What is a domain name? A domain name represents a physical point
on the Internet — an IP address. The Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) governs coordination of the
links between IP addresses and domain names across the Internet.
With this standardized coordination, you can find websites on
the Internet by entering domain names instead of IP addresses
into your Web browser. Here's an example: Think of a street
address for a house or business — let's say the White House. The
street address, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, is an exact location —
like an IP address. You might not know the exact street address,
but when you visit Washington, D.C., you can tell your cabbie
that you want to visit the White House and still get there. This
is how a domain name is used: It's an easy way to reach the
exact location of a website without having to remember the
numeric address. A domain name consists of, at least, a top-
level and a second-level domain. See What are top-level domains
(TLD) and country co