.asia is a sponsored top-level domain sponsored by the DotAsia Organization, with the back-end registry operated by Afilias. It was approved by ICANN on 19 October 2006 as a sponsored TLD. It serves as a regional domain for companies, organisations, and individuals based in the region of Asia, Australia, and the Pacific.

The .asia domain opened to registrations on a first-come, first-served basis on 26 March 2008. The sunrise period for .asia began on 9 October 2007, and ended on 31 January 2008.

From 20 February 2008 to 12 March 2008, .asia was in the land rush state. Anyone meeting the .asia registration requirements could apply for any available .asia domain name. Each domain name for which there was more than one request will be auctioned among the applicants after the initial registration period closes. The auction process is considered innovative for a TLD launch; however, it may be biased against individuals and non-profit driven entities, as they typically lack the scale of funds available to commercial enterprises.