Which city in Europe will have its personalised Internet name?

Starting Tuesday, webpages based in Berlin, Germany will have a .berlin attached to its Internet address.

Berlin will be the first city in the world to have its own domain name after the local Senate and the trade association of Berlin and Brandenburg supported calls by the campaign group dotBerlin. International tech company Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) will be in charge of the creation of the domain name.

Berlin only has to pay €30 to €60 per year for the privilege of having its own domain name. A city domain name will enable Internet users to narrow down their searches more effectively, and it is projected to help the city profit by €750,000 this year.

Around 55,000 Berlin-based websites are interested to make the shift from a .com or .org name to a .berlin. DotBerlin said ‘Domains [should be] descriptive, not just cryptic abbreviations like .com.’ Dirk Krischenowski of the group added that locality-based domain names may fundamentally change the face of the Internet.

The campaigners had been pushing for the adoption of a .berlin domain name since 2005. Cities like Paris and London are also expected to get their own versions soon.