# domain name location tags: .uk, .es, but .ch??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 5, 2001, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domain-name-location-tags-uk-es-but-ch/79818 "2001-09-05T05:32:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![catdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@catdog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catdog)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domain-name-location-tags-uk-es-but-ch/79818/1 "2001-09-05T05:32:56Z")
In my information systems class here at school we dissected an internet address. The whole name, host computer, function, and location shindig. But when we got to location she started talking about how the location tags made sense. Like .uk for england, .au for australia and so on. She told us spain is .es for Espana which makes sense. Why is .ch the tag for Switzerland? She doesn’t know the answer though. Any help would be appreciated as to the reasoning behind it. Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Stewart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Dave\_Stewart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Stewart)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domain-name-location-tags-uk-es-but-ch/79818/2 "2001-09-05T05:37:04Z")
All postcodes in Switzerland begin with “CH”. I can’t speak any Swiss language, but I’d guess the word for “Switzerland” in Swiss begins with “ch”. Thus, Germany (Deutscheland) has a domain identifier of “de” and not “ge”. ---
**Author:** ![Tamealien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Tamealien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamealien)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domain-name-location-tags-uk-es-but-ch/79818/3 "2001-09-05T05:44:37Z")
= Confederation Helvetica ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domain-name-location-tags-uk-es-but-ch/79818/4 "2001-09-05T05:47:27Z")
The official name of Switzerland is Helvetic Confederation. IIRC, CH means _Confédération Helvétique_. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domain-name-location-tags-uk-es-but-ch/79818/5 "2001-09-05T05:47:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dave Stewart \* > \*\*All postcodes in Switzerland begin with “CH”. I can’t speak any Swiss language, but I’d guess the word for “Switzerland” in Swiss begins with “ch”. > > Thus, Germany (Deutscheland) has a domain identifier of “de” and not “ge”. \*\* There is no Swiss language as such. Switzerland speaks four different languages: French, Italian, German and Romansch. None of the names for Switzerland begin with “ch”. A good person to ask would be the [W3 Consortium](http://www.w3.org), which decides these things. Robin ---
**Author:** ![Tamealien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Tamealien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamealien)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domain-name-location-tags-uk-es-but-ch/79818/6 "2001-09-05T05:54:10Z")
OK, I didn’t remember the correct spelling. It’s Confoederatio Helvetica - see [http://www.admin.ch/](http://www.admin.ch/) for example. I think that Helvetica comes from the Roman name for the tribes of that region, and the country is a confederation of the cantons. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domain-name-location-tags-uk-es-but-ch/79818/7 "2001-09-05T06:06:19Z")
CH is the abbreviation of [Switzerland](http://www.admin.ch/ch/)’s official name, the Swiss Confederation, in Latin: _Confoederatio Helvetica_. In German, it’s _Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft_, in French it’s _Confédération Suisse_, in Italian it’s _Confederazione Svizzera_, and in Romansch it’s _Confederaziun Svizra_. I believe the Latin abbreviation is used because it doesn’t favor any of the country’s national languages. ---
**Author:** ![catdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@catdog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catdog)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domain-name-location-tags-uk-es-but-ch/79818/8 "2001-09-05T06:20:26Z")
YOU GUYS FREAKIN’ ROCK!!! I ask a question and less than a half hour later I get a bunch of very informed, accurate answers. The straight dope message board, how I love it so. Thanks for the help. ---
**Author:** ![Popup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@Popup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Popup)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domain-name-location-tags-uk-es-but-ch/79818/9 "2001-09-05T07:24:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by catdog \* > \*\*But when we got to location she started talking about how the location tags made sense. Like .uk for england, .au for australia and so on. She told us spain is .es for Espana which makes sense. > \*\* The problem here is not **CH** , but **UK**. Most country top-level domains follow the **ISO 3166-1-Alpha-2** two letter country code, but for some reason the brits wanted **UK** instead of **GB** , which is their designated ISO code. (It might be argued that **GB** is a strange code for a country whose full name is **United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland** , but there you have it.) ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domain-name-location-tags-uk-es-but-ch/79818/10 "2001-09-05T07:35:07Z")
Slight hijack, the Swiss Franc is listed as CHF in the currency markets. Sure its the same reason. