Global Internet Resources Administration

Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) manage, distribute, and register public Internet Number Resources within their respective regions.

There are currently five RIRs:

• AfriNIC
• APNIC
• ARIN
• LACNIC
• RIPE NCC

IANA delegates large ranges of Internet resources to the RIRs, which then allocate the resources within their regions.

See also the Global Structure of the Internet Registry System, and the History of the RIRs (requires Flash player) to learn more about the hierarchy and dependencies between various organisations.

The RIRs work closely together and with others to develop consistent policies and promote best current practice for the Internet. Internet Number Resources (IP addresses and AS Numbers) are distributed in a hierarchical way. Please see our Internet Registry System page. The IANA allocates blocks of IP address space to Regional Internet Registries (RIRs). RIRs allocate IP address space and AS Numbers to Local Internet Registries (LIRs) that assign these resources to End Users.

• RIR Comparative Policy Overview, version January 2008
• More information about the RIR system
• List of Country Codes and RIRs

For more information about the history of RIRs, please read the article "Development of the Regional Internet Registry System", as published in the Cisco Internet Protocol Journal, December 2001.