The .cat domain reaches adulthood!
The history of .cat is a constant and collective assertion of the rights of our language and culture. Let’s review the key moments in the history of the first domain representing a linguistic and cultural community.
1990 – The Beginning of the Movement
The Catalan-speaking online community, one of the most active in the world, begins to ask, “Why not have our own domain that represents us on the internet?”
March 16, 2004 – Presentation of the Candidacy
The then Associació puntCAT seizes the opportunity to present the candidacy of the .cat domain to ICANN. The candidacy receives explicit support from 98 entities and associations, as well as 2,615 companies and 65,468 individuals from all Catalan-speaking territories.
“Wouldn’t you be satisfied with a cat.es?” asked the “father of the internet,” Vinton Cerf, to Manel Sanromà. Cerf, at that time, was one of the key members of ICANN, had visited Catalonia several times, and was familiar with the Catalan people.
December 28, 2004 – The Establishment of the Fundació puntCAT
Once the .cat domain was requested, the Associació puntCAT dissolved and gave way to the Fundació puntCAT with the goal of managing the registration of the .cat domain name.
The first board of trustees was composed of ISOC-CAT, Institut d’Estudis Catalans, CTecno, Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals, and Vilaweb. Its president was Joan Francesc Gras i Alcoverro, and the general director was Amadeu Abril.
September 16, 2005 – The Birth of the .cat Domain
In April 2005, during one of its quarterly meetings, ICANN officially announced that it was entering into negotiations with the Fundació .cat to reach a contractual agreement that would lead to the effective creation of the domain. Five months later, the .cat domain was officially born.
On September 16, 2005, at 01:04 local Catalan time, the .cat domain was approved. In Marina del Rey, California, it was still the 15th of September. That’s where ICANN, the global organization that manages internet domains, authorized the release of this pioneering and innovative domain.
April 23, 2006 – A Saint George’s Day to Remember
During the Saint George’s Day celebration, the registration process for the .cat domain was opened to the entire Catalan-speaking community. One of the early international successes of the domain came when search engines Yahoo and Google requested it.
Today, more than 111,000 .cat domains make initiatives to promote the digital presence of the Catalan language possible. Recently, the Fundació .cat, together with the entities that are part of the Aliança per la presència digital del català, has worked to improve the visibility of Catalan in Google search results.
September 16, 2023 – 18 Years of the .cat Domain
Thanks to the efforts of many, it’s not only a success story but also an unprecedented milestone with a bright future ahead.
