Regions section M49.
Applicants may choose to identify their applied-for string as a Geographic Name during the application process. However, regardless of whether or not an applicant designates its applied-for string as a Geographic Name, ICANN will evaluate whether an applied-for string meets the criteria for a Geographic Name, because this type of application must satisfy additional requirements in order to be approved. Learn more