NATIONAL AND UNIVERSITY LIBRARY IN ZAGREB

Croatia celebrates 30 years of .hr top-level Internet domain

On 2 March 2023, the National and University Library in Zagreb (NSK) hosted the celebration of the 30^th anniversary of the registration of the Croatian top-level Internet domain .hr. The celebration programme included addresses by the Library’s Director General Dr Ivanka Stričević, Chief Executive Officer at the Croatian Academic and Research Network (CARNET) Hrvoje Puljiz, State Secretary at Croatia’s Central State Office for the Development of the Digital Society Bernard Gršić and the Croatian Minister of Science and Education Dr Radovan Fuchs.

The establishment of the Croatian top-level Internet domain .hr in 1993, when war was raging in Croatia, was a sign of Croatia’s struggle for freedom and independence in the virtual environment, but also a moment of national pride, since not many countries at that time had their top-level, national Internet domains, pointed out NSK Director General Dr Stričević, adding that the registration of the .hr domain was of utmost significance for the entire Croatian society, especially for the Croatian academic and research community.

There are currently 124,601 registered .hr domains and Croatia is the only European country whose citizens and legal entities may register free domains.

Over the past 30 years, we reached the number of almost 125,000 .hr domains, developed the infrastructure, constantly taking care of the safety of the national web space and users of the .hr domains and keeping abreast of global trends in the context of the development of web domains and of the requirements of the digital environment. Today, we can proudly state that our national domain is one of the safest and most reliable domains in the European Union, strongly contributing to our country’s recognisability in the digital world, emphasised CARNET’s CEO Hrvoje Puljiz.