Quiz Entry - updated: 2026.07.14
What are the five Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) and what regions do they manage?
IANA hands address blocks to five RIRs: ARIN (North America), RIPE NCC (Europe/Middle East/Central Asia), APNIC (Asia-Pacific), LACNIC (Latin America/Caribbean), and AfriNIC (Africa).
IANA and Regional Internet Registries:
IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) allocates IP address blocks to:
| RIR | Region | Full Name |
|---|---|---|
| ARIN | North America | American Registry for Internet Numbers |
| RIPE NCC | Europe, Middle East, Central Asia | Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre |
| APNIC | Asia Pacific | Asia-Pacific Network Information Centre |
| LACNIC | Latin America, Caribbean | Latin America and Caribbean Network Information Centre |
| AfriNIC | Africa | African Network Information Centre |
Hierarchy:
- IANA allocates blocks to RIRs
- RIRs allocate to ISPs and large organizations
- ISPs allocate to customers
Context: RIRs have exhausted their IPv4 address pools, driving IPv6 adoption.
Go deeper:
Regional Internet registry (Wikipedia) — the five RIRs, their regions, and the allocation hierarchy.- IPv4 address exhaustion (Wikipedia) — how the RIR pools ran dry and what it triggered.