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Stewart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Dave\_Stewart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Stewart)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domain-name-location-tags-uk-es-but-ch/79818/11 "2001-09-05T09:51:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MsRobyn \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Dave Stewart \* > > \*\*All postcodes in Switzerland begin with “CH”. I can’t speak any Swiss language, but I’d guess the word for “Switzerland” in Swiss begins with “ch”. > > > > Thus, Germany (Deutscheland) has a domain identifier of “de” and not “ge”. \*\* > > There is no Swiss language as such. Switzerland speaks four different languages: French, Italian, German and Romansch. None of the names for Switzerland begin with “ch”. > > A good person to ask would be the [W3 Consortium](http://www.w3.org), which decides these things. > > Robin \*\* Thanks - I knew it had 4 (which is why I said “any Swiss language”) but didn’t know the name of the last one (“Romansch”). ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domain-name-location-tags-uk-es-but-ch/79818/12 "2001-09-05T15:19:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dave Stewart \* > Thanks - I knew it had 4 (which is why I said “any Swiss language”) but didn’t know the name of the last one (“Romansch”). \*\* I didn’t either till I looked it up. I knew about the other three from my high school Latin teacher, of all people. Robin ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domain-name-location-tags-uk-es-but-ch/79818/13 "2001-09-05T15:50:27Z")
Minor point, but there are a lot of places in the UK where you would not be too welcome if you implied that UK == England. It is not your fault, it is the education in many countries. I see it in my new home, Sweden, where everyone truly believe that UK==England. Even the word for Great Britain, Storbritanien, is hardly ever used. During the recent England-Germany football match my girlfriend’s Father asked me what the red cross on white background flag was. When I told him that it was the flag of England he looked at me like I was mad. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domain-name-location-tags-uk-es-but-ch/79818/14 "2001-09-05T16:57:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tc \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by catdog \* > > \*\*But when we got to location she started talking about how the location tags made sense. Like .uk for england, .au for australia and so on. She told us spain is .es for Espana which makes sense. > > \*\* > > The problem here is not **CH** , but **UK**. Most country top-level domains follow the **ISO 3166-1-Alpha-2** two letter country code, but for some reason the brits wanted **UK** instead of **GB** , which is their designated ISO code. > (It might be argued that **GB** is a strange code for a country whose full name is **United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland** , but there you have it.) \*\* Maybe the registrars were wisely diplomatic – since GB does not include Northern Ireland, more than a few people might be unhappy at being labelled ‘GB’ rather than ‘UK’. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domain-name-location-tags-uk-es-but-ch/79818/15 "2001-09-05T17:49:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Crusoe \* > \*\*Maybe the registrars were wisely diplomatic – since GB does not include Northern Ireland, more than a few people might be unhappy at being labelled ‘GB’ rather than ‘UK’. \*\* You’re giving them entirely too much credit. The Olympics uses the three-letter ISO designation: GBR. I haven’t heard of any complaints about that. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domain-name-location-tags-uk-es-but-ch/79818/16 "2001-09-05T18:27:19Z")
Very true. Maybe they _thought_ they were being diplomatic. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domain-name-location-tags-uk-es-but-ch/79818/17 "2001-09-05T18:38:44Z")
CH is also the country idenditity plate for Swiss cars. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domain-name-location-tags-uk-es-but-ch/79818/18 "2001-09-05T19:19:52Z")
My guess why the Swiss chose a Latin phrase as official state name is that maybe it was done so because at the time the confederation was formed (some time in the 12th century), Latin was the language of the edeucated classes in Europe, and the country’s four languages were considered to be vulgar. About the UK vs. GB dispute I would like to add that in school I once referred to this country as the “Vereinigtes Königreich” (“United Kingdom” in German) in a composition and this was marked as wrong; the teacher added “of Great Britain”. I think he did so because the UK thing is not the country’s name, it is more the nomination of the country’s status, like “Republic of” preceding many state names. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domain-name-location-tags-uk-es-but-ch/79818/19 "2001-09-05T22:49:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by amanset \* > \*\*Minor point, but there are a lot of places in the UK where you would not be too welcome if you implied that UK == England. > > It is not your fault, it is the education in many countries. I see it in my new home, Sweden, where everyone truly believe that UK==England. Even the word for Great Britain, Storbritanien, is hardly ever used. > > During the recent England-Germany football match my girlfriend’s Father asked me what the red cross on white background flag was. When I told him that it was the flag of England he looked at me like I was mad. \*\* Maybe one of these links would help your girlfriend’s father **amanset**? [http://www.flaginstitute.org/fiunionflag.htm](http://www.flaginstitute.org/fiunionflag.htm) [http://www.flags.net/ENGL.htm](http://www.flags.net/ENGL.htm) Welcome to the SDMB by the way.