The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) today revealed who has applied for which generic top-level domain (gTLD) names in what is expected to become the largest expansion in the history of the Internet’s domain name system.

A total of 1,930 new gTLD applications were received during the application period of the new generic top-level domain program.

"We are standing at the cusp of a new era of online innovation," said Rod Beckstrom, president and chief executive officer. "That means new businesses, new marketing tools, new jobs, and new ways to link communities and share information."

Beckstrom made the comments during a London news conference where it was revealed which organizations have applied for which specific domain names.

Senior Vice President Kurt Pritz noted that the applications will now be subject to a public comment and objection period, and a rigorous, objective, and independent evaluation system.

"A 60-day comment period begins today, allowing anyone in the world to submit comments on any application, and the evaluation panels will consider them," said Pritz. "If anyone objects to an application and believes they have the grounds to do so, they can file a formal objection to the application. And they will have seven months to do that."

Of the 1,930 applications received:

• 66 are geographic name applications
• 116 applications are for internationalized domain names, or IDNs, for strings in scripts such as Arabic, Chinese, and Cyrillic

Applications were received from 60 countries and territories, broken down by ICANN’s geographic regions. The breakdown is as follows:

• 911 from North America
• 675 from Europe
• 303 are from Asia-Pacific
• 24 from Latin America and the Caribbean
• 17 from Africa

Beckstrom noted that the applications from Latin America/Caribbean and Africa would be the first gTLDs ever from those regions.

He also pointed out that the new gTLD program is the result of seven years of international consultation and debate among a wide variety of Internet stakeholders.

To listen to the audio file from the London "reveal day" event, go here: http://www.icann.org/en/news/press/kits/reveal-day-audio-13jun12-en.htm

To see who has applied for which generic top-level domain, go here: http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/application-results

To post comments on applications, go here: http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/application-comments

To file an objection, go here: http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/objection-dispute-resolution

To obtain background information on the new generic top-level domain program, go here: http://www.icann.org/en/news/press/kits/reveal-day-13jun12-en.htm

For information on ICANN’s geographic regions, go here: http://archive.icann.org/en/meetings/montreal/geo-regions-topic.htm