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Europeans Have Fun With Ridiculously Long Domain Names

Associated Press
Published | Updated

BRUSSELS, Belgium – What's in an Internet domain name? Sixty-three characters max.

The group managing the European .eu domain said Friday that six people last year registered the longest Internet addresses allowed, ranging from the tongue-twisting name of a Welsh village to the first 63 numbers that make up the mathematical constant pi.

One German user was firmly tongue in cheek when registering thisisthelongesteuropeandomainnameallovertheworldandnowitismine.eu — which doesn't live up to comic potential since it links to a site saying it is being held for a client.

Another German comedian registered both aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.eu and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.eu.

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A French company wasn't quite so funny, registering a French-language phrase promising that its Internet services would help a business grow: lerelaisinternet-com-favorise-la-croissance-de-votre-entreprise.eu.

But the Welsh village that enjoys the record-breaking longest place name has kindly given an alternative to its full name: llanfair.wales.com.

For those willing to give their fingers some typing exercise, the full version is: llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogochuchaf.eu The village's site said the name actually refers to the Wupper part of the Welsh-speaking village on the Isle of Anglesey in North Wales.

For fans of pi — a figure that refers to the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter — a German technology company has registered the first 63 decimal places of the never-ending number: 141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820974944592.eu.

The European Registry of Internet Domain Names, or EURid, said Friday that almost 2.5 million .eu addresses were registered last year after its April 7 launch.

The most applied for names were sex.eu, hotel.eu, travel.eu and jobs.eu, it said.

The popularity of the new .eu "exceeded all expectations," EURid said as it become the third-favorite for Europeans registering Internet addresses, only topped by Germany's .de and Britain's .uk.