Regional Internet registry

A regional Internet registry (RIR) is an organization overseeing the allocation and registration of Internet number resources within a particular region of the world. Resources include IP addresses (both IPv4 and IPv6) and autonomous system numbers (for use in BGP routing).

Regional Internet Registries

There are currently five RIRs in operation:

• American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) ^[1] for North America and parts of the Caribbean
• RIPE Network Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC) ^[2] for Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia
• Asia-Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC) ^[3] for Asia and the Pacific region
• Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry (LACNIC) ^[4] for Latin America and parts of the Caribbean region
• African Network Information Centre (AfriNIC) ^[5] for Africa

The relationship between RIRs and IANA

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) delegates Internet resources to the RIRs who, in turn, follow their regional policies to delegate resources to their customers, which include Internet service providers and end-user organizations. Collectively, the RIRs participate in the Number Resource Organization (NRO),^[6] formed as a body to represent their collective interests, undertake joint activities, and coordinate their activities globally. The NRO has entered into an agreement with ICANN for the establishment of the Address Supporting Organisation (ASO),^[7] which undertakes coordination of global IP addressing policies within the ICANN framework.

Number Resource Organization

The Number Resource Organization^[8] (NRO) is an unincorporated organisation uniting the five RIRs. It came into existence on October 24, 2003, when the four existing RIRs entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in order to undertake joint activities, including joint technical projects, liaison activities and policy co-ordination.

AfriNIC, which was officially created in April 2005, joined on April 25, 2005.

The main aims of the NRO are to:

• Protect the unallocated IP number resource pool,
• Promote and protect the bottom-up policy development process of the Internet, and
• Act as a focal point for Internet community input into the RIR system.

See also

• Country code top-level domain
• Geolocation software
• Internet governance
• Local Internet registry
• National Internet registry
• NRO in es, de, ja

References