Country Code Top Level Domains contain all the domains that are delegated to by the root NIC is in those countries or by a regional NIC. Most countries who can afford it have a 'root network information center' or root NIC where registrations of domains under that country's top level domain are stored. The country code top level domains (ccTLDs) are the same as the two letter postal country codes we all know.
Examples of Country Code TLD's include:
- .it is Italy
- .fr is France
- .uk is the United Kingdom
- .br is Brazil
- .tz is Tanzania
- .cn is China
- .tw is Tiawan.
To look up a domain that is part of a ccTLD, you can try using "http://www.nic.<country code>", but not all countries have a root NIC (some are just too poor).
To find out who a specific IP address in a foreign country is assigned to, check first with ARIN then follow their pointer to RIPE, APNIC or LACNIC.