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The five Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) that make up the NRO are independent, not-for-profit membership organizations that support the infrastructure of the Internet through the responsible management of Internet number resources, including IP addresses and Autonomous System Numbers.
The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) allocates blocks of IP addresses and Autonomous System Numbers (ASNs), known collectively as Internet number resources, to the RIRs, who then distribute them to users within their specific service regions.
Organizations that receive resources directly from RIRs include Internet Service Providers (ISPs), telecommunications organizations, large corporations, governments, academic institutions, and industry stakeholders, including end users.
| RIR |
Region |
| AfriNIC |
Africa, portions of the Indian Ocean |
| APNIC |
Asia Pacific |
| ARIN |
Canada, many Caribbean and North Atlantic islands, and
the United States |
| LACNIC |
Latin America and the the Caribbean |
| RIPE NCC |
Europe, the Middle East, parts of Central Asia |
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Each RIR holds one or two open meetings per year and provides forums for online discussion by the community, facilitating the open exchange of ideas from the technical community, the business sector, civil society, and government regulators.
| The RIR model of open, transparent participation has proven successful at responding to the rapidly changing Internet environment. |
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