What is Afnic? The .fr registry and what it means for your domain

Afnic, short for Association Française pour le Nommage Internet en Coopération, is the organisation that runs the French country-code domain .fr. Afnic keeps the register of more than 4.4 million .fr domain names, sets the rules for .fr and makes sure every .fr name can be found on the internet. You register a .fr domain through a registrar or a provider that works with one, such as LJPc hosting, and that is also where you manage everything for your own domain.

This article explains what Afnic does, who handles what for a .fr domain, what the Afnic Whois shows, where to go with a dispute and what a.nic.fr means in a DNS answer. Eligibility, pricing and transfers for a .fr domain itself are covered in how to register a .fr domain.

What is Afnic?

Afnic is the registry for .fr: the operator of France's country-code top-level domain. Every country has one, such as SIDN for .nl, DNS Belgium for .be and DENIC for .de. The key facts, according to Afnic itself:

• A not-for-profit association. Afnic was founded in 1997 and is based in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, south-west of Paris. It also calls itself the French Network Information Centre.
• Designated by the French State. In France the State designates the .fr registry for a fixed term under the French Post and Electronic Communications Code. Afnic has run .fr since 1997 under an agreement with the State.
• French overseas domains too. Under the same rules Afnic runs .re (Réunion), .pm (Saint Pierre and Miquelon), .tf (French Southern and Antarctic Lands), .wf (Wallis and Futuna) and .yt (Mayotte). In 2026 the French State also chose Afnic for .gf (French Guiana), .gp (Guadeloupe) and .mq (Martinique); those domains are still being handed over to Afnic.
• Back-end for other domains. Afnic also runs the registry systems behind top-level domains of cities, regions and companies, such as .paris, .bzh and .alsace.
• More than 4.4 million .fr names. In mid-May 2026, Afnic reported 4,453,682 registered .fr domain names.

Afnic, registrar and holder: who does what?

Three parties work together on every .fr domain:

Under Afnic's naming policy you always choose a registrar from Afnic's list of accredited registrars, and any change to your domain also goes through a registrar. At LJPc hosting we work with an accredited registrar, and you handle most things yourself in the customer portal. Not sure where your domain is managed? Who manages your domain shows how to find out.

What Afnic's rules mean for your .fr domain

Afnic sets out its rules in the Naming Policy (PDF, version of 6 July 2026). In short:

• Who can own a .fr domain? Anyone who lives or is established in the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland. The requirement applies at registration and at every renewal. The details are in how to register a .fr domain.
• Accurate details. Afnic can check whether a holder meets the rules and can be reached. If the holder cannot show this, Afnic can suspend, block and eventually delete the domains in that holder's name.
• Transfers with a code. A .fr domain moves with the authinfo code from your registrar. How this works at LJPc is covered in transfer your domain to LJPc and get your EPP code and transfer your domain.
• A new holder. A change of holder needs the agreement of both the old and the new holder, and the new holder must also meet the residence or establishment requirement. See change the owner of a domain.
• Deleted domains. After deletion there is a 30-day redemption period in which only the registrar that managed the domain can restore it. What you see and what to do is covered in expired domain, redemption period or quarantine. Want a name someone else is letting lapse? Place a backorder.

The Afnic Whois: how to look up a .fr domain

The Afnic Whois shows whether a .fr name is available and what is on record for a registered name. The same search covers .re, .pm, .tf, .wf, .yt and gouv.fr. On the command line, use Afnic's Whois server:

whois -h whois.nic.fr yourdomain.fr

These are the fields you will need most:

If the holder is a private individual, the Whois does not show their name and contact details by default. Technical contact details are always public; administrative contact details only when that contact is an organisation. If the domain belongs to a company or other organisation, the holder's details are public. What the Whois shows about you and how to update your details is covered in manage the WHOIS data of your domain.

Contacting a holder who is not listed in the Whois

• A message through Afnic. With the Administrative contact for a domain form, Afnic forwards your message unchanged to the domain's administrative contact. You do not see the holder's details, and a reply is not guaranteed.
• Requesting the details. If the name is identical or nearly identical to a trademark protected in France, your company or trade name, or your family name, you can ask Afnic for a private holder's details with the Request for disclosure of personal data form. Afnic reviews every request and does not disclose details automatically.
• A holder who cannot be reached. If a holder's address, phone number or email address is wrong, report it with the Holder eligibility and contact form. Afnic can then start a verification.

Disputes over a .fr domain

Has someone registered a .fr domain that matches your trademark, company name or name? Afnic only acts on a court ruling or through one of its own dispute procedures. Afnic is not bound by any other dispute resolution procedure, such as the UDRP you may know from .com. Your options:

For Syreli and PARL Expert you must show that you have standing and that the name falls under French law. That is the case when the name may infringe a trademark, other intellectual property or personal rights, unless the holder has a legitimate interest and acts in good faith. The same applies to a name that may disturb public order, or that is identical or related to the name of the French Republic, a local authority or a public service. Background and the rules are on Afnic's ADR: Alternative Dispute Resolution page.

If the problem is the content of a website, such as a scam or unlawful content, Afnic refers you to the French government reporting services on its Report a domain name page. Received a bill for your domain that you do not trust? Read how to spot a fake domain invoice.

Seeing a.nic.fr or dnsmaster.afnic.fr?

You will see these names in the output of dig or nslookup, or in a DNS test, when you look up a name that is not in the .fr zone. a.nic.fr and dnsmaster.afnic.fr are in the SOA record of the .fr zone: dnsmaster.afnic.fr is the contact address, which as an email address reads dnsmaster@afnic.fr. The name servers of .fr itself are d.nic.fr, f.ext.nic.fr and g.ext.nic.fr. An answer looks like this:

$ dig does-not-exist-example.fr A

;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NXDOMAIN
;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
fr.  300  IN  SOA  a.nic.fr. dnsmaster.afnic.fr. ...

The status NXDOMAIN means the name does not exist in .fr. Afnic appears because the .fr zone gives the answer. So this is not an outage at Afnic, and questions about your own domain go to your registrar. Check the following:

1. Is the domain name spelled correctly, including the part after the dot?
2. Is the domain registered? Look it up in the Afnic Whois.
3. Does the Whois show hold YES or the status BLOCKED? Then Afnic does not publish the domain in the DNS. With the status REDEMPTION the domain has been deleted. If your domain is with us, please create a support ticket.

If your domain exists but your website or email still does not work, the cause is usually the domain's own name servers or records. Troubleshooting DNS problems with dig and nslookup shows how to find out.

What LJPc hosting takes care of for your .fr domain

• Registration for €14.99 a year. A .fr domain costs €14.99 a year with us, excluding VAT, with DNS management included. The order wizard in the customer portal shows straight away whether a name is available. All steps are in register a domain and link it to your hosting.
• Transfer to us. With the authinfo code from your current registrar you transfer a .fr domain to LJPc in the order wizard. You pay €14.99 and Afnic extends your domain by a year.
• Automatic renewal. As long as the subscription for your domain runs, we renew it automatically every year.
• DNS and DNSSEC. Your domain gets our name servers ns1.ljpc.network, ns2.ljpc.network and ns3.ljpc.network, and we switch on DNSSEC automatically. How that protection works is explained in what is DNSSEC.
• Everything in one place. You update the holder and your contact details yourself in the portal. On your domain's page you find the transfer code in the Autorisatiecode (authorisation code) block, and the Transfer lock switch turns the transfer lock on or off.

Unsure about an email or letter about your .fr domain, or is a transfer stuck? Create a support ticket and we will look into it with you.