The .gov top-level domain is sponsored by the U.S. federal government.
“.gov” is a sponsored top-level domain reserved for verified U.S. government organizations. Its delegation record identifies the United States of America as the sponsoring country, and the U.S. government’s dot-gov program manages eligibility and registration rules for .gov domains.
The domain helps users recognize official government websites, such as usa.gov and agency websites ending in .gov. A .gov address is not itself a guarantee that every statement on a page is accurate, but registration restrictions make it different from open domains such as .com or .org. Government entities must meet eligibility requirements before receiving a .gov domain.
Several other choices describe different communities. .mil is associated with the U.S. military, .edu is primarily for eligible postsecondary educational institutions, and .org is a general-purpose domain used by organizations of many kinds. The key distinction is that .gov identifies a restricted government namespace, not merely a website that discusses government